Shanghai dialect locked in tug of war with Mandarin

Television show's change of language sparks controversy, reports Xu Junqian in Shanghai.

The term Lao Niang Jiu, or "old uncle", a well-known character in Shanghai folklore, is frequently used by the city's residents to describe prying busybodies who are always ready to meddle in other people's affairs.

Now, though, Shanghai's best-known and most-meddlesome "old uncle" has switched to using broken Mandarin, rather than his signature colloquial and idiomatic Shanghai dialect, when interfering in family affairs.