Meaning: “职场” means “workplace,” and “PUA” is short for “pickup artist.” Originally referring to referring to a person who practices finding, attracting and seducing sexual partners, Chinese netizens have given PUA an implied meaning of manipulating and controlling their partner in a romantic relationship. The term “workplace PUA” derives from that sense and refers to those who manipulate, control and mistreat their subordinates in the workplace. Normally, such a person may find prey in new recruits, criticizing their work performance and asking them to work overtime without compensation. In extreme cases, the victims will do anything required by their boss. Example: A: 听说你辞职回家乡了。 Tīngshuō nǐ cízhí huí jiāxiāng le。 They told me that you quit your job and returned to your hometown. B: 是的,我遭遇了职场PUA,感觉筋疲力尽,没法继续工作了。 Shì de,wǒ zāoyù le zhíchǎng PUA,gǎnjué jīnpí lìjìn,méifǎ jìxù gōngzuò le。 Yeah. My former boss is a manipulative control freak. I was burning out and couldn’t work under him any longer. |