Chinese language vocabulary 汉语词汇 OMG! Chinese Buzzwords! (5)

不眠精英 (bù mián jīng yīng)
sleepless elite
This refers to a small number of people who can function well on little sleep. Universtiy of California researchers recently found that around 1 percent of the population are naturally “short sleepers” who can happily and healthily get by on four or five hours of a shut-eye a night, without needing naps or caffeine.

食品瘦身 (shí pǐn shòu shēn)
product downsizing
The practice of some companies to reduce the weight of packaged goods while maintaining the price so that eagle-eyed customers do not detect what is basically a price increase.

零阻力员工(líng2 zǔ lì yuán gōng)
burden-free employee
Some fresh graduates at workplaces are often given extra workloads, overtime tasks or tedious business trips on grounds they are single and considered free of family burdens.

海归家具(hǎi guī jiā jù)
overseas-returned furniture
Following the DaVinci furniture scandal involving costly Italian fakes made in China and labeled "imported," Chinese people mock these fakes as furniture returning from an overseas trip to qualify for the status of an import.

乐跳(lè tiào)
leisure dive
After planking swept the Internet, the latest fad is “leisure diving” in which someone poses in mid-air with a beverage in hand, then dives into a pool. Hilarious photos are uploaded and fans’ motto is “Live and Let Dive.”

竹幕(zhú mù)
bamboo ceiling
Similar to the glass ceiling, the bamboo ceiling refers to the invisible barrier encountered by Asians and Asian Americans in the United States, preventing them from reaching top jobs because of their ethnicity and cultural background.

隐离族(yǐn lí zú)
divorce clan
In Chinese cities, some people, especially women, have to hush up their divorce because of their child, parents or relatives. As a result, they continually have to make up lies to cover previous lies and make people believe they are still married.

自给族(zì jǐ zú)
self-sustaining clan
Some urban Chinese, concerned about the food safety scandals and rocketing consumer prices, grow their own food as much as possible, such as bean sprouts, or make it at home, such as yogurt.

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