适当的译法

tomato

压岁钱
red packet, lucky money
In ancient china, people tended to put some copper coins wrapped in red paper beside the pillows of their children on the Lunar New Year’s Eve to drive away a devil called “sui.” It has evolved into today’s red packet or lucky money that parents and older relatives give to children during the Lunar New Year to wish them good luck.

搏客
podcaster
The word, a hybrid of “Ipod” and “broadcast,” refers to those who combine a group of technologies to distribute audio and video files over the Internet. Readers may receive podcasts of this buzzword column online or download them to an MP3 player from www.shanghaidaily.com.

私房菜
private home cuisine
Sifangcai or “private home cuisine” has become a fad in many large cities around the country. It’s a kind of home catering that features traditional family recipes in a setting just like home.

官府菜
official’s home cuisine
Most cooks at residences of senior officials in feudal China were able to prepare specialty dishes. The recipes passed down for generations have helped establish some restaurants offering such dishes, like Beijing-based the Tan’s restaurant.

拇指族
oyayubizoku, clan of the thumbs
The word came from Japan first. It refers to people who are skilled at using their thumbs to manipulate objects such as mobile phone keys, small joysticks, and notebook computer pointers. Now more and more Chinese young people have joined the clan of the thumbs as they use SMS as their major communication channel.

咸潮
salt tide
The tide takes place at the mouth of the Yangtze River every winter or early spring, when water flowing from the river decreases, causing chloride level to rise and even exceed the national standard. Local media reported the year’s first salt tide in the East China Sea may threaten one of Shanghai’s two sources of fresh water during the Spring Festival.

尾牙
year-end dinner party
Evolved from a tradition in southern Fujian Province for worshiping the god or a standard of colors, many employers have turned the last worship ritual in a year into a dinner party to treat their employees. It is particularly popular in Taiwan.

奇客
geek
The Chinese term, created according to the sound of the English word, literally means a “a strange guest.” One doesn’t have to be a computer expert or specialist to become a geek. If you are a computer aficionado with a free and unorthodox thinking, people call you a geek.

OBS 女人
OBS woman
Already over 30, they still keep the life style of a young girl. It doesn’t matter whether they are still single or married. They always walk down the street in girlish outfits and spend money on products originally targeting a younger generation. OBS stands for the Japanese word obasan, meaning “aunt” or “adult woman in general.”

天葬
celestial burial
Celestial burial is a funeral that has been practiced for more than 1,000 years in Tibet. Celestial practitioners feed a dead body to vultures, which they call holy eagles. The Tibetan government has recently decided to better protect the custom by banning photographing or making videos of celestial burial scenes.

网格员
grid inspector
This actually refers to city inspectors introduced in Shanghai’s Luwan District. Armed with a specially designed handy GPS mobile phone, the inspectors cover their respective designated area by walking a grid. They will report any “abnormalities,” such as traffic jams, misplaced garbage bags, a missing manhole cover and other eyesores, to the control center. The center then will decide how to deal with the reported problems.

创新型国家
innovation-oriented country
President Hu Jintao outlined China’s strategy to become an innovation-oriented country in 15 years during a science and technology conference in Beijing.

生肖票
zodiac stamp
At the beginning of each of year, the Chinese post office faithfully publishes sets of stamps to mark the zodiac animal of the new year on the Lunar Calendar. More than 100 enthusiastic philatelists lined up overnight last week at Shanghai Postal Museum to buy newly-issued stamps to commemorate the Year of the Dog.

陀飞轮手表
toubillon watch
Toubillon, invented by French watchmaker Abraham Louis Breguet in 1795, is a technology which improves a watch’s accuracy by nullifying the effect of gravity using a series of mechanisms. Shanghai Watch, a history-honored brand, recently introduced its first 50 limited edition tourbillion watches. They were purchased almost instantly.

血拼
shopping
This Chinese term literally means a “bloody fight,” but sounds similar to the English word that it stands for. In a commercial metropolis like Shanghai, shopping is a craze and can be “bloody.” Many of the city’s shopping malls, supermarkets, stored and restaurants open 24 hours a day over the New Year holiday and saw all their floors constantly packed with shoppers.

轰趴
home party
The Chinese term is a vivid translation based on the pronunciation of the English term. The Chinese term, however, has a far more i

得来速
drive-thruMcDonald’s will open its first drive-thru restaurant in Shanghai this month to compete with KFC.

亚健康
semi-health
Semi-health conditions are half way between good health and ill health. Such conditions, including headache, insomnia, stiff shoulders and chronic constipation, are often diagnosed as symptoms of illness, but they are deemed by TCM doctors as warning signs of health deterioration or harbingers of ill health.

汗语 (han4yu3)
chat-room jargon
This is a team coined to refer to those buzzwords common in online chat rooms or articles but completely incomprehensible to those who read only mainstream publications. It plays on the phrase “汉语” meaning Mandarin, which is pronounced exactly the same way. “Han” in the former means sweat, reminding one of the characters sweating in an exaggeratedly profuse way when they are frightened, embarrassed, shocked or frustrated.

楼主
thread starter
The person whose article or comment on the BBS or online chat room triggered off discussions and arguments on a specific topic is often referred to as a thread starter. As his or her article or comment appears at the very top of a string of remarks, a thread starter is therefore nicknamed as louzhu (chief of the building). The following debaters are called dwellers of the second-floor, third-floor, etc, according to the appearance sequence of their comment.

天价
whopping price
The Chinese term literally means the price is as high as the sky An old man who is treated in a local hospital in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province last summer had to pay an unbelievably high price of 5.5 million yuan (US$680,000). Many expenses were later found to be fabricated by the hospital.

月光族
moonlite
This concocted Chinese term is the moniker for people who always spend all their salaries or earnings before the end of the month. The first Chinese character in the term means “month” or “moon,” and the second “leaving nothing behind” or “light.”

起蓬头
sudden pickup
THIS is a colloquial term used mainly in Shanghai area and the local dialect to describe something, such as sales or activities, beginning to pick up momentum quickly. It also implies a bit of hullabaloo.

过劳死
karoshi
THIS Chinese term is a direct translation of “death from overwork.” The term first appeared in Japan in the late 1980s to describe a new phenomenon of high-ranking business executives dying in their prime years without any previous signs of illness. Now the same thing is happening among middle-aged Chinese businessmen and professionals.

节约型社会
conservation-oriented society
DUE to urgent short supplies of energy, raw materials and other resources, the Chinese government has been urging the whole nation to go all out in building a more conservation-oriented society in order to pursue sustainable social-economic development.

飘一族
drifting generation
THOSE who give up their decent jobs to pursue their career dreams are called the drifting generation. They will move to wherever hope of dream come true is beckoning them. They live on odd jobs, mostly freelance, and live in rented houses, varying from a shabby shed way to a serviced apartment.

版主(斑竹)
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.

闪婚
flash marriage
In a metropolis like Shanghai, speed is everything. So, the “eight-minute speed dating” has become quite popular, particularly among young white-collar workers. Over the weekend, several hundred single men and women participated in a “flash marriage” event, hoping to find their Mr/Miss Right there and then tie the knot in a matter of days or even hours, if not minutes.

老大难
nagging problem, nuptially challenged
This is a very common Chinese term as everyone could face some “old, big problems”(if translated verbatim). However, it is also frequently used to call bachelors or spinsters who have passed the best marrying age and now find it difficult to find a desirable person to marry.

退耕还林
grain for green project
In order to restore the ecological balance in west China, the central government has initiated a program to offer grain subsidies to local farmers and encourage them to turn low-yielding farmland back to forest and pastures. The Chinese government has allocated 61.7 billion yuan (US$7.63 billion) for this project over the next five years.

现金池
cash pool
This is a sophisticated system for managing funds for corporations. It optimize the interest results of a group of businesses. China Merchants Bank in October initiated the foreign exchange cash pool, the first of its kind on the Chinese mainland.

生活家
life-ist
The pompous term is popular with those who claim to know how to make the best of their life, even on a meager income.

翘课
cutting classes
Five foreign students were expelled from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics for not attending enough classes in the current semester.

自闭症儿童
autistic child
There are reportedly more than 10,000 children suffering from autism in Shanghai and there is no know cure. Japan recently donated US$80,000 to a Shanghai kindergarten to improve the treatment for such children.

小混混
dawdling punk
This Chinese term is derogative. It refers to teenagers or young people who do nothing but hang around.

白骨精
office elite
This is the name of a siren in the famous Chinese novel “Journey to the West.” But, today it is also used as a new title for white-collar office workers who excel in their career. Instead of the “White-Bone Demon,” the three Chinese characters in this term refers to white-collar, backbone and elite, respectively, in its new usage.

沙尘暴
sandstorm
Sandstorms that swept Beijing and other northern cities over the weekend have worsened the air quality of 50 percent of China’s already most polluted cities.

布波族/波波族
bo-bos
The word is a shorthand for Bourgeois-Bohemians, which refers to the young who have the hybrid characteristics of the 1960s hippies and 1980s yuppies. They are well-educated and barely bound by tradition, prefer fashionable clothes and modern appliances, but are always moving their home between cities and the countryside to avoid a stereotyped life.

油价联动机制
fuel-related fare adjustment
At a public hearing held last week on the effects of rising gasoline prices on the city’s taxi fleet, it became clear some adjustment was needed to take the burden off cabbies suffering from an earnings squeeze. Taxi fares may also change according to the oil prices in the market.

招牌菜
signature dishes/house special
Dianping.com, a Website recommending famous restaurants and dishes, has recently become popular. You can easily find the most famous dishes of a restaurant on that Website.

行头
gearSome children in middle schools vie with each other to wear fashionable clothing and accessories. The equipment needed for a sport or professional activity, like roller skating, mountain climbing or firefighting, is also referred to as hangtou.

败家子
black sheep
The Chinese term has a narrower meaning than the English one. The Chinese term only refers to a member of a family who is undesirable.

官瘾
lust for official power
Guan in Chinese means “officialdom.” Yin means “lust.” This Chinese term describes many people who lust official power.

消费税
excise tax
The nation hopes the excise tax it started on April 1 to levy on cars, as well as other luxury products, will control the number of sedans on the roads as part of its effort to cut energy use and rein in air pollution.

全武行
acrobatic fighting, scuffle
The term originally means the acrobatic fighting in traditional Chinese operas. These days it refers to the undue fighting or violence at a public place such as in the street or a parliament hall.