Blog

总队长(zǒng duì zhāng)
captain pioneer 
A photo of 13-year-old schoolboy Huang Yibo, better-known as the deputy director of the all-Wuhan city’s Young Pioneers, a mass youth organization for children in China, posing with his badge of five red bars has been hot online. Netizens say he sets a “standard” for a future government official and could even be a comic superhero, Captain Pioneer.

番茄工作法(fān qié gōng zuò fǎ)
pomodoro technique
A time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo. The technique uses a real timer or a software timer to create 25-minute work segments called “pomodori” (the Italian word for tomato), separated by five-minute breaks. 

冷指(lěng zhǐ)
cold finger 
Similar to turning a cold shoulder, giving a cold finger is to ignore someone’s text or microblog message — usually when that comment is pointless or uncalled-for.

拆家(chāi jiā)
middleman 
The Cantonese word, literally meaning “brokers” in Chinese, refers to distributors between manufacturers and retailers, especially drug dealers. The recent drug scandal involving Taiwan actor Sun Xing revealed that there might be several starlet drug dealers in domestic showbiz.

财金智能(cǎi  jīn zhì néng)
finlit
This is a new abbreviation of the expression “financial literacy,” which means the knowledge and understanding of financial language and concepts, especially when this helps one make important decisions about their financial situation.
 

微博控(wēi bó kòng) twuilt Borrowed from the English buzzword, a portmanteau of twitter and guilt, describing the guilty feeling you have when you haven't posted a twitter comment online recently.

隐性涨价(yǐn xìng zhǎng jià) hidden price hike Many producers of daily necessities have shrunk the contents of their products while keeping the same retail prices. The price hike is virtually hidden to casual shoppers.

孕傻(yùn shǎ) pregnancy stupidity It is believed that women during pregnancy will suffer deterioration of cognition capability and memory because of hormone changes. However, it does return after birth.

公铁行(gōng tiě xíng)
BMW The Chinese is a back translation from the English BMW, which stands for bus, metro and walk. BMW has become a major commuting mode for more people in large Chinese cities such as Shanghai. It was coined by Chinese netizens inspired by the namesake luxury car brand partly as a way to promote an environmental-friendly lifestyle.

庞氏骗局(páng shì piàn jú)
Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors, not from any actual profit earned by the organization, but from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors.

  吝享族(lìn xiǎng zú)
Stingy super-spender
These are Chinese young people in urban areas who go to great lengths to make the most of their meager income and live a life they consider comfortable enough.

巨型光棍节(jù xíng guāng gùn jié)
Super Singles Day
November 11 has been designated as Singles Day by Chinese youths in the past few years as 11-11 looks like singles standing alone. This year's Singles Day seems to carry more weight than usual as the date is 11-11-11.

潘币(pān bì)
Panbi
Panbi refers to a virtual form of currency named after Chinese real estate tycoon Pan Shiyi, chairman of SOHO China. One Panbi equals 1,000 yuan (US$157.4) per square meter. The term was invented after a Chinese microblogger joked that SOHO China should sell properties at 1,000 yuan per square meter when Pan dies. By doing this, more than a billion Chinese people would remember Pan. The comments were made after Pan said Apple should slash its prices as a tribute to Steve Jobs.

微求职(wēi qiú zhí)
microblog job seeking
It refers to a new form of job searching. Netizens post their resume on a microblog site and tweet the posts to their desired employers. It's fast, easy and doesn't cost anything, but it also has a very slim chance of success.

自出版(zì chū bǎn)
self-publishing
Without the involvement of a publisher, authors now can use digital tools and online platforms to publish their works. After finishing a manuscript, writers also need to create a professional book description and cover. Then they upload the book online, convert it to the proper format and it will be available in online book stores. By doing this, authors can earn more royalties.

限娱令(xiàn4 yú lìng)
vulgur-fare curbs
China's broadcast watchdog has issued a directive to limit the number of "vulgar" or "overly entertaining" programs in its latest move to boost good morals. The programs singled out for the ax include those dealing with marital troubles and matchmaking, talent shows, game shows, variety shows, talk shows and reality programming.