汉语新词新译系列-B

傍名牌 (bang4 ming2 pai2) imitated brands

Some businesses name their products or retail outlets similarly to well-known brands to attract customers, misleading them in thinking the copycat is selling the real thing. It is also a phenomenon of the shanzhai culture.

波鞋 (bo1 xie2) sneakers

The expression literally means ball shoes, as 波 is Cantonese slang for ball. The expression is very popular in Hong Kong and has come into use on the Chinese mainland.

白菜价 (bai2 cai4 jia4) dirt cheap

In China, if someone says that a product is being sold at the “cabbage price”, he means it is as cheap as dirt. Cabbage is usually regarded as one of the cheapest vegetables in the market.

白领炮灰团 (bai2 ling3 pao4 hui1 tuan2) white-collar cannon fodder

The term refers to office workers who struggle for a better life by sacrificing their free time and jeopardizing health through often working overtime to keep their jobs.

败犬女 (bai4 quan3 nv3) loser dog

Derived from the Japanese word “make inu”, this phrase means literally a “loser dog” and is used to describe women who have passed  the age of 30 and remain unmarried.

崩溃 (beng1 kui4)

Breakdown

A colloquial expression that is used by young people frequently these days to mean you cannot hold on to emotional stress or heavy work anymore.

玻璃屋 (bo1 li wu1) glass room

It refers to transparency in corporate governance, especially with regard to executive compensation.

败家女 (bai4 jia1 nǚ) shopaholic woman

A woman who is so addicted to shopping that she is living on the brink of bankruptcy. The phrase is coined from a Chinese term which means a prodigal son or daughter.

百搭简历 (bai3 da1 jian3 li4) all-fitting resume

It is a kind of resume that job seekers prepare in such an ambiguous way that it apparently meets the requirements of many kinds of job.

爆场 (bao4 chang3) raise the roof

More often than not, promotions that offer deep discounts for well-established brands will attract a huge crowd that raises the roof.

不折腾 (bu4 zhe1 ten2) don’t stir up turmoil

The term is colloquial and widely used to discourage someone from getting restless due to illness, worry or from just messing around. But when it was quoted by Chinese President Hu Jintao in his recent report, it referred to acts that would disturb society’s normal life. So, “don’t stir up (political or social) turmoil” reflects people’s desire for peace and harmony.

保质期 (bao3zhi4qi1) shelf life or best-before date

Shanghai health authorities have employed a team of volunteer food inspectors to check whether food or medicines are sold after the expiry dates or for other quality problems as part of nationwide efforts to ensure safe food and drugs.

80后 (ba1shi2hou4) 80’s generation

The word refers to those who were born in 1980s. They are considered to be a self-centered generation who care more about themselves compared with older generations. They are also more willing to try new things, heavily influenced by the Internet and more open to foreign cultures.

保鲜膜 (bao3xian1mo2) cling film

China’s health authority recently conducted a spot check on cling film wrapping after receiving reports that a chemical linked to cancer is in the widely used product.

保持共产党员先进性 (bao3chi2 gong4chan3dang3yuan2 xian1jin4xing4) keep the Party in the vanguard

The Chinese Communist Party has launched an educational program to ensure its members retain good Party traditions and keep pace with the times in order to lead the nation to successfully build a well-off society.

版主(斑竹) (ban1zhu2) BBS moderator

This term is frequently used among netizens. The Chinese term in the brackets is actually a rib tickler applied here mainly because it shares a similar pronunciation to the official term. Originally, it is the name of the Mottled Bamboo.

包机 (bao1ji1) charter flight

The flights are specially arranged for travelers. Both sides across the Taiwan Strait have designed six carriers to make 36 roundtrip charter flights for the upcoming Spring Festival, which falls on January 29.

八卦 (ba1gua4) gossip, gossipy

Originally the name of an eight-side diagram derived from the famous Chinese classic “1 Ching” (Book of Changes), it is now often used to describe gossip or gossipy people. Some believe this term first came into use in Hong Kong where the “ying-yang” diagram was frequently used to cover the crucial points of nude models on gossip or porn magazine covers.

八角茴香 (ba1jiao3 hui2xiang1) star anise

Star anise is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine or flavoring, which is also known as eight-cornered fennel. Recently there is a buying spree for star anise in some parts of China as media reported that it is an important ingredient of Roche’s Tamiflu, a medicine believed to be able to prevent bird flu.

爆料 (bao4liao4) tip off, blow the whistle

Many news media nowadays rely heavily on tip-offs from their stringers or street tipsters to scoop some exclusive news. They usually offer the tipsters a handsome reward in cash. Seeing this trend, some laid-off workers and migrants have turned tipping into a business to eke out a living.

蹦迪 (beng4di2) disco dancing

Dancing discos in nightclubs or bars is a popular entertainment among young people who want to get some exercise and find a way of catharsis. But many nightclubs are often involved in complaints by nearby residents for the noise created by them, such as loud music and blaring car horns.

本命年 (ben3ming4nian2) year of fate

In ancient China, people believed that a person’s fate was a determined at birth, so the zodiac year of one’s birth would be one’s “year of fate.” To fend off the default “bad luck” in such a year, people tend to wear red underwear, read waistbands and red bracelets. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, this year is the “year of fate” for people who were born in the Year of the Dog.

不感冒 (bu4gan3mao4) uninterested, peeved

Having no flu (bu ganmao)? That’s good. But don’t take the Chinese term verbatim. In colloquial conservations, this term means that one is uninterested in or even peeved by something others said or did. So don’t talk about Tamiflu when there’s no flu threat in sight.