零绯闻 (ling2 fei3 wen2)
gossip-free
While some mediocre showbiz artists, especially actresses, tend to fabricate love stories and have them published to attract attention, others just walk all the way to stardom and even to an accomplished retirement without any such gossip.

豆腐帐 (dou4 fu1 zhang4)
tofu ledger
The term was used to describe account books made by tofu street sellers who wrote down each sale clearly and counted all the costs and profits at the end of each month. But now it refers to detailed accounts of personal expenditure. Many white-collar workers today love to jot down and share their everyday spending record on the Internet.

打飞的 (da3 fei1 di1)
hail air taxi
Some people take planes as ordinary taxis to somewhere simply for shopping or an examination. People jokingly call it "hailing an air taxi." For example, more than 200 students from a city in southwest China took planes to Hong Kong during the National Day holidays to take the American Scholastic Aptitude Test, one equivalent of China's college entrance examination.

电脑脸 (dian4 nao3 lian3)
computer face
Despite its many positive attributes, the Internet does change people's lifestyle. After spending hours in front of a computer every day, people gradually look haggard, expressionless, dour and numb to real life and other people. They all have a "computer face."

待机消费 (dai4 ji1 xiao1 fei4)
optimal buy
This Chinese phrase comprises two parts, the first meaning literally the "standby mode" of a mobile phone and the second part "consumption." Since the first part can also be interpreted as "waiting for an opportunity" in Chinese, this phrase is now used to mean "consumption at an optimum time," such as purchasing consumer goods during a sales or promotion season. It's the opposite of "impulsive purchase."

看野眼 (kan4 ye3 yan3)
look around distractedly
This is a colloquial term in Shanghai dialect meaning looking around aimlessly, absent-mindedly and distractedly. Traffic authorities say many road accidents have resulted from motorists looking away from the road in an absent-minded or distracted manner.

震撼 (zhen4 han4)
shocked, dumbfounded
As a general tendency, Netizens love to use powerful or exaggerated words and phrases to express their feelings. So, they usually employ this Chinese phrase meaning literally "shocking" or "shocked" to say that they are surprised.

网申 (wang3 shen1)
apply online
Internet has saved job applicants the trouble of whirlwind visits to human resources offices of companies but the flip side of the story is that only a precious few of their applications on the Internet will get an answer.

以房养老 (yi3 fang2 yang3 lao3)
house-for-pension scheme
This term refers to a new scheme to increase the income of senior citizens in the city. People who are 65 or older are qualified to sell their home to the city’s Housing Fund, but they can continue to live in it by paying a market-level rent to the fund. Although different from the reverse mortgage scheme, it also allows seniors to access the equity in their home.

死党 (si3 dang3)
sworn friend
The Chinese expression originally means a diehard follower but is often used these days by youngsters in reference to their own very close friends who they believe will never let them down in whatever situation.

孤儿(gu1 er2)
office loner
This term, meaning literally "orphan," is often used by young people to refer to an office worker who is isolated, or chooses to be isolated, by others, either because of his or her bad behavior, disputable character or other problems.

植物人 (zhi2 wu4 ren2)
plant lover
It is used these days in reference to eco-conscious people who like to grow plants near their homes. The Chinese term literally means a person in a comatose state.

淘客(tao2 ke4)
online shopper
The term refers to those who search online for goods they like to purchase via a relatively safe third-party transaction platform. The phrase took off when taobao.com, a local C2C online shopping Website, became more and more popular.

寒促 (han2 cu4)
winter promotion
It refers to sales promotions initiated by IT firms during the winter vacation or Chinese Lunar New Year holiday seasons.

卡神 (ka3 shen2)
card manipulator
The term is the opposite to "card slave," people who borrow from one credit card to pay off debts on another credit card and live on the edge of bankruptcy. The card veterans can make the most of their credit cards or membership cards to earn points and benefits.

美丽垃圾(mei3 li4 la1 ji1)
beautiful garbage
The phrase refers to the over-extravagant gift packing made of materials such as metal, glass, silk or even rosewood. Despite the beautiful look, people usually throw it away after unpacking, causing a big waste.

急婚族(ji2 hun1 zu2)
hasty marriage clan
It refers to those who marry hastily, mostly under the pressure from work or family or after waiting too long to find the right partner.

利好 (l14 hao3)
bullish news, favorable news
It refers to any news, like a positive earnings report or favorable policies by the government, that drives up the price of a company's shares.

网恋 (wang3 lian4)
BBS love, virtual love
Internet-based love is also one of the spin-offs of the modern world and it either comes to nothing, grows into true love, or plays into a cunning hand.

软装 (ruan3 zhuang1)
soft decoration
The arrangement of potted plants, framed photos, oil paintings and other artworks or accessories in a house is called soft decoration, as compared to the interior decoration featuring plumbing and flooring.

软性技能 (ruan3 xing4 ji4 neng2)
soft skill
In addition to professional know-how, an employee will be viewed favorably by an employer if he or she possesses personal qualities such as good communication and expression skills and a strong team spirit.

草台 (cao3 tai2)
makeshift; low-quality
This term usually refers to a makeshift stage used for providing entertainment performances in rural areas. Now it is widely used to mean anything that is makeshift, or of low quality.

架空历史 (jia4 kong1 li4 shi3)
alternate history
Also called virtual history or alternative history. It is a mixture of speculative fiction, science fiction and historical fiction. Usually set in a fantasy world whose history has diverged from the actual world, alternate history literature asks the question,  "What if history had developed differently?"

素质场 (su4 zhi4 chang3)
Cheat-you-out-of-your-pocket place
The term literally means "a place of quality." It refers to some restaurants or other entertainment venues where sexy women lure men into unreasonably expensive services, such as a small glass of ordinary wine for an astronomical price. These women, however, never go to bed with men. Cheated men often cannot complain, as they are lured by sex in the first place. These men are then ironically called "men of quality."

饕客 (tao1 ke4)
Gourmet
The Chinese term is a bit humorous. It is not just about any gourmet. It refers to a gourmet who eats in wild joy.

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膀爷 (bang3 ye2)
topless man
The word literally means "shoulder grandpa"in Chinese. It refers to men who like to walk on the street topless during summer. Having long been criticized in the media and by the public, the phenomenon almost disappeared from Beijing streets during the Olympics but has not gone completely.

晚托班 (wan3 tu1o ban1)
after-school care service
Many working parents share a common plight in being unable to find suitable carers for their young children after school until they get home in the late afternoon. Now, some organizations such as the neighborhood committees have established after-school care centers for the youngsters.

带薪郁闷假 (dai4 xin1 yu4 men4 jia4)
paid distress day-off
It's a newly introduced paid holiday provided by some Chinese companies. In a year, an employee is allowed a day off for no reason, as long as he or she feels distressed. Under this arrangement, the company pays the person's wage for that day.

雷词 (lei2 ci2)
shocking word
The Chinese term, which literally means "thunder word,"refers to newly-coined shocking and outrageous words or phrases. They are extremely popular in online chat rooms and blogs.

湖绿(hu2 lv4)
fraud
"Green Lake,"as the term means in Chinese, refers to cooked-up story. It originated in a popular bbs where someone identified as "green Lake"claimed he had watched a dramatic film which didn't exist. Now his online name is synonymous with falsehood or fiction in online conversation.

什锦八宝饭 (shi2 jin3 ba1 bao3 fan4)
Jin-Bao fans
The fan club named after a Chinese dessert is actually a fan base of Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. The official website of The People's Daily, run by the Chinese Communist Party, created a special site for them, called "Jin and Bao Fans"(http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/8198/132796/index.html) on September 4.

土食族 (tu3 shi2 zu2)
locavore
A locavore is someone who eats food grown or produced locally. The locavore movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers?markets or even to produce their own food, with the argument that fresh, local products are more nutritious and taste better.

抛抛族 (pao1 pao1 zu2)
public litters
Some spectators at concerts or sports games have adopted the annoying and disruptive habit of littering, extending to even throwing things on stage and court. This behavior tarnishes the image of their city.