叉腰肌 (cha1 yao1 ji1)
tangential excuse
The term means literally iliopsoas — the great flexor muscle of the hip joint. It has become one of the hottest buzzwords in China after Xie Yalong, China’s senior soccer official, recently used it to criticize the women’s national soccer team, blaming their failure at the Olympic Games on their weak iliopsoas muscles. Most Netizens believe it’s an extremely tangential excuse cited by Xie to avoid the blame.

潜水 (qian3 shui3)
lurking
This popular expression in the online world refers to the fact that some visitors only read remarks posted by others in the chat room but never participate in the talk.

海泡 (hai3 pao4)
overseas-lingering grads
Some Chinese students stay much longer than necessary in a foreign country after finishing their study because they lack confidence to find a good job in their home country. The expression plays on the Chinese word 泡, which can mean either bubble, froth or, as a verb, to linger.

海鸥 (hai3 ou1)
globe-trotting businesspeople
Seagull, as this Chinese term means literally, describes some Chinese people who have an overseas education background and frequently take business trips to foreign countries. They are likened to seagulls flying over the sea all the time.

海根 (hai3 gen1)
back-to-the-root Chinese
Many Chinese become well established in a foreign country after finishing their study, but they are more than ready to return to China to spend the rest of their life. As the old Chinese saying goes, “falling leaves will return to the roots.”

金牌学历 (jin1 pai2 xue2 li4)
gold-medal education
This term doesn’t mean an education that is worthy of a “gold medal.” It refers to the free education offered by some universities to attract sport stars who have won gold medals.

云计算 (yun2 ji4 suan4)
cloud computing
It is a distributed computing technology, an improvement on Distributed Computing, Parallel Computing and Grid Computing as well as commercial realization of scientific computing concepts. Many famous IT companies such as IBM, Yahoo and Google promote services and products through this technology.

返券黄牛(fan3 quan4 huang2 niu2)
shopping coupon scalper
Some shopping malls give coupons to customers as discounts during promotions. If customers don’t want to use the coupons, scalpers profit by selling or buying them.

啤酒眼 (pi1jiu3yan3)
beer goggles
Through a drunken eye, things do look different. Under the influence of alcohol, people tend to choose sex partners they would never prefer while sober. No wonder people say “beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.”

诈弹 (zha4dan4)
false bomb
This Chinese term has the same pronunciation as the Chinese term for “bomb”, but with a twist: the first character “zha” here means “false,” not “explosive.”

油老虎 (you2lao3hu3)
gas guzzler
“Oil tiger,” as this term translates literally, refers to cars that get very poor gas mileage. Many Chinese nouveau riche favor “oil tigers” to show off their wealth.

火锅奖 (huo3guo1jiang3)
hotpot prize
Instead of a jackpot, this term refers to some lottery prizes with a very small value — so small that you can afford only a hotpot meal with each of the prizes.

住车族 (zhu4che1zu2)
car living people
It refers to some people in California who live in their cars as they have lost jobs and cannot afford rent for housing.

职客 (zhi2ke4)
job-hunting agent
A term used to refer to those who help others find a job and then charge a certain amount as a fee. This kind of self-employed agent sees a job-wanted post on the Internet and helps find one as specified by using their connections as well as job market information.

嚼吧 (jue2ba1)
chewing gum club
It is reported that in some big Chinese cities like Beijing and Guangzhou, a chewing gum producer has set up a room and offers free products to office workers complaining of high pressure, either from work or life, in high-end office complexes.

潜歧视 (qian4qi2shi4)
tacit discrimination
It is a deep-rooted habitual discrimination harbored by one group of people against another though it has never been publicly stated.

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奥运婚（ao4yun4hun1）
Olympic marriage
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are not just a party for sports fans but also for many brides and grooms. The number of wedding registrations in Shanghai hit a record on August 8, the opening day of the Games, as many young couples wanted the memorable day as their wedding anniversary.

懒婚族(lan3hun1zu2)
single-life clan
It refers to those who have a decent and well-paying job and live a comfortable life but are reluctant to get married.

味道美女(wei4dao4mei3nu3)
belle waitress
The Chinese term literally means "delectable beauty." And many gourmets believe that beautiful waitresses are the sine qua non of a fine feast.

绿游(lu4you2)
green tour
A term used these days to classify those people who prefer a tour operator and a hotel that provide environment protection information, refuse to eat or buy anything made of protected species and refrain from littering and using detergents.

代排族(dai4pai2zu2)
hired queuer
People, usually migrants from rural areas and jobless citizens, are hired to queue up for train tickets and hospital appointment tickets in large cities in return for a pittance.

男人妆(nan2ren2zhuang1)
unisex makeup
Some women make themselves up in a way that is unisex instead of purely feminine.

拍砖(pai1zhua1)
knock, pick apart
The term, which literally means "smacking with a brick" in Chinese, is now widely used among Chinese Internet users when they strongly criticize someone's idea or act.

控盐勺(kong4yan2shao2)
salt-control spoon
Shanghai government has decided to give out 6 million salt-control spoons free to local families in order to help control local residents' daily salt intake. Scientists have found that locals are putting too much salt into their food. Surveys found an average resident in Shanghai takes in about 9.90 grams of salt every day, far above the recommended amount of 6 grams.

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驴子(lu1zi1)
heavy-pack traveler
This Chinese phrase means literally donkey, a working animal. It is used here to describe those travel buffs who are equipped with professional backpack gear, such as a sleeping bag, tent and water cask. The name implies that they travel with heavy packs, just like a donkey carrying a large piece of cargo.

鸭子(ya1zi1)
light traveler
The word “duck” is used here for those tourists who travel light and tend to join a tour group organized by travel agencies. They are like ducks herded around by the guide.

旅游购物狂(lu3you2gou4wu4kuang2)
transumer
Chinese tourists are now well-known for their shopping sprees overseas at souvenir stores, shopping malls and brand name boutiques. Transumer, a newly-coined English word that blends "transient"with "consumer,"is the best name for those Chinese tourists.

3F危机 (san1Fwei1ji1)
3F crisis
This new term refers to the financial crisis, fuel crisis and food crisis now plaguing many parts of the world.

断供(duan4gong4)
mortgage default
The word emerged as housing prices in several Chinese cities started to fall. Many house-owners have refused to continue to pay their mortgages as the value of their property is shrinking.

放卫星(fang4wei4xing1)
stand up, no-show
This Chinese term, which literally means “launching a satellite,” evolved from the phrase “flying a pigeon.” It used to describe making big news during the “cultural revolution” (1966-1976). But now it is used to describe the behavior of standing somebody up, not showing up or offering an empty promise.

试客(shi4ke4)
free product testers
Many Websites now start to offer free products, such as shampoo and make-up, as test samples to anyone who registers. However, testers have to write feed-back reports about the quality of the product or their ideas about it. This information, in turn, will be sold to producers.

留爪(liu2zhua3)
leave a mark
The term literally means “leaving a claw mark” in Chinese. Now the phrase is becoming popular among online users when referring to making an online posting in BBS communities.

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