性短信 (xing4 duan3 xin4)
sexting
This term refers to a new trend among teenagers in some Western countries. They send nude or semi-nude photos through cell phones to their boyfriends or girlfriends. Instead of “texting,” they call it “sexting.”

衣架子 (yi1 jia4 zi)
clothes horse
The expression literally means mannequins or clothes racks. Now, it is often used to describe a man or woman who has a model-like figure that fits perfectly into fashionable clothes available on the market.

豁边 (huo1 bian1)
go too far, botch up
In Shanghai dialect, this term means literally the split of seams in pants or clothes. But it is often used as a metaphor to mean mishandling, botching up or going too far. It may also mean overspending when money is involved, or failure of a plan or an agreement.

0到N (0 dao4 N)
0 to N
The word refers to imposters who own nothing, but frequent upper-class venues in rented brand-name clothes. Their motive in mingling with high society is to seek opportunities to become rich someday.

话托 (hua4 tuo1)
phone fraud
Someone who appears as a sexy lady on the Internet and invites others to call her directly by a phone number. If one dials the number, he is likely to fall into a trap and be charged an exorbitant price.

透明人 (tou4 ming2 ren2)
transparent person
It refers to people who have lost their privacy to commercial advertisers or those who are deprived of their privacy due to illegitimate leaks of their personal information by unscrupulous companies.

草食男 (cao3 shi2 nan2)
grass-eating boy
In Japanese, it’s “Soshokukei Danshi,” which means boys who are impassive toward women in love, sex or marriage. For instance, they would engage in activities with women, from shoppingto traveling, but would not develop a romantic relationship with them.

肉食女 (rou4 shi2 nv3)
meat-eating girl
In Japanese, it’s “Nikushokukei Joshi,” which means girls who are aggressive toward men in love, sex or marriage. The reason is simple: men are not approaching women nowadays.

城中村 (cheng2 zhong1 cun1)
urban village
It refers to “rural islands” created by ill-planned urban expansion. Such villages scatter in sprawling big cities and often evolve into shanty towns. They are called “urban cancers” by some sociologists.

打星 (da3 xing1)
action movie star
It refers to those film stars that are mainly featured in action movies, such as Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh.

天鹅 (tian1 e2)
SWANS
This term stands for “Strong Women Achievers, No Spouse.” It was first used to describe a growing group of high-achieving single women who are often revered for their style and beauty, but sometimes feared for their strength.

漂绿 (piao3 lv4)
greenwash
This term, a portmanteau of green and whitewash, is often deemed as the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by companies, governments, other organizations or politicians to spin their products or policies as environment-friendly.

票房毒药 (piao4 fang2 du2 yao4)
box office flop
The term refers to a famous actor or actress who demands high payment but more often than not their movies would be a disaster in box office. Hollywood film star Nicole Kidman was once identified as a box office flop by Forbes magazine.

夹心阶层 (jia1 xin1 jie1 ceng2)
sandwich class
It is an informal term referring to lower middle class people who feel “squeezed” in society. They are not that poor to receive government financial support, but they are not able to live the decent life they would like to have.

可爱实力 (ke3 ai4 shi2 li4)
kawaii power
Japan recently appointed three young women as cultural envoys to boost its “soft power.” Japan’s Foreign Ministry officials said the country wanted people abroad to feel close to the envoys. The term is a variation of the “smart power” advocated by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

笋盘 (sun3 pan2)
dream property
The term refers to a house or apartment that is cheap but actually worth more and usually hard to come by. It is a Cantonese dialect term meaning a good buy in property.

恶播 (e4 bo1)
the vicious TV show
This phrase, meaning literally “vicious broadcasting,” has been popping up in Chinese media reports and online posters recently after several provincial TV stations telecast the same series using aggressive and unconventional methods in order to attract audiences. Some broadcast two or three episodes of the series more than 10 times a day, others presented an “abridged” version to “outplay” other TV stations. The phenomenon reflects a serious shortage of good TV products and lack of effective market regulations in the outlying country regions.

E点通 (E dian3 tong1)
eletronic information guide
It refers to electronic machines now being installed in major hotels in Shanghai. Touch their screens and you will find out all kinds of cultural and tourism information to help you discover the city’s commercial attributes.

37度女郎 (37 du4 nv3 lang2)
every man’s dream woman
It is a type of woman who is well-educated, well-paid, good-natured and good-looking and who is adored by every man. As 37 degrees Celsius is the human body temperature, her company makes people feel pleasant and comfortable.

金融危机宝宝 (jin1 rong2 wei1 ji1 bao3 bao)
financial crisis baby
Crisis babies are born amid the wave of massive layoffs triggered by the global financial crisis. To avoid being laid off, female white-collar workers choose to get pregnant as China’s Labor Law forbids enterprises to terminate contracts with female workers while they are pregnant or in the lactation period.

狱霸 (yu4 ba4)
prison bully
The phrase has appeared frequently in Chinese press headlines following the mysterious death of a 24-year-old man in police custody in Yunnan Province. Investigations show he was beaten to death by inmates who claimed he died in an accident while playing blindman’s bluff.

室内儿童 (shi4 nei4 er2 tong2)
indoor kids
The term refers to children who are unwilling to take part in outdoor activities and are indifferent to the appeal of nature. They indulge in playing computer games or watching TV programs and aren’t concerned about the external environment.

音频毒品 (yin1 pin2 du2 pin3)
I-Doser
The term refers to audio clips spreading over the Internet that are said to arouse a sense of illusion as if taking drugs. Some people find it enjoyable while others consider it noisy and nerve-racking. Experts say that feelings vary with listeners’ own experiences.

脑残体 (nao3 can2 ti3)
leet speak
This term, meaning literally “brain-impaired writing style,” is the Chinese answer to “leet-speak” in English. It’s a language used by some Netizens who mix traditional and simplified Chinese characters with symbols, numbers and alphabets. It is so hard to read that it looks like the writing of a mentally impaired person.

败犬女(bai4 quan3 nv3)
loser dog
Derived from the Japanese word “make inu,” this phrase means literally a “loser dog” and is used to describe women who have passed  the age of 30 and remain unmarried.

贾姬包 (jia3 ji1 bao1)
Jackie O’ Bag
It is a style of Gucci bag made famous in the fashion world by former US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who was famous for her high-end lifestyle.

大条 (da4 tiao2)
reckless
It is an expression that is often used in online chatrooms to describe a person who pays little heed to details or events that most people would consider alarming or sensational.

旅游券 (lv3 you2 quan4)
tourism coupon
Famous tourist cities such as Hangzhou and Changzhou distributed rebate coupons in Shanghai to attract local visitors. The coupons are for scenic spots, hotels and entertainment venues.

崩溃 (beng1 kui4)
breakdown
A colloquial expression that is used by young people frequently these days to mean you can not hold on to emotional stress or heavy work any more.

鬼马 (gui3 ma3)
witty
The expression is often used these days to describe a person who is sharp-minded and humorous, and prone to taking weird actions or saying unexpected words.

戏骨 (xi4 gu3)
chameleon-like actor
"Drama bone," as this term translates literally, refers to actors who are very good at performing a wide range of different roles in stage plays or movies, though they may not be famous.

力挺 (li4 ting3)
stalwart support
The expression is used these days to mean offering strong and public support to someone, especially when he or she is embroiled in a scandal or is the target of public accusation.

零投诉 (ling2 tou2 su4)
zero complaint
When a company provides good quality products or services, it will receive zero complaint from customers. Some local governments also aim for "zero complaint" from their citizens.

淘一代 (tao2 yi2 dai4）
online shoppers
This term refers to the ever-growing young population who are getting used to shopping online. Shanghai, in particular, has the biggest number of online shoppers in China.

奢华背包客 (she1 hua2 bei1 bao1 ke4)
flashpacker
This term is derived from the words "flash" and "backpacker" to describe people who like to travel with a backpack filled with a laptop, MP3 player or other PDAs but staying in a luxury hotel.

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