OMG! Chinese Buzzwords! (9)

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.

娇蕉包(jiāo jiāo bāo)
Birkin-printed bag

A canvas tote bag featuring a print imitating the Birkin bag and costing less than one-hundredth of the original made by Hermes. First produced by Taiwan-based design studio Banane Taipei, the bag has garnered many fans while also drawing legal action from Hermes for copying its classic Birkin.

黑天鹅事件(hēi tiān é shì jiàn)
black swan event

Also known as black swan theory, this term refers to unexpected events with a major impact. After the fact, the event is rationalized by hindsight. Such events, considered extremely outlier, collectively play vastly larger roles than regular occurrences.

高姐(gāo jiě)
high-speed rail attendants

The young female attendants serving on high-speed railway trains between Beijing and Shanghai. These attendants are just as charming as air hostesses and promise to serve passengers with "smiles, speed, standards, sincerity and satisfaction."

冷都男(lěng dū nán)
cool man

Short for the Chinese phrase "cool metropolitan men." originated from Korean TV dramas, the roles of cool men, with a good background, job and a poker face, are the opposite of "flower boys" who are sweet and cute.

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