May 35th

English

Etymology

Calque of Chinese 5月35日; a euphemistic form of June 4th, as though May (which has 31 days) had been lengthened to include it.

Proper noun

May 35th

1. (euphemistic) The anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre on the fourth of June, known in China as the June Fourth Incident.
   • 2009 June 4, Shih-Chieh Ilya Li, “Today in China, May 35th”, in Pah‎^[1] (Usenet):

     This is known within China, to the people who know about it, as the June Fourth Incident. More recently it has been referred to covertly as May 35th.

Usage notes

• A covert reference, since variations of the date June 4 are periodically banned from internet postings and search engines within China.