Jetshing's Blog

1.Mori girl(森女)
Mori girl is buzzward originated from a social networking website in Japan two years ago, referring to women in their 20s who pursue a simple and natural lifestyle. Mori in Japanese means “forest” and a Mori girl is a girl who looks like she lives in forests.

You might have seen her dressed in earthy colors that attest to an artistic sensibility at one with nature. She’s part Little Red Ridinghood (although she prefers dark blue, dark green or bordeaux brown to bright red), part Marie Antoinette pastoral fantasy, part Alice in Wonderland.

2.’doomed single’(必剩客)
The expression which has a similar pronunciation with “Pizza Hut” in Chinese, is used to describe those who are above the normal marriage age but still single and need to keep struggling to find their other half. This group more often than not put so much time into work that they have little chance to meet potential partners. So they are considered to be people who are doomed to be single, and that’s where “doomed single” came from.

For example:

John doesn’t care much about being called “doomed single”, he said he enjoys being single.

3.Princess clan(格格党)
Princess clan is a workplace expression used to describe those who were mostly born after 1985, take their job as play, pay too much attention to their own needs and are too socially unsophisticated to heed public standards.

Called “princess clan”, but the term doesn’t necessarily refer to females only. The word “princess” here has two implications: first, “ge ge”, the Chinese equivalent for “princess”, means people in this clan are mostly spoiled and thus very much self-centered; second, “ge ge” is also the first two words of the Chinese idiom “ge ge bu ru (square peg in a round hole)”, implying that those people cannot fit in the workplace philosophy.

4.Meal pal(饭友)
This term refers to office workers who lunch together during work days. Many white-collar workers are seeking lunch pals via the Internet to share high prices as well as the delicious dishes in nearby restaurants.

For example:

That Thailand restaurant is great, it’s my meal pals’ favorite.

5.AB treat
In China, people tend to call “going Dutch” an “AA treat,” meaning dividing the bill equally among all the diners. But now “AB treat” has become a fad among young people as some males now choose to pay a bigger slice of the bill, say 70 percent, while female friends dining with them pay the rest.

For example:

The dinner party last night was on an AB treat, so the ladies didn’t spend much on that.

6.The coupon-crazed tribe(淘券族)
They are obsessed with coupons. They know which restaurant serves good but cheap food, which shopping mall is offering big discounts, and which gym’s membership card is the best bargain. The best part is they don’t even have to step out of their house to get all the tips: they seek out every bit of information on the Internet. Their creed is: don’t even bother to go shopping if you are not armed with coupons. They are called coupon-crazed tribe.

Some say their “bargain mentality” encourages rational spending, but others also warn against rash and unnecessary consumption – buying for the sake of coupons.

7.Flash mob(快闪族)
Flash mob refers to a large group of people who gather in a usually predetermined location, perform an unusual action for a brief time, and then quickly disperse.

Organizing a “flash mob” basically involves e-mailing a bunch of people with instructions to show up at a certain place for a few moments, then disappear. To protect the planned serendipity of each event, participants aren’t told exactly what the mob is supposed to do until just before the event happens.

The term flash mob is generally applied only to gatherings organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails, not applied to events organized by public relations firms.

Example of a well known flash mob was the April 2006 silent disco in London. At various London Underground stations, people gathered with their portable music devices, and at a set time began dancing to their music. It was reported that more than 4,000 people participated at London Victoria station.

8.LOHAS(乐活族)
LOHAS is the acronym of “Lifestyle Of Health And Sustainability”, referring to a group of people who are optimistic, understanding, caring about environment and health, and doing good and as well as feeling good. This concept originated in Britain in the middle of last century.

Commercially, LOHAS describes an integrated, rapidly growing market for goods and services that appeal to consumers who value health, the environment, social justice, personal development, and sustainable living.

Beyond the categorization of consumers, the LOHAS “concept” is further divided into five sectors that represent the market within which products fall. They include: Sustainable Economy, Healthy Living, Alternative and Complementary Healthcare, Personal Development, and Eco-friendly Living

9.slow travel(er)(慢旅(族))
Back in 1989, slow food was created in Italy as a reaction to the increasing globalization and standardization of food, especially fast food (hence its name). Its aim was to preserve, encourage and promote local culinary specialties. That idea has since spread widely. Now we are seeing a cousin, slow travel(er), beginning to make headlines.

Slow travelers eschew plane travel and especially short breaks in distant places. They prefer to travel more gently, by train, bus, cargo ship, even bicycle. They want to luxuriate in the experience of a stress-free journey, not rush to a destination.

10.TRANSUMERS(blend of transient and consumer 旅游购物狂)
They are big-spending travelers. They are consumers who increasingly live a transient lifestyle, freeing themselves from the hassles of permanent ownership and possessions. The fixed is replaced by an obsession with the current, an ever-shorter satisfaction span, and a lust to collect as many experiences and stories as possible…

11.The Chinese term “pa ke”(handkerchief advocator) became popular after one of China’s online messaging service providers launched a handkerchief design campaign last year to encourage the use of handkerchiefs to protect the environment. The winner will be called a “handkerchief advocator,” as it refers to green consumers who prefer to use handkerchiefs instead of throw-away paper tissues in support of low-carbon life.
Under the circumstance of financial crisis, using less tissue means saving more money. With the same price of 2 Yuan, a tissue could only cover one day need, but a handkerchief can be reused for at least one year. Therefore, it is fair to say a handkerchief itself is a green carrier of energy conservation and emission reduction.

12.The rush-to-get-pregnant tribe(闪孕族)
They are female white-collar workers. They didn’t have any plan to have a child until the economic crisis struck. Then they decided to get pregnant – as quickly as possible.

They are afraid of getting fired. China’s labor law stipulates that a company should not fire a pregnant employee unless the company is insolvent. “Get pregnant as soon as possible” became a mantra at the height of the economic crisis. Indeed, so many female employees made this choice that they were collectively dubbed “the rush-to-get-pregnant tribe”.

13.Strawberry Generation(草莓族 )
They look chic and sophisticated. They are soft and get hurt easily. They seem unbearably spoilt and can’t take much pressure. They are the so-called “Strawberry Generation”.

The term was coined by a Taiwan writer in one of her books about office rules. It refers to the post-60s generation of office workers, who grew up in a protected environment and got easily dented – just like strawberries – by life’s lightest knocks.

This expression is now finding its way into the mainland, and refers to young workers, of only child families, who have been active in the workforce for just a year or two. They are generally well educated but are self-centered and give too much importance to appearance and material comforts.

14.tree hole post(树洞帖)
It is said that in the past, people tended to dig a small hole in a tree, hide their secret in it and then seal it with mud so no one else would know it. Today, in the virtual world of cyberspace, many love to post their secrets on the Internet anonymously. It makes them feel just like hiding their secrets in tree holes, that’s why it is called tree hole post. Some may also find it stimulating to see others’ response to their secrets.

For example:

I am living in hell with this secret in my mind, maybe I should try to put it into a tree hole post and give myself a break.

15.ohnosecond(糟糕一秒)
An ohnosecond is that very short moment in time during which you realize that you have pressed the wrong key and deleted hours, days, or weeks of work.

In a broader sense, it may also refer to that minuscule fraction of time it takes your brain to realize that you’ve just made a GIGANTIC mistake and reconcile the fact that it is too late.

For example:

Dave sent his girlfriend pictures of himself with another woman, by accident, regretting it an ohnosecond later.

16.soul soother(心灵鸡汤 )
Comforting words and helpful suggestions are usually what a person needs most in times of difficulty, and they are widely known as soul soother.

In Chinese, we translate it into “chicken soup for the soul” because Chinese people have long believed that chicken soup is very nutritious and the best recipe for anyone in poor physical health.

17.photobomb(照片炸弹)
Photobomb means to drop in a photo unexpectedly or to hop in a picture right before it is taken.

It can also refer to an otherwise normal photo that has been ruined or spoiled by someone who was not supposed to be in the photograph.

The most common photobomb is someone in the background making a face.

18.indoorsman(宅男)
Indoorsman refers to a person who spends considerable time in indoor pursuits, such as computing, sleeping and watching sports on television.

For example:

I may not know baseball scores, but as an avid indoorsman, I’ve been highly regarded for my skill at video games and computer programming.

We can use ‘indoorswoman’ to refer to a female one.

For example:

I am trying to convince an indoorswoman to attend a local high school football game with me.

19.Manny(男保姆)
Manny, male nanny, is the new name for young men who take care of other people’s children for money.

Most of the nanny students are young, and the majority are women. Although it is still rare to find guys on traditional nannying courses, attitudes are fast changing. Men of all ages are graduating from nanny schools and snaring places in domestic agencies, they are called mannies.

20.bimbo(胸大无脑的女人)
Bimbo is a term that emerged in popular English language usage in the early 20th century to describe an often physically attractive, unintelligent woman. Use of this term began in the United States as early as 1919. The 1929 silent film Desert Nights describes a wealthy female crook as a bimbo.

Its first usage in English was for stupid men; it now is understood to mean a woman unless modified as male bimbo, himbo, or mimbo.