ShanghaiDaily's blog

Nov. 7 官二代 the second officer generation

online@shanghaidaily.com(admin) — Sat,07 Nov 2009 22:17:30 +0800

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)
forced to be someone’s 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.

Nov 1 病毒营销--viral marketing

online@shanghaidaily.com(admin) — Sat,31 Oct 2009 22:23:21 +0800

病毒营销 (bing4 du2 ying2 xiao1)
viral marketing
Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to using social networks such as the Internet to increase brand awareness or product sales through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of computer viruses.

爱老虎油 (ai4 lao3 hu3 you2)
I love you
The Chinese word which literally means “love tiger oil” is pronounced similarly to “I love you” in English. The saying comes from a Hong Kong kung fu movie in which the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) heroine is tricked by a Western-educated lover to say the words.

动L (dong4 L)
alive
The term is prevalent throughout the Internet due to shampoo ads featuring Jackie Chan. He used it to indicate fine hair quality that is flexible and lively. Now it is widely used by Netizens to indicate alive and kicking.

肩客 (jian1 ke4)
johnkers
It is a new type of online community sales platform that links registered members only on the Internet with johnkers, or sales agents, taking commission. The sellers are mostly moonlighting office workers offering a variety of services. However, as the platform has been blamed for many fraud cases, it hasn’t been widely accepted in China.

拖尾巴 (tuo1 wei3 ba1)
spill-back
It refers to the partial or full blockage of a road crossing by cars that don’t make it through the traffic lights before they turn red. Police in Shanghai, where traffic jams are common, have started to prevent or solve such congestion.

空怒 (kong1 nu4)
air rage
Disruptive behavior on British passenger aircraft rose 30 percent last year, with alcohol playing a significant part in what the media has dubbed as “air rage.” The most common age group involved was 30-39 and incidents spanned from attacks on crew to in-flight smoking.

喵喵族 (miao1 miao1 zu2)
stray-cat caretakers
Some urban residents in big Chinese cities will offer food, whatever it is, to stray cats whenever and wherever they come across one.

魅领 (mei4 ling3)
charming white-collars
It is a newly coined expression to describe young elites in every walk of life, especially white collars, who are generally deemed to be charming in the sense of career, wealth, health and romance.

情流感 (qing2 liu2 gan3)
virulent love
The Chinese term has the same pronunciation as that of "bird flu" but with a new twist of meaning. It literally means "love flu," referring to love affairs that come and go fast.

Oct 25 黄金粥--golden porridge

online@shanghaidaily.com(admin) — Sat,24 Oct 2009 22:34:49 +0800

黄金粥 (huang2 jin1 zhou1)
golden porridge
The term, “golden porridge” in its literal meaning and pronounced the same as “golden week” in Chinese, replaces the original word for the golden holidays. It originated from a namesake song of folk singer Zhou Yunpeng depicting golden week as not gold all over the ground but one bowl of porridge per person. “Golden Week” describes each of the two annual national holidays — Spring Festival in January or February and National Day in October — that cause congestion in traffic, accommodation and consumption as large crowds flock to travel.

搞手族 (gao3 shou3 zu2)
online organizer clan
The term, derived from Cantonese, refers to people who issue Website posts to organize various get-togethers such as mountain climbing, pub crawling and karaoke. Participants usually prepay while the organizer takes a cut from either the Website or the venue provider after each get-together. The monthly return can be 1,000 yuan (US$146).

乙男 (yi3 nan2)
otomen, pinky boy
The Japanese manga “Otomen” and its namesake TV drama features a boy with a secret: the things he really loves are cute dolls, cooking and sewing. The word “otomen” is a pun made of the Japanese word otome, meaning young girl, and the English word "men."

杯具 (bei1 ju4)
tragedy
The word, literally meaning cups in Chinese, is a homophone of the word "tragedy" in Chinese and is widely spreading among Netizens as an exaggerated and humorous expression. The word 餐具, literally meaning tableware, is another choice.

钓鱼执法(diao4 yu2 zhi2 fa3)
entrapment
Entrapment is the act of a law enforcement agent inducing a person to commit an illegal activity that they would not normally have done.

瘦骨仙 (shou4 gu3 xian1)
bony beauty
For many years, those bony models have been elevated in the fashion circle to the status of an immortal. But as people pay more and more attention to health, the look has gradually lost its appeal.

娃娃装 (wa2 wa2 zhuang1)
baby-doll dress
It refers to the kind of women's wear that features clothing with puffed sleeves, or a sometimes sleeveless, pull-on design and attractive, square neck.

寂寞党 (ji4 mo4 dang3)
lonely clan
Some Netizens have taken to the catchphrase that, "What I do is not whatever it is, it is loneliness."These people are nicknamed 寂寞党.

Oct 18 物联网 Internet of things

online@shanghaidaily.com(admin) — Sat,17 Oct 2009 23:04:14 +0800

物联网 (wu4 lian2 wang2）
Internet of things
The term has come to describe a number of technologies that enable the Internet to reach out to the real world of physical objects which incorporate installed chip technology. Made possible by wireless communications, real-time localization systems and radio frequency beacons, it is believed to usher in a future that closely links the physical world and cyberspace. Many believe that this will become a new economic boom sector after the Internet and related listed companies in the Chinese stock market have surged because of the heated discussion of this concept.

烎 (yin2)
steam ahead
This Chinese character originally means “brightness.” It became popular when a little-known team of professional computer game players with the same name took on a three-time World Cyber Games champion. The “烎"team showed the never-say-die spirit during the game and the word began to refer to this spirit and courage to defy establishment. It is believed that its new meaning was derived from the two parts of the character, which means “weapon fi ring.”

罪驾 (zui4 jia4)
drunk driving
The term repeatedly appeared in Chinese media after the country's traffic authority started a nationwide crackdown on drunk-driving. Fatal road accidents in Shanghai last year involving drunk driving were almost double that of the national average.

蜜糖派 (mi4 tang2 pai4)
sugar lady
It refers to beautiful office ladies who know how to be sweet to the right bosses and colleagues. Not really sweet or easy-going, but they smile if you are of use to them.

信使包 (xìn shǐ bāo)
messenger bag/courier bag
It is a kind of bag that is worn over one shoulder with the strap winding at the chest. Though it is traditionally mostly used by mail workers, it has now become an urban fashion icon.

薄食代 (bao2 shi2 dai4)
eat-less era
The Chinese term literally means an era in which people eat less and stay fit. It refers to the current trend where people increasingly distance themselves from oily food.

美容觉 (mei3 rong2 jiao4)
beauty-enhancing sleep
The time for sleep between 10pm and 2am is believed by some to be the best to help build a beautiful face as this period is when the metabolism is most active, helping the body excrete the toxic matter inside the body.

婴儿肥 (ying1 er2 fei2)
baby fat
It refers to the fat that a young girl in her puberty phase develops in the face but will most often lose later on as she grows up and matures physically.

Oct.11 春夏季-sprummer

online@shanghaidaily.com(admin) — Sun,11 Oct 2009 01:03:05 +0800

春夏季 (chun1 xia4 ji4)
sprummer
The term, developed by Australian scientist Tim Entwisle, is a combination of spring and summer together with another new word “sprinter” indicating an early spring. The term refers to the season between spring and summer, the suggested additional period that is not clearly differentiated from the conventional four. Entwisle has argued that Australia requires five or six seasons to help people better understand their environment and monitor signs of climate change rather than the “arbitrary” four currently in use.

金砖四国 (jin1 zhuan1 si4 guo2)
BRICs
In economics, BRIC or BRICs, is an acronym that refers to the fast-growing developing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Brazil is known as the “World’s Raw Material Base,” with Russia known as the “World’s Gas Station,” India known as the “World’s Office,” and China known as the “Factory of the World.” The term was first proposed by Jim O’Neill, chief economist of Goldman Sachs on November 20, 2001, in a published report entitled “The World Needs Better Economic BRICs.”

贫二代 (pin2 er4 dai4)
the second poor generation
The term refers to children of poor families in China who are usually very frugal and work hard to help their dependents overcome impoverished conditions. The phrase appears online in China as a result of a report saying that a freshman in the Xiangtan University in Hunan Province walked 10 kilometers to the school to save money for lunch. The term is opposite to the “second rich generation” who are usually born with a silver spoon.

数字游民 (shu4 zi4 you2 min2)
digital nomad
Digital nomad refers to a person who uses technology, particularly wireless networking, to work without the need for an office or other fixed address. They reach their colleagues via instant messaging, Twitter, Facebook, e-mail and occasionally by voice on their iPhones or Skype.

世博水 (shi4 bo2 shui3)
Expo water
It refers to high-quality drinking water now available in the World Expo 2010 area to the west of Huangpu River. Drinking water there used to be of low quality before a major local water factory was renovated and recently commissioned.

拼爹 (pin1 die1)
hardworking father
It refers to a father who had a rags-to-riches story. The son, however, usually idles away time by squandering money accumulated through his father’s hard work.

大众脸 (da4 zhong4 lian3)
public face
The term refers to people with very ordinary faces that are hard to remember among others. The reality is that they proliferate in general society. The term is opposite to “star face” people, whose looks resemble celebrities and are easy to recognize.

Sep. 27 性格婚检 - pre-marriage personality examinatio

online@shanghaidaily.com(admin) — Sat,26 Sep 2009 20:13:04 +0800

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.

Sep. 20 特保案 - special protection case

online@shanghaidaily.com(admin) — Sat,19 Sep 2009 23:40:26 +0800

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.

务虚会议 (wu4 xu1 hui4 yi4)
theory-discussing meeting
A typical Chinese style of conference in which participants discuss principles and guidelines for the coming year or events.

氧气美女 (yang3 qi4 mei3 nv3)
jade complexion beauty
The skin of some young women looks like smooth jade and is elastic as if the skin is well nursed in oxygen. The expression literally means “oxygen beauty.”

Sep. 13 分居恋人族 - LATers

online@shanghaidaily.com(admin) — Sat,12 Sep 2009 21:51:23 +0800

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.

Sept. 06 白菜价- low price

online@shanghaidaily.com(admin) — Sat,05 Sep 2009 22:09:15 +0800

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.

花心(hua1 xin1)
unfaithful
The expression is often applied to men who stray away from a faithful relationship with their spouses. It literally means a "flowery heart," as flower is often associated with love or romance in Chinese.

Aug. 30 胡萝卜族-carrot-mobber

online@shanghaidaily.com(admin) — Sat,29 Aug 2009 23:21:27 +0800

胡萝卜族(hu2 luo2 bo zu2)
carrot-mobber
Carrot-mobbers refer to consumers who team up to place big group orders to corporations and small businesses which are selling eco-friendly products. They choose to use their buying power to support "greener businesses," a trend appearing to be an upgrade of old boycotts.

反庐舍联盟(fan3 lu2 she4 lian2 meng2)
Anti-loser Union
A group of Chinese companies, mostly in the Internet industry, formed an "Anti-loser Union" to educate office workers or students who are over-indulged in online chatting or social networking sites and lose their focus on work or study. Members of this union promise to punish their employees who dare to abuse computers to surf non-essential Websites and waste company time.

巧经济(qiao3 jing1 ji4)
smart economy
The expression was first put forward by the Obama administration. It refers to a new economical policy which encourages stimulus capital to be put into the development of renewable energy, green technology, infrastructure, broadband communication, medical treatment and health, and it is thought to be a new way to help to revive the American economy.

必剩客(bi4 sheng4 ke4)
doomed single
The expression which has a similar pronunciation with "Pizza Hut" in Chinese, is used to describe those who are above the normal marriage age but still single and need to keep struggling to find their other half. This group more often than not put so much time into work that they have little chance to meet potential partners. So they are considered to be people who are doomed to be single.

威水史(wei1 shui3 shi3)
glorious past
This buzzword, which refers to a person or an organization's glorious past, is most likely based on the Cantonese pronunciation of "victory," though it literally means "history of regal water." This word is finding its way into Chinese news stories.

蜗居(wo1 ju1)
poky room
The buzzword, which literally means a tiny living space, gained its overnight popularity after a TV drama based on the namesake novel hit Shanghai screens this July. The plot reflects the struggle of Shanghainese who try to buy their homes in the city's increasingly expensive property market.

萌女郎(meng2 nu3 lang2)
girlish woman
It refers to a mature woman who goes crazy making up herself after the style of a teenager.

戳(chuo1)
poke
The word, originally meaning tapping or softly jabbing another person using a finger or stick, is now widely used on social networking sites and instant messaging as a greeting. You can start your online talk just by poking someone.