there is no war in Ba Sing Se

English

Etymology

A reference to Avatar: The Last Airbender, an American animated television series produced from 2005–2008, in which the corrupt officials of the city Ba Sing Se try to keep order by hypnotizing citizens to believe that "there is no war in Ba Sing Se" even as the city is being besieged.

Phrase

there is no war in Ba Sing Se

1. (Internet slang, sarcastic) Nothing is going on; everything is under control; it is business as usual (suggesting that important information is being covered up).
   • [2020 July 19, Rich Knight, “Why Avatar: The Last Airbender Fans Have Issues With M. Night Shyamalan's Movie”, in CinemaBlend‎^[1], archived from the original on 2022-12-27:

     When something is wrong, and people seem to be ignoring it, we'll often say, "there is no war in Ba Sing Se."]

   • 2021 April 27, “A Week In Edmonton, AB, On A $61,000 Salary”, in Refinery29‎^[2], archived from the original on 2023-01-05:

     Today, I'm negotiating with myself: You have tacos in a meal kit box that's arriving in a couple of days, so at least you won't have to wait long. And burgers are good. You like apples, especially Granny Smith. Pork and apple burgers are what you want. Relax, there is no war in Ba Sing Se... Wow, my burgers are so good and exactly what I wanted!

   • 2022 March 22, Dean Daley, “Severance's Lumon Industries has its own LinkedIn page”, in MobileSyrup‎^[3], archived from the original on 2022-04-14:

     The LinkedIn page is pretty creepy with terms like "Giving employees the best work environment they'll never know with our patented and extremely safe Severance procedure." It gives off "There is no war in Ba Sing Se" vibes […]

   • 2022 December 1, Ryan Pearson, “Nintendo Backtracks On Claim They Didn't Hear Of Performance Issues In 'Pokémon Scarlet & Violet' And Releases Much-Needed Patch”, in Bounding Into Comics‎^[4], archived from the original on 2023-01-05:

     At the very least, even if there is no patch, we now know that they're stating that they're aware of the problem, which contrasts the previous 'there is no war in Ba Sing Se' approach that they were taking.

   • 2022 December 16, Andy Golder, “23 Screenshots Of People Being Wrong, Wrong, Wrong In 2022”, in BuzzFeed‎^[5], archived from the original on 2022-12-29:

     There is no war in Ba Sing Se, and there are no lesbians in China.