Category: News Vocabulary

东道主 (dōngdàozhǔ) a host Usage: “东道主”本义为东方道路上的主人。战国时期，郑国在东，秦国在西。郑国接待秦国使者，因此郑国被称为“东道主”。后来“东道主”泛指接待者或者请客的主人。现在，“东道主”也指会议、比赛项目的主办国家、主办城市或主办单位等。例如，2008年奥运会的东道主国家是中国，东道主城市是北京。The original meaning of “东道主” is the host in the Eatern road. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the state of Zheng, which was in the east of Qin hosted the envoys from Qin. Zheng was called“东道主”. Later, “东道主” generally refers to a host who is in charge of receiving the guests, or someone who pays the bill for others. Nowadays, it also refers to the country, city or organization which hosts a conference, a game, e.g. Beijing, China was the host cityof 2008 Olympic Games.

敲边鼓 (qiāo biāngǔ) Beat the drum on the side; to speak in support of somebody; speak a good word indirectly for sb.

大腕儿 (dàwànr) a big shot; an important person Usage: “大腕儿”的字面意义是大手腕。它是指在某一领域，如文艺界、体育界、信息科技等，造诣很高、取得很大成就的人。“大腕儿”literally means a big wrist. It is used to describe a person who has great achievement in a field, such as literature and art, sport or IT etc.

万事通 (wàn shì tōng) know-it-all; jack-of-all-trades Usage: “万事通”指的是什么事情都懂的人，多含有讥讽的意思。但是有时候“万事通”也用来指知识广博的人，不是贬义，没有讽刺的意思。“万事通” satirically refers to people who seem to know everything. In fact, they don’t know very well. However, sometimes it is also used to describe someone knowledgeable “万事通”.

拦路虎 (lán lù hǔ) an obstacle; a hindrance; a tiger in the way Usage: 这个词的字面意思是挡在路中的老虎，使人不能继续前行。所以，“拦路虎”用来指人们在生活、学习或其他方面遇到的非常大的困难和障碍。The literal meaning of this word is a tiger in your way, you couldn’t move forward. So，“拦路虎（lán lù hǔ）”means the great difficulties or obstacles in one’s study, life or other aspects.

三只手 (sān zhī shǒu) a pickpocket; thief Usage: “三只手”的字面意思是一个人有三只手，用来指对小偷的贬称。“三只手”literally means a person who has three hands. It refers to thieves who often steal things.

跳蚤市场 (tiàozǎo shìchǎng) flea market
Usage: “跳蚤市场”来源于英国，以前英国人把自己旧的用品拿到街上卖，这些旧的东西经常会有跳蚤。因此，英国人就把卖旧货的地方叫做flea market。而到了中国，就直译成了“跳蚤市场”。，指地摊式的旧货市场，出售的商品多为旧货或闲置的物品。“跳蚤市场” came from Britain. Long ago, the British put their old things, which were often infested with fleas, into the street to sell. So, the British called the place for selling old things a “flea market.” In China, it is translated literally as “跳蚤市场.” Stalls at such markets sell goods that are old or have not been used for a long time.

奇葩 (qípā) wonderful flowers; ridiculous person or behavior Usage: “奇葩”是网络的新词汇，原指奇特而美丽的花朵（褒义）。现指超出正常人行为和思维以外的让人难以理解的行为（贬义）。这些行为一般与众不同、稀奇古怪、甚至荒唐。“奇葩” is a new word from the internet. It used to be a positive term meaning peculiar and beautiful flowers. Now it is derogatory and means behavior that defies understanding, or behavior and ways of thinking beyond that of normal humans. These types of behavior are usually strange, eccentric, out of the ordinary and even ridiculous.

皮毛(pímáo) skin and hair; superficial knowledge Usage： “皮毛”本来是指禽兽的皮和毛的总称，多比喻学识方面表面的、肤浅的东西。“皮毛” was originally a general term for animal skin and hair. It more often is a metaphor for something shallow or superficial in knowledge.

浮云 (fú yún)floating clouds; nothing Meaning: “浮云”的本义是天空中漂浮的云彩，现在网络上多用“浮云”表示什么都没有，什么都不值得一提。The original meaning of “浮云” is a floating cloud. Now, people use it on the internet to express nothingness or how nothing is worth mentioning.