教科书式jiào kē shū shì

Textbook-style

jiào kē shū shì de cāo zuò!教科书式的操作！A textbook move!

教科书式 means “textbook-style”. You put it in front of a noun to say that something was done so well, or so typically, that it could be the example in a textbook.

Took off: 2018
Started in: A street video
Today: Now everyday Chinese

What it means

The pattern is 教科书式 plus a noun, often with 的 between them: 教科书式的回答 is “a textbook answer”, and 教科书式的表演 is “a textbook performance”. It praises an act as a perfect model.

It also works as irony. 教科书式耍赖 is “textbook-style weaseling out”: a dodge so complete that it could be the example of how to dodge. 咬文嚼字 notes this ironic use next to the praise.

How people use it

教科书式 is ordinary Chinese now. You see it in reviews, game streams and chats. Praise is the common use. When the noun names something bad, such as an excuse, the irony is clear.

琦琦

你看到我刚才倒车了吗？
nǐ kàn dào wǒ gāng cái dào chē le ma?
Did you see me reverse in just now?
一把就停进去了，教科书式倒车！
yì bǎ jiù tíng jìn qu le, jiào kē shū shì dào chē!
In one go. Textbook reverse parking!
我练了一个月呢
wǒ liàn le yí gè yuè ne
I practiced for a month.
没白练
méi bái liàn
It paid off.

More examples

他这个回答真是教科书式的。
tā zhè gè huí dá zhēn shì jiào kē shū shì de.
His answer was textbook-perfect.
这停车技术，教科书式的！
zhè tíng chē jì shù, jiào kē shū shì de!
That parking job? Textbook!
他迟到的借口，又是教科书式的。
tā chí dào de jiè kǒu, yòu shì jiào kē shū shì de.
His excuse for being late was textbook again.

Where it came from

In May 2018 a street video from Shanghai spread online. In it, a police officer asks a driver for a license and keeps to the procedure at every step. Viewers called it 教科书式执法, “textbook-style law enforcement”.

From there the phrase moved to anything done by the rules or done well, such as 教科书式避险, “a textbook escape from danger”. That December, 咬文嚼字 put 教科书式 on its list of the ten most popular phrases of 2018.

The original. A street video from Shanghai, May 2018: a police officer checks a driver’s papers and follows the procedure at every step. The Global Times explains the phrase in an article reposted on NetEase. Global Times on NetEase (in Chinese)