Tag: chinese buzzwords

豆腐渣婚姻(dòu fu zhā hūn yīn)
jerry-built marriage
Some people have described the marriage of a rising number of young couples born in the 1980s as a building constructed with poor materials: hastily made and readily collapsible, on the grounds that these young couples meet by speed dating, get a hurried marriage and then break up shortly after.

3Q战争(sān Q zhàn zhēng)
360-QQ Battle
The term refers to a battle over alleged unfair business practices between Tencent, operator of the popular instant-messaging software QQ, and Qihoo 360, China’s biggest antivirus service provider. The battle escalated as Tencent stopped service to QQ users whose computers were detected to have installed Qihoo 360’s software. It ended following mediation by China’s government.

促狭(cō kē) (Shanghainese phrase)
Tricky, mean, sinister, vicious, hard to deal with
Many say this is another pidgin English term widely used by Shanghai locals. This term, 促狭(co ke), sounds very similar to the English word "trick" and shares some meanings of the word "tricky."
The Shanghainese phrase is now almost always used with a derogatory connotation. It may be used to describe a person who is mean and tricky. It may also be used to depict a move made by your opponent which makes it very difficult for you to respond or counteract, such as in play of chess. So, you may say he or she has made a 促狭(co ke) move.
When 促狭(co ke) is used to describe remarks and texts, it means they are malicious or have a double meaning.
However, occasionally, the phrase can be used among close friends in a playful and lighthearted manner. For instance, if your friend pulls your leg in a mischievous manner, you may say: "You are so 促狭."

腻心(nǐ xīn)(Shanghainese phrase)
Dirty, filthy, nauseating, disgusting, revolting
When a native Shanghainese sees something thatís filthy or disgusting, he would call it 腻心(ni xin). The first character in the Shanghai dialectic phrase means literally "oily," "icky" or "fed up." The second character means the "heart." So, if you feel that something is "icky" or "fed up" in your heart, it must be disgusting in one way or the other.
However, this phrase may also be used to describe a person if he or she is wearing very dirty clothes or clothes of disgusting taste, or acting in an unpleasant and revolting manner. In such cases, one may say, "He’s such a 腻心person."