绯闻股 (fei3 wen2 gu3)
star-studded share
It refers to the Huayi Bros Media Group that was recently listed on the ChiNext, or the Chinese version of Nasdaq. The shareholders of the company are pop stars that are never short of gossip news, hence the term.

追客 (zhui1 ke4)
follower
The term refers to people who regularly refresh Web pages to follow the latest updates of online fiction serials, TV series, bloggers or podcasts. They will often feel upset over the delay or suspension of the updates.

隐形狗 (yin3 xing2 gou3)
invisible dog toy
The kuso toy, a specially designed rope invented in the 1970s, has recently come back into vogue. Many New Yorkers enjoy holding the rope, walking the non-existing dog and even pretending to tidy up the non-existing dog's poo.

群体无聊(qun2 ti3 wu2 liao2)
group boredom
The term turned into a catchphrase on the Internet. It reflected in a way the cyber culture in which young people kill their time in virtual worlds after being bored by other traditional entertainments, such as TV, radio and reading books.

走鬼(zou3 gui3)
unlicensed vendors
The Chinese term originates from Hong Kong, and literally means "walking ghosts." It refers to unlicensed street vendors who meander about to flee punishment by authorities.

刷书客 (shua1 shu1 ke4)
book scanner
The term refers to people who record extracts from a book, either in a bookstore or a library, with an electronic mini scanner without any intention to buy the book.

回流 (hui2 liu2)
backflow
The term refers to a phenomenon where many Chinese abandon their jobs and homes abroad to return to work in China at a stable job, especially in the current global financial crisis.

范儿 (fan4 er)
style
The Chinese term, popular mainly in northern China, refers to one's style --from dressing to general behavior.

跳价 (tiao4 jia4)
price hike
At first glance, the Chinese term is a bit ambiguous as it could suggest either a price hike or a price drop. But actually it means only a price hike.

窝案 (wo1 an4)
group crime
The Chinese term literally means a crime committed by a "nest" of people. It often refers to a felony such as bribe taking by a group of accomplices.

冷知识 (leng3 zhi1 shi)
trivial knowledge
It refers to rarely known, but sometimes amusing, trivial facts, like there are more chickens than humans on earth, the YKK on the zipper stands for the initials of the world’s largest zipper maker Yoshida Kogyo Kabushibibaisha, 80 percent of Americans like the color blue, you can’t sneeze with your eyes open, humans shed an average of 40 pounds of skin over a lifetime, and so on. Some of the knowledge falls into the believe-it-or-not type, such as Marilyn Monroe was born with 11 toes.

虾米族 (xia1 mi3 zu2)
shrimp clan
The term is derived from a popular KFC item featuring seven intact fried shrimps between two pieces of regular bread. It triggers deep thoughts among young consumers over how to live a better life in limited space. The clan refers to those who make the most of their available resources to handle soaring housing prices and salary cuts to maintain their living standards during the global downturn.

网络劳务 (wang3 luo4 lao2 wu4)
online labor services
The virtual labor relationships mainly exist on the Internet and the services offered center around the online world. Charges vary from 5 yuan (73 US cents) to 50 yuan per hour. The part-time jobs include picture uploading, data entry and online chatting. Among the most popular jobs is taking care of virtual vegetable gardens for clients when they are on holidays and have no access to the Internet.

换草运动 (huan4 cao3 yun4 dong4)
acquaintance blind date
The term literally means “exchanging grass” with grass referring to young men. Such events are usually initiated by “leftover women” — single women who have passed the best age for getting married. These women may bring single male friends, colleagues or relatives to a get-together and expect to find their Mr Right among their counterparts’ male friends.

麻豆 (ma2 dou4)
online shop model
It refers to models who only appear on online shops. The word is a transliteration from the English word for model.

袜裤 (wa4 ku4)
treggings
A trendy fashion for women is wearing leggings and trousers together. While a close fit and flexible is the main idea, it does draw closer scrutiny to the legs of the wearer.

比婚女 (bi3 hun1 nu3)
marriage comparison woman
The term refers to women who appear zealous in comparing the size of their diamond rings, how luxurious their wedding was, as well as their houses and vehicles after they get married.

黑暗期 (hei1 an4 qi1)
star twilight/obscurity period
Most pop stars toil through a period of obscurity before they gain fame.

官二代 (guan1 er2 dai4)
the second officer generation
The term, another word popular over the Internet after “the second rich generation” and “the second poor generation,” refers to children from families of senior officials. Their privileges are based on their parents’ power or other useful networks, instead of their own accomplishments. This second generation is notorious for their domineering practices and other misdeeds that annoy the public.

闪玩 (shan3 wan2)
flash play
The term means a very short trip. A new way of traveling has become popular among young people, especially office professionals, who fly somewhere on Friday night and fly back before work on Monday morning. They also seek new companions online to extend their social network.

被当爸 (bei2 dang1 ba4)
involuntary father
The term became popular when an obscure model said she had a child with actor Jude Law, confirmed by a DNA test. Law was then “forced to be someone’s father” because the model deliberately did not use contraceptives.

裸机 (luo3 ji1)
naked machine
The term refers to computers or intelligent mobile phones without operating systems or software. Many young people who can install operating systems themselves tend to buy “naked” computers or mobile phones as they are cheaper than those with operating systems.

炒新 (chao3 xin1)
speculate on new stock issues
The first character “chao" means "speculate on," while the second character "xin" means "new." The Chinese term is an abbreviation of a longer expression which means to "speculate on new stock issues."

他衰退 (ta1 shuai1 tui4)
male recession
Because many men have lost their jobs or found their salaries slashed during the current global economic recession, this financial downturn has been dubbed humorously as the "male recession."

极客 (ji2 ke4)
geek
The Chinese term is a transliteration from the English word "geek." The Chinese term refers to a person who does not dress fashionably but is addicted to and good at computers.

姐妹淘 (jie3 mei4 tao2)
sisterhood; a woman's close girlfriends
The Chinese term comes from Taiwan and means sisterhood or the relationship between two or more women who are very good friends.

萤火虫族 (ying2 huo3 chong2 zu2)
fireflyer
The term refers to those who smoke on their balcony in the evening. From a distance these people look like fireflies in the dark.