meaning - What does ‘Brace yourself’ really mean?


I saw an article titled ‘The Rise of Chinese Cheneys’, written by Nicholas Kristof, with a lead copy



China today resembles the Bush era in America: Hard-liners are ascendant. Brace yourself



in today's New York Times. I know the meaning of 'Brace for.' But as I was uncertain about the meaning of 'Brace Yourself,' I consulted with Urban dictionary, which defines it as ‘Prepare yourself mentally or emotionally for hearing something unpleasant, out of place or inappropriate.’


However, in this particular case, what does ‘Brace yourself’ mean? Is the author casting this word to Chinese, or Americans?


By the way, I found really amusing phrases ‘panda-huggers’ and ‘panda-muggers’ in relation with 'yin' and 'yang' concept in this article, which might not be any new to you, but new to me.



Chinese-American relations are deeply strained and likely to get worse. American opinion tends to be divided between panda-huggers (‘China is fabulous!’) and panda-muggers (‘China is evil!’), but the truth lies between this yin and yang.




Answer



To brace means "make (a structure) stronger or firmer with wood, iron, or other forms of support" (Webster's). So it means get ready to withstand some kind of extra stress. "Brace yourself" is a very common English expression.


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