拼爹 (pīndiē): (slang) to compete based on one…

Meanings

1 (slang) to compete based on one's father's wealth or status
2 to rely on family connections to get ahead

Characters

拼

pīn

to put together; compete

爹

diē

dad

Examples

现在很多年轻人靠拼爹找工作。

Xiànzài hěn duō niánqīngrén kào pīn diē zhǎo gōngzuò.

Many young people today rely on their fathers' connections to find jobs.

他不想拼爹，想靠自己的努力。

Tā bù xiǎng pīn diē, xiǎng kào zìjǐ de nǔlì.

He doesn't want to ride on his father's coattails — he wants to rely on his own effort.

Tips

culture

Internet buzzword that exploded around 2010 amid public anger over the 'My dad is Li Gang!' (我爸是李刚) incident, when a drunk driver invoked his official father's name to dodge consequences. Now standard slang for inherited privilege — Chinese equivalent of 'born on third base'.

usage

拼 (pīn) here means 'to compete using' (as in 拼命 'risk one's life', 拼实力 'compete on strength'). So 拼爹 literally = 'compete with [one's] dad [as the asset]'.