Tag: Buzzwords

OMG! Chinese Buzzwords! (7)

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.

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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.

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OMG! Chinese Buzzwords! (4)

玻璃雨(bō li yǚ)
shards of falling glass
The term literally means rainfall of glass sheets. Several accidents in which glass sheets fell from buildings whose exterior walls consisted of glass blocks have occurred recently in Shanghai and Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. A woman's lower leg was cut off last month by a shard of glass falling from a building in Hangzhou.

H2O族(H2O zú)
home to office clan
Instead of juggling between work and family, this group of people, usually aged 25-35, enjoy a slow-paced and low-carbon lifestyle. They remain calm and composed even when stressed at work or in daily life.

高铁体(gāo tiě tǐ)
gaotie style
Gaotie means high-speed bullet train. The phrase refers to an online frenzy to use the words of the spokesperson of the Railway Ministry to mock his arrogance and improper response at a press conference following last month’s train crash in Wenzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province. After the deadly collision on July 23, Wang Yongping said regarding the explanation that the carriage of the bullet train was buried to carry out a swift rescue, “I don’t care if you believe it or not. I just do!” This sentence quickly became a catchphrase and Internet meme.

勾兑食品(gōu duì shí pǐn)
blended food
In a series of recent food scandals, eateries admitted some dishes or beverages were not freshly made in the kitchen. Instead, they were either blended from concentrated liquids or made from powders. KFC acknowledged its soybean milk was made from powders after a picture of boxes of powders piled in front of a KFC restaurant in south China’s Guangzhou was posted online.

睡美人条款(shuì měi rén tiáo kuǎn)
sleeping legal terms
It refers to those legal terms which have never been implemented in real life. They are just like the fictional character Sleeping Beauty who has not been awakened.

铯牛(sè niú)
beef tainted with radioactive caesium
The phrase refers to tainted beef in which unsafe levels of radioactive caesium has been detected after a devastating earthquake struck northeast Japan and damaged its nuclear plants causing radiation leaks in March.

女巫情结(nǚ wū qíng jié)
fortune-telling complex
This term refers to the popularity of fortune-telling among white-collar workers, especially women. People use fortune-telling as well as divination to predict their possibilities in work, life and love. It has become a fashionable way to seek suggestions, spiritual or practical guidance or affirmation, and a way to ease the pressure of a fast-paced life.

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OMG! Chinese Buzzwords! (3)

拜登吃面(bài dēng chī miàn)
Biden eats noodles
The new phrase was coined and spread quickly online. Online bloggers said it means purchasing goods that greatly overvalue their actual price. They composed a sentence to explain how to use the phrase: “Don’t think about marrying me without owning a house. That’s just a Biden eats noodles dream.” The 79-yuan (US$9.4) lunch US Vice President Joe Biden had with his team at a Beijing restaurant during his visit to China last week raised suspicion that it was a publicity stunt by the US to convey the information that China should appreciate its currency.

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OMG! Chinese Buzzwords! (2)

三手烟(sān shǒu yān)
third-hand smoke
It refers to cigarette particles or the odor remaining in furniture, clothing, hair or skin. Third-hand smoke is an invisible killer hidden on walls, in carpets, bed sets and other places. When babies crawl on the ground or grab things and put them in their mouth, they can get poisoned by the third-hand smoke.

冷妈(lěng mā)
cold-faced mother
Unlike traditional mothers who love their children unconditionally and sacrifice themselves, cold-faced mothers appear relatively detached, cold and strict. They don¡¯t always give unconditionally or remain tender and mild. On the contrary, they tend to teach children to face reality.

TVB体(TVB tǐ)
TVB style
It refers to a recent online trend to comfort others by using lines from TV series produced by Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Ltd, commonly known as TVB. 

月饼税(yuè bǐng shuì)
mooncake tax
Tax authorities recently reminded employers that if they give mooncakes to employees as a bonus, it should be included as part of their taxable income. Although the tax has been levied for the past two years, most taxpayers think it is ridiculous and there was a wave of online criticism.

试探性自杀(shì tàn xìng zì shā)
tentative attempts before suicide
The phrase refers to tentative attempts made by a person before he/she has enough courage to commit suicide. The phrase came to light after a Hubei Province government official who had 11 deep knife wounds on his body was ruled to have committed suicide by police. His family and some members of the online community questioned whether it was possible that the official could stab himself 11 times to commit suicide.

格差婚(gé chā hūn)
kakusa marriage
Gecha is a translation from the Japanese word kakusa, which means gap. A kakusa marriage involves a man and a woman that have a great gap in income, family background, temperament, hobbies and outlook on life.

拉黑(lā hēi)
blacklist/block
An expression used to refer to blocking someone from viewing your posts on a social networking site. It also means to blacklist a person or organization.

闪辞族(shǎn cí zú)
speed job-quitter
Some new graduates will use a trivial setback as an excuse to find another position only several months or weeks into the current job.

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OMG! Chinese Buzzwords! (1)

漂老族（piāo lǎo zú）
drifting parents
Chinese parents who move temporarily to large cities where their adult children work in order to help care for their grandchildren and do household chores before children are old enough to go to school.

纸张癖(zhǐzhāng pì)
paperphilia
A deep appreciation for the aesthetic qualities of paper and the preference for reading materials printed on paper rather than displayed on a screen. The resurgence of paperphilia rekindled people’s love for simple arts and handcrafts.

反潮族(fǎn cháo zú)
trend-bender
Contrarians who buck the trends. They ride a bike to work when they can afford a car, write snail-mail whenever possible in preference to e-mail and prefer reading “real” books and publications instead of e-books.

反季淘(fǎn jìtáo)
off-season shopping
Purchasing winter clothing in summer or the other way around to save money in big off-season discounts.

穿越剧(chuān yuèjù)
time-travel TV drama
A popular new TV series genre in which people in modern times travel to the past; or people from the past jump to the present or future times. Recent hits include “Startling by Each Step” and “Palace.”

瘦人基因（shòu rén jīyīn）
skinny gene
British and Swiss scientists have discovered that people with duplications of chromosome 16 were more likely to be skinny after studying the DNA of over 95,000 people. One out of every 2,000 people is affected by the lean gene, which can make men 23 times and women five times more likely to be underweight.

头像性格（tóu xiàng xìng gé）
profile picture character
It refers to an online trend to guess a netizen’s character from his or her profile picture on social networking sites. According to the theory developed by netizens, women who use there own photos usually have a strong spirit, lots of energy and are charismatic. Those who use pictures of aggressive foreign women tend to be weak and shy, they say.

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