CHINESE HOT WORDS LEARNING

DigMandarin.com

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吐槽

吐槽 is from the Japanese word ツッコミ (tsukkomi). It

means “to question or comment creatively on something

ironic/funny” and is often oversimplified to mean

“complain, grumble”.

e.g

The medias often complain the government.

媒体经常吐槽政府。

(méi tǐ jīng cháng tù cáo zhèng fǔ)

套磁

“套磁” is a word found in the Beijing dialect of

Mandarin, and it means to try and cotton up and gain favor

with others in order to get help in the future.

e.g

Don't be buddy-buddy with me, do your best or everything

is futile.

别跟我套磁，除了做好本职工作，其他方法都是徒劳的。

(bié gēn wǒ tào cí, chúle zuò hǎo běnzhí gōngzuò, qítā

fāngfǎ dōu shì túláo de.)

说话算话

说话算话 means "a promise is a promise", "fit one's

deeds to one's words".

e.g

I'll tell you tomorrow, I promise.

我明天告诉你，说话算话.

(wǒ míng tiān gào sù nǐ, shuō huà suàn huà)

水货

水货 means smuggled goods; parallel goods;

unauthorized commodities.

e.g

In China, the gray market for smuggled and pirated phones

drives most sales, blurring official statistics.

在中国，水货和走私市场的新兴繁荣使官方的数据大打折扣。

(zài zhōng guó ，shuǐ huò hé zǒu sī shì chǎng de xīn xìng

fán róng shǐ guān fāng de shù jù dà dǎ shé kòu)

上火

Literally 上火 means on top of a fire. Understanding “shàng huǒ (上

火)” requires a bit of knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine

(TCM), but, in short, it relates to the concept of balancing “yīn (阴)”

and “yáng (阳)” within the body and spirit. An imbalance can result

in too much internal heat, which is manifested in fevers, coughs or

even a flushed expression or two. This internal heat is 上火.

e.g

It's easy to get internal heat in autumn.

秋天容易上火。

(qiū tiān róng yì shàng huǒ)

撒娇

撒娇 means "to throw a tantrum", or "to act like a spoiled child".

it's used almost exclusively to describe a grown woman pouting

and stomping her feet until her demands are met.

e.g

Learn to be mischievous and coquetry.

学会恰到好处地撒娇调皮。

(xué huì qià dào hǎo chù de sā jiāo tiáo pí)

秋波

Bright eyes

“秋波” originally held the meaning of lake water being blown in an

autumn wind, and thereafter also came to mean the bright eyes of

beautiful girls.

e.g

You are completely indifferent to that fact that the pretty girl over there

is leering at you.

别人都给你暗送秋波了，你还无动于衷。

(biérén dōu gěi nǐ ànsòng qiūbōle, nǐ hái wúdòng yúzhōng.)

女神

The word “女神” originated in Western mythology. Now, it has

become a name used by men to complement women. It is generally

used by a man to express his love for a woman or by fans of a

female superstar.

e.g

The beautiful movie star is the goddess of many male fans.

这位美丽的电影明星是众多男粉丝心目中的女神。

(Zhèwèi měilì de diànyǐng míngxīng shì zhòngduō nánfěnsī xīnmù

zhōng de nǚshén.)

女汉子

The word “tomboy”, or “女汉子”, refers to a woman whose

character or manners have some characteristics that are generally

seen as masculine. For example, a tomboy (女汉子) lives

independently, is never overly dependent on others, is candid and

optimistic, never petty, and so on.

e.g

Tomboys tend to parade their confidence and independence.

女汉子们往往更爱标榜自己自信、独立。

(Nǚhànzimen wǎngwǎng gèng’ài biāobǎng zìjǐ zìxìn, dúlì.)

萝莉

Some believe that “Loli” comes from French and means pretty and cute,

often describing a child. Others explain the word’s origin as an abbreviation

for Lolita, the name of a famous novel by Russian-American author Vladimir

Nabokov. This novel describes the story of a middle-aged professor obsessed

with a 12-year-old girl named Lolita. Since then, girls who have the traits of

leading actresses are called “Lolita” or “Loli.” Now, it is often used to

describe cute girls.

e.g

The daughter of my friend is very cute. She is truly a Loli.

朋友的女儿特别可爱，是个十足的小萝莉。

(Péngyǒu de nǚ’ér tèbié kě’ài ，shì gè shízú de xiǎo Luólì.)

抠门

抠门 means stingy. It was once said that a man was so

stingy that he planned to dig for gold when he saw the

golden gate of a temple, and for this reason “抠门” now

refers to a man who is very stingy and tightfisted.

e.g

The stingy old lady just buys apples one at a time.

这个抠门的老太太每次只买一个苹果。

(Zhège kōumén de lǎo tàitai měi cì zhǐ mǎi yīge píngguǒ.)

孔雀女

peacock woman.

“孔雀女” is a term for girls who live in cities, have been loved by their

parents from the day they were born, and have led lives of luxury. They

are apathetic towards money and do not pay much attention to the

financial situations of suitors.

e.g

Since I have married a peacock woman, my stress has increased greatly.

自从我娶了孔雀女以后，生活压力无形地加大了。

(zìcóng wǒ qǔ le kǒngquènǚ yǐhòu, shēnghuó yālì wúxíng de jiādà le.)

灰姑娘

Cinderella. “灰姑娘” is used to describe an ordinary girl

marrying a very rich person or a normal girl being favored by her

dignitaries.

e.g

Cinderella and the prince leading a happy life is just a fairy tale.

灰姑娘和王子从此过着幸福的生活只是一个童话。

(huī gū niang hé wáng zǐ cóng cǐ guò zhe xìng fú de shēng huó zhǐ

shì yī gè tóng huà )

花瓶

vase / the vain girl.

A vase has no other practical purpose except for holding flowers,

and for this reason this term has also come to mean a girl who is

beautiful but is for the most part not that talented.

e.g

I can’t believe such a pretty actress has such bad acting skills.

没想到她竟然是个花瓶，演技非常差。

(méi xiǎng dào tā jìng rán shì gè huā píng ,yǎn jì fēi cháng chà.)

胡说八道

胡说八道 means totally nonsense or bullshit.

e.g

Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you can’t do

this or that. That’s nonsense.

不要听信那些说你不能做这个或者那个的人，他们都是胡说八道。

(bú yào tīng xìn nà xiē shuō nǐ bù néng zuò zhè gè huò zhě

nà gè de rén, tā men dōu shì hú shuō bā dào.)

黑车

Literally it means black car, but the actual meaning in

terms of everyday use refers to unlicensed cars – people

using their own cars as taxis to earn profit.

e.g

Don’t take unlicensed cars, they are too dangerous.

千万别坐黑车呀，万一出事了就麻烦了。

(qiān wàn bié zuò hēi chē ya, wàn yī chū shì le jiù má fan le. )

工夫

“工夫” generally refers to the time of day, or to describe the amount

of energy used to do something. When used as a colloquial word, it can

also mean that we must pay attention to something. The characters "工夫"

and "功夫" sometimes have the same meaning, but when attempting to

express the time we must use “工夫” in most cases.

e.g

I can’t believe it, we are so anxious, but it comes to you effortlessly.

没想到着急了这么久，得来全不费工夫。

(Méi xiǎng dào zháo jí le zhè me jiǔ,dé lái quán bú fèi gōng fū)

发小

Childhood buddies

“发小” is a word based on Beijing dialect, which means lifelong

friends from childhood. Although ”发小” is only used in Beijing, as

a phrase that has expanded in the vocabulary of Chinese people,

this word has become popular in all of China .

e.g

These childhood buddies have the most sincere feelings.

发小之间的感情最真挚了。

(fà xiǎo zhī jiān de gǎn qíng zuì zhēn zhì le.

丁克族

This is a transliteration of the acronym “DINK,” which stands

for “dual-income, no kids.” It describes the lifestyle of married

couples that choose to have no kids but have two good salaries, so

they have a lot of disposable income and time and can afford to live

it up.

e.g

More than a quarter of respondents would opt for a "DINK" lifestyle.

超过四分之一的受访者表示想做“ 丁克族”。

(chāo guò sì fèn zhī yī de shòu fǎng zhě biǎo shì xiǎng zuò “ dīng

kè zú ”)

吃得开

吃得开 means “be popular; get along all right”.

e.g

She is so pretty and popular.

她长得那么漂亮，又那么吃得开。

(tā zhǎng dé nà me piào liang , yòu nà me chī dé kāi)

吃醋

吃醋 literally means “have vigenar”. Now we often use this

word to represent "be jealous (usu. of a rival in love).

e.g

He was jealous when he discovered that she loved someone else.

当他发现她爱别人的时候， 他吃醋了。

(dāng tā fā xiàn tā ài bié rén de shí hou ，tā chī cù le )

白骨精

“白骨精” has two explanations. The traditional meaning refers to

the “bones monster” who appears in the novel Journey to the West. In

modern society, there is another meaning, which refers to white-collar

workers, specifically women with high levels of education, high incomes,

and high status.

e.g

Many women dream of becoming white-collar workers with high levels

of education and high incomes.

很多女性追求成为白骨精。

(Hěn duō nǚxìng zhuīqiú chéngwéi Báigǔjīng.)

白富美

White rich and pretty. “白富美” refers to fair-skinned

females with wealthy families and good looks. It describes

outstanding women, generally ones who are fairly young.

e.g

A lot of women dream to be fair-skinned, rich, and beautiful.

成为“白富美”是很多女人的梦想。

(chéngwéi “bái fù měi” shì hěn duō nǚrén de mèngxiǎng.)

暧昧

暧昧 means flirtationship, more than a Friendship, less

than a Relationship.

e.g

You will lose your special ambiguous friendship with her.

你会失去与她之间那种特殊而暧昧的友情。

（nǐ huì shī qù yǔ tā zhī jiān nà zhǒng tè shū ér ài mèi de

yǒu qíng)

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