打工是不可能打工的

What does 打工是不可能打工的 mean?

In practice the quote is self-mockery: it lands in bios, resignation posts and Monday morning complaints, voicing the dream of quitting the race rather than any real plan. It sits next to the later 躺平 and 打工人; unlike them, this line does not negotiate. It refuses work outright.

Where does 打工是不可能打工的 come from?

The line comes from a Nanning TV interview that went viral around 2016. A man named Zhou Liqi, arrested for stealing electric scooter batteries, told the camera that he could not work and would never take a job for the rest of his life. Netizens nicknamed him 窃格瓦拉, a pun on Che Guevara's name. After his release in April 2020 the quote surged a second time, and he asked people not to follow his example.

How to use 打工是不可能打工的

• 他把个性签名改成打工是不可能打工的，然后在家躺了三个月。
  Tā bǎ gèxìng qiānmíng gǎi chéng dǎ gōng shì bù kěnéng dǎ gōng de, ránhòu zài jiā tǎng le sān ge yuè.
  He changed his bio to 打工是不可能打工的 and then stayed home for three months.
• 老板画饼画到第三年，他在茶水间叹气：打工是不可能打工的，可房贷不答应。
  Lǎobǎn huà bǐng huà dào dì sān nián, tā zài cháshuǐjiān tànqì: dǎ gōng shì bù kěnéng dǎ gōng de, kě fángdài bù dāying.
  In the third year of his boss's promises, he sighed by the water cooler: 打工是不可能打工的, except the mortgage disagrees.