性格婚检 (xing4 ge2 hun1 jian3)
pre-marriage personality examination
The so-called “examination,” different from routine health checks before marriage registration, is designed to test whether the personalities of a couple match each other before they wed. The examination, which has recently been launched in Taiwan, combines psychological counseling and a personality test questionnaire.

格格党 (ge2 ge2 dang3)
princess clan
It is a workplace expression to describe those who were born after 1985, take their job as play, pay too much attention to their own needs and are too socially unsophisticated to heed public standards.

偶像剧 (ou3 xiang4 ju4)
fashion icon drama
It is a kind of soap opera that features an assortment of young pop stars playing out modern life stories but seldom exploring a serious topic.

啃老房 (ken3 lao3 fang2)
NEET-style home
In large cities like Shanghai, some young people who cannot afford a new home — a necessity for getting married — have to resort to their parents’ lifelong savings as a stepping stone on the road to wedlock.

杀伤力 (sha1 shang1 li4)
kill charm
When a woman or man is very beautiful or handsome, he or she is said to be endowed with an invincible power strong enough to charm an army of the opposite sex.

地王 (di4 wang2)
whopping-price land
When a developer wins a bid for land at an outrageously high price, the land is nicknamed as 地王, which literally means land king.

水壶男 (shui3 hu2 nan2)
kettle guy
The phrase "kettle guy," or "water-bottle man,"originates from young Japanese white-collar workers. It refers to those office workers who bring kettles with them every day to be economical and thrifty amid the global financial downturn and for the sake of environmental protection as well.

离活 (li2 huo2)
divorce hunter
The term, in contrast to marriage hunter or the live-to-marry clan who go all out to find a soul partner, refers to those married people who mull over divorce to return to a single life for freedom or divide property.

规则潜 (gui ze2qian3)
defunct rules
The term, a literal reversion of "hidden rules" in Chinese, refers to rules and regulations which no longer punish violators and do not work well any more. The defunct rules in fact foster hidden rules to some extent, the unspoken cues that dictate behavior and actions.

特保案 (te4 bao3 an4)
special protection case
The decision by the United States government to impose tariffs on the import of tires from China is the latest example of seeking special protection of domestic enterprises from dumping, but China accuses the Obama administration of protectionism and has appealed the case to the WTO.

海鸥经理 (hai3 ou1 jing1 li3)
seagull manager
The term is used to describe a management style of interacting with employees only when a problem arises, making hasty decisions about things they have little understanding of, then leaving others to deal with the mess they leave behind.

上帝视角 (shang4 di4 shi4 jiao3)
God’s eye view
In writing, this subject-object problem means an author leaves the point of view of the main actor to start writing about things the characters could not know if the story were in real life. Readers joke that only God can acknowledge all that happens.

素颜 (su4 yan2)
plain face
The term refers to people’s faces without makeup. People like to publish “plain face” pictures of famous people, especially pop stars, online to compare with their “polished” faces. It can also refer to natural scenery without any human decoration.

通勤装 (tong1 qin2 zhuang1)
office outfit
It refers to clothing that is fit for office hours and formal business gatherings.

吸烟装 (xi1 yan1 zhuang1)
tuxedo/smoking jacket
The manly attire that gained popularity in the 1960s has taken a feminine twist and has found its way into women’s wardrobes.

男人婆 (nan2 ren2 po2)
macho woman
It refers to a woman who is preoccupied with the will to gain the upper hand over men, besides her resemblance to a man in behavior.

艳遇 (yan4 yu4)
romantic encounter
When two lonely hearts strike up a relationship after an accidental encounter, it falls into this category. The expression denotes a short-lived affair between a man and a woman who were strangers before they met.

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分居恋人族(fen1 ju1 lian4 ren2 zu2)
LATers

The term, an abbreviation of “live apart together,” refers to married couples who live apart but stay united and emotionally committed. This latest style of couple relationship has evolved from “independent lovers” who don’t think it necessary to stick to each other all the time. It is a relationship in which the two parties regard themselves as a couple - indeed, most of them are married to each other - but don’t live in the same house. They find that the practicalities of sharing the same space may be harder to cope with than first anticipated.

齐天大剩(qi2 tian1 da4 sheng4)
super leftover girls
The term is derived from 剩女, which means "leftover girls." It usually refers to highly educated and well-paid successful career women well above 36 years of age who haven't found their Mr Right yet. They are even more beyond the average age for marriage than leftover girls. It is pronounced the same as the "Monkey King" in Chinese, a major character in the "Journey to the West," one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature.

三不女(san1 bu4 nv3)
"Three NOT" woman
The term refers to women who do not go shopping, do not follow fashion trends and do not compete with others. They are normally single and above 25 years of age, have a reasonable income and are confident and smart. During the economic crisis, more men now tend to court this type of women as a "budget wife," a term similar to the "budget husband" who has no bad habits such as drinking, smoking or gambling.

游击店(you2 ji1 dian4)
pop-up shop
It is a kind of temporary establishment that luxury fashion brands set up in the suburbs of metropolitan cities or in markets where there are hardly any, if at all, such luxury stores. These outlets usually operate only for several days or months before a scheduled shutdown.

朝活族(zhao1 huo2 zu2)
morning bees
It refers to young mothers and white-collar workers who get up very early, either to avoid distraction by their children or to make the most of the day, to do housework or pursue personal hobbies. The expression first came into use in Japan.

罗马鞋(luo2 ma3 xie2)
gladiator sandals/stilettos
Fashion seems always to be rooted in history, as is shown in this summer's latest trendy women's gladiator sandals that feature flat heels and a rich array of straps - and very often the more the better. Some leather gladiator stilettos are also considered an icon of trendy style.

装忙族(zhuang1 mang2 zu2)
play-busy clan
Some office workers will pile up files on their work console but are in fact busy with everything other than their work.

白菜价 (bai2 cai4 jia4)
low price
The Chinese term literally means “cabbage price.” Cabbage is one of the cheapest vegetables in China so “cabbage price” means a very low price.

杠杆女 (gang4 gan3 nv3)
lever women
The term refers to wives who play their advantages to the full to help their husbands succeed in careers. Such women are compared to levers to lift their husbands.

明星脸 (ming2 xing1 lian3)
celebrity copycat
The term, “star face” by its literal meaning in Chinese, refers to those people who look like some celebrities. The newly screened movie “Tracing Shadow” features a flock of look-alikes resembling Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Andy Lau and other movie stars.

手帕交 (shou3 pa4 jiao1)
close female friends
When two women have been such good friends that they have no secrets to hold back from each other, they belong to this category. The expression literally means “handkerchief friendship” as in ancient China a handkerchief is the symbol of sworn sisters.

蛋腚 (dan4 ding4)
sober, composed
The term, “butt of an egg” in its literal sense, is pronounced the same as the Chinese word for calm and composed — 淡定 — and has replaced the correct writing of the Chinese word “calm” on the Internet. “Dàn dìng” became a Chinese buzzword in August 2008 when it was used in Yunnan dialect in the popular comedy movie “Almost Perfect.”

温和腐败 (wen1 he2 fu3 bai4)
mild corruption
It refers to a government official who says his corruption is mild because he takes bribes only after he does something for the briber. In his view, there’s worse corruption when an official takes bribes and yet refuses to return the favor.

太妹 (tai4 mei4)
offbeat girls
The expression is believed to have originated in Taiwan where people mean it to be females in their late teens and early 20s who dawdle around all day and choose to be good for nothing. These girls are the female version of 古惑仔(gu3 huo4 zai3).

攒机 (cuan2 ji1)
DIY computer
It's a kind of computer DIY assembled for personal use, but when it crosses the line to generate illegal profits, lawsuits will ensue over intellectual property rights, as proved in recent years.

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