炫苦 (xuan4 ku3)
flaunt hardships
The term means displaying all the troubles, hardships and distresses one has been through on the Internet to encourage oneself. Different from the second generation from the affluent families who often boast their luxury sports cars, designer handbags and extravagant lifestyle, these people post pictures of their sufferings and hard times to boost their morale.

蘑菇型白领 (mo2 gu1 xing2 bai2 ling3)
sluggish white collars
The term refers to a group of white collars who are always passive no matter in work, or in personal life or study. They get used to dragging their feet in doing jobs and can’t concentrate. It’s difficult for them to have their own schedules and plans as they always scramble to meet a deadline.

初老症 (chu1 lao3 zheng2)
early-aging syndrome
Due to mounting pressure and fast-paced lifestyle, young people show symptoms of early-aging, especially psychologically. They become numb or fear new things and innovation, often recall the past days, hate frequent changes and easily get tired.

追孕族 (zhui1 yun2 zu2)
pregnancy pursuers
It is a nickname given by online citizens to the group of urban young women who have made great efforts to get pregnant, including in virtu fertilization, after marriage but have repeatedly failed for various reasons. This group are usually well-educated, have a well-paid job and have nurtured a great hope of starting a family.

隐孕族 (yin2 yun2 zu2)
pregnancy-secretive clan
Some young office ladies would hush up their pregnancy during the first few months of the term for fear that it might negatively affect their career growth. However, the tactic as a spin-off of the fierce job market often puts the pregnant women in danger as the early stages are usually a raw time for the fetus.

亲友假期 (qin2 you3 jia3 qi1)
paliday
It is a portmanteau word from pal and holiday to describe the scenario that people spend their holiday at the home of a friend or relative in the hope of cutting cost.

黑客狗仔 (hei1 ke4 gou3 zai3)
Hackerazzi
Different from traditional paparazzi who doggedly pursue celebrities to take candid pictures for sale to magazines and newspapers, Hackrazzi use their sophisticated computer technology to hack into e-mail accounts of celebrities to steal pictures or other personal information.

远程分手 (yuan3 cheng2 fen1 shou3)
long-distance breakup
As technology evolves, some couples choose not to break up face to face. Instead, they talk about it via e-mail, text messages, or microblog pages or in other social networking platforms peacefully in order to avoid awkwardness.

模板依赖症 (mu2 ban3 yi1 lai4 zheng4)
template dependence syndrome
People with this syndrome search templates online whenever they need to write something. They copy templates when they need to apply for jobs or write work summaries. They fill in their personal information in the template.

娱乐反刍 (yu2 le4 fan3 chu2)
TV drama remake
It refers to the current phenomenon that many Chinese TV dramas are remakes based on popular series shot just several years ago. It was like animals w   hich have separated compartments in their stomachs chewing on cud constantly. It reflects the scarcity of good original scripts.

报复性腐败 (bao3 fu3 xing3 fu3 bai3)
retaliatory corruption
Some government officials who used to be clean, honest and upright became crooked after they fail to be promoted. They choose to embezzle public funds and take bribes to take revenge on the promotion system. They hold grudges against colleagues and government departments, using corruption as a way to let out the anger.

花式简历 (hua1 shi4 jian3 li4)
flamboyant resume
Some Chinese job seekers create resumes that are more artistic than functional in the hope of attracting the eyes of potential employers. Experts say simplicity and information count the most for job recruiters.

宅内族 (zhai2 nei4 zu2)
Indoors-keepers
Home geeks with positive attitudes. They advocate a thrifty, do-it-yourself lifestyle due to the economic downturn or limited means, such as cooking and doing the laundry by oneself, or exercising at home if possible.

午饭恐惧症 (wu3 fan4 kong3 ju3 zheng4)
lunch phobia
During lunch hour, "what to eat and who to eat with" can be a headache for office workers who work at a company without canteen facilities. Some are afraid of being isolated from colleagues at the dining table due to a lack of shared topics or they are just not good at inter-personal communication skills. In fact, lunch phobia is a manifestation of social phobia.

裸辞 (luo3 ci3)
naked resignation
This refers to people who are resolved to quit their current job even before finding the next one. It is attributed to a massive workload or lacking in happiness at work. The word is now popular among office workers and the term has spread widely on the Internet.

周三症候群 (zhou1 san1 zheng4 hou4 qun2)
Wednesday syndrome
Wednesday, the midweek point, is often referred to as "hump day" because of its position as the middle day of the work week. If the work week were a hill, then Wednesday would be the crest. It is all downhill from there. People feel dismayed at the very day because of the just-passed weekend and the next faraway weekend so they end up being in the middle of nowhere. Besides, employees are prone to being overwhelmed with worry and anxiety on Wednesday because of all the information and messages they receive.

微波炉思维 (wei1 bo1 lu2 si1 wei2)
Microwave mentality
Microwaves help people heat food quickly, but this magic helper in the kitchen has led to the disappearance of patience in modern society. People with a microwave mentality can't even wait for fast food to be delivered. For people who think this way, things that can't be done in minutes are simply not worth doing.

云服务 (yun2 fu2 wu4)
iCloud
ICloud is the latest branding of Apple's cloud computing services, which has previously been branded as iTools in 2000, Mac in 2002, and MobileMe in 2008. The cloud-based system allows users to store music, photos, applications, documents, Safari and Internet Explorer bookmarks, reminders, notes, iBooks and contacts, as well as serving as a platform for Apple's email servers and calendars.

501军团 (501 jun1 tuan2)
501st Legion
The 501st Legion is an international fan-based organization dedicated to the construction and wearing of replica costumes of various characters from the Star Wars universe. Founded by Albin Johnson in America in 1997, the group now boasts more than 5,000 active members in 40 countries. The 501st Legion China is formed by Song Yi-Fan and Zhang Fan (with their serial numbers TK2988 and TK9866 respectively) in 2008.

粗粮饮食 (cu1 liang2 yin3 shi2)
macrobiotic diet
A macrobiotic diet is a dietary regimen similar to a vegetarian one. People who follow this diet eat grains as a staple food and avoid animal and dairy products. They also eat fermented products like tofu and vegetables. It was introduced from Japan and can help the human body dispose of internal bad elements and heal chronic diseases, and it now has become very popular in China.

奈特尔家庭 (nai4 te2 er2 jia1 ting2)
Nettel family
Nettel (Not Enough Time To Enjoy Life) family is a term commonly seen in China that originated in Australia. It refers to families who strive for accumulated wealth at the expense of a balanced and relaxing life with family members against the backdrop of soaring living costs, high work pressure and deteriorating economic conditions. The number of Nettel families is on the rise.

职场木乃伊 (zhi2 chang3 mu3 nai3 yi1)
professional Zombie
It refers to employees who used to be entrepreneurial, passionate and creative but now are spiritless and numb with incompetent managers or dreary routine jobs.

巨型光棍节 (ju4 xing2 guang1 gun4 jie2)
Super Singles Day
November 11 has been designated as Singles Day by Chinese youths in the past few years as 11-11 looks like singles standing alone. This year's Singles Day seems to carry more weight than usual as the date is 11-11-11.

潘币 (pan1 bi4)
Panbi
Panbi refers to a virtual form of currency named after Chinese real estate tycoon Pan Shiyi, chairman of SOHO China. One Panbi equals 1,000 yuan (US$157.4) per square meter. The term was invented after a Chinese microblogger joked that SOHO China should sell properties at 1,000 yuan per square meter when Pan dies. By doing this, more than a billion Chinese people would remember Pan. The comments were made after Pan said Apple should slash its prices as a tribute to Steve Jobs.

微求职 (wei1 qiu2 zhi2)
microblog job seeking
It refers to a new form of job searching. Netizens post their resume on a microblog site and tweet the posts to their desired employers. It's fast, easy and doesn't cost anything, but it also has a very slim chance of success.

自出版 (zi4 chu1 ban3)
self-publishing
Without the involvement of a publisher, authors now can use digital tools and online platforms to publish their works. After finishing a manuscript, writers also need to create a professional book description and cover. Then they upload the book online, convert it to the proper format and it will be available in online book stores. By doing this, authors can earn more royalties.

限娱令 (xian4 yu2 ling4)
vulgur-fare curbs
China's broadcast watchdog has issued a directive to limit the number of "vulgar" or "overly entertaining" programs in its latest move to boost good morals. The programs singled out for the ax include those dealing with marital troubles and matchmaking, talent shows, game shows, variety shows, talk shows and reality programming.

漂老族（piao1 lao3 zu2）
drifting parents
Chinese parents who move temporarily to large cities where their adult children work in order to help care for their grandchildren and do household chores before children are old enough to go to school.

纸张癖 (zhi3 zhang1 pi4)
paperphilia
A deep appreciation for the aesthetic qualities of paper and the preference for reading materials printed on paper rather than displayed on a screen. The resurgence of paperphilia rekindled people’s love for simple arts and handcrafts.

反潮族 (fan3 chao2 zu2)
trend-bender
Contrarians who buck the trends. They ride a bike to work when they can afford a car, write snail-mail whenever possible in preference to e-mail and prefer reading “real” books and publications instead of e-books.

反季淘 (fan3 ji4 tao2)
off-season shopping
Purchasing winter clothing in summer or the other way around to save money in big off-season discounts.

穿越剧 (chuan1 yue4 ju4)
time-travel TV drama
A popular new TV series genre in which people in modern times travel to the past; or people from the past jump to the present or future times. Recent hits include “Startling by Each Step” and “Palace.”

瘦人基因 （shou4 ren2 ji1 yin1）
skinny gene
British and Swiss scientists have discovered that people with duplications of chromosome 16 were more likely to be skinny after studying the DNA of over 95,000 people. One out of every 2,000 people is affected by the lean gene, which can make men 23 times and women five times more likely to be underweight.

头像性格 （tou2 xiang4 xing2 ge2）
profile picture character
It refers to an online trend to guess a netizen’s character from his or her profile picture on social networking sites. According to the theory developed by netizens, women who use there own photos usually have a strong spirit, lots of energy and are charismatic. Those who use pictures of aggressive foreign women tend to be weak and shy, they say.

三手烟 (san1 shou3 yan1)
third-hand smoke
It refers to cigarette particles or the odor remaining in furniture, clothing, hair or skin. Third-hand smoke is an invisible killer hidden on walls, in carpets, bed sets and other places. When babies crawl on the ground or grab things and put them in their mouth, they can get poisoned by the third-hand smoke.

冷妈 (leng3 ma1)
cold-faced mother
Unlike traditional mothers who love their children unconditionally and sacrifice themselves, cold-faced mothers appear relatively detached, cold and strict. They don¡¯t always give unconditionally or remain tender and mild. On the contrary, they tend to teach children to face reality.

TVB体 (TVB ti3)
TVB style
It refers to a recent online trend to comfort others by using lines from TV series produced by Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Ltd, commonly known as TVB.

月饼税 (yue4 bing3 shui4)
mooncake tax
Tax authorities recently reminded employers that if they give mooncakes to employees as a bonus, it should be included as part of their taxable income. Although the tax has been levied for the past two years, most taxpayers think it is ridiculous and there was a wave of online criticism.

试探性自杀 (shi4 tan4 xing4 zi4 sha1)
tentative attempts before suicide
The phrase refers to tentative attempts made by a person before he/she has enough courage to commit suicide. The phrase came to light after a Hubei Province government official who had 11 deep knife wounds on his body was ruled to have committed suicide by police. His family and some members of the online community questioned whether it was possible that the official could stab himself 11 times to commit suicide.

格差婚 (ge2 cha1 hun1)
kakusa marriage
Gecha is a translation from the Japanese word kakusa, which means gap. A kakusa marriage involves a man and a woman that have a great gap in income, family background, temperament, hobbies and outlook on life.

拉黑 (la1 hei1)
blacklist/block
An expression used to refer to blocking someone from viewing your posts on a social networking site. It also means to blacklist a person or organization.

闪辞族 (shan3 ci2 zu2)
speed job-quitter
Some new graduates will use a trivial setback as an excuse to find another position only several months or weeks into the current job.

拜登吃面 (bai4 deng1 chi1 mian4)
Biden eats noodles
The new phrase was coined and spread quickly online. Online bloggers said it means purchasing goods that greatly overvalue their actual price. They composed a sentence to explain how to use the phrase: “Don’t think about marrying me without owning a house. That’s just a Biden eats noodles dream.” The 79-yuan (US$9.4) lunch US Vice President Joe Biden had with his team at a Beijing restaurant during his visit to China last week raised suspicion that it was a publicity stunt by the US to convey the information that China should appreciate its currency.

Hold住 (hold zhu4)
under control
The phrase refers to having a situation under control or remaining composed, poised, calm and relaxed under pressure. The expression became the hottest catchphrase online after a Taiwan college student repeatedly said it when performing a comedy kit in a Taiwan TV show. The woman, calling herself Miss Lin, wore tacky dresses and heavy make-up and taught audience how to be fashionable in a pretentious English accent. Lin said the key to being fashionable is to keep everything under control at all times.

蓝精灵体 (lan2 jing1 ling2 ti3)
smurfs style
The phrase refers to a recent online craze to rewrite the lyrics of the theme song for the classic cartoon show  "The Smurfs." The netizens created various versions of the popular song based on different professions. In the lyrics, people from different occupations were likened to the tiny blue Smurfs.

堵车后效应 (du3 che1 hou4 xiao4 ying4)
post-traffic jam effect
It refers to anxiety, depression or disappointment that is carried into the office after a driver is caught in a traffic jam. A survey by a Florida psychologist found the longer a driver has endured a traffic jam, the more likely he or she will suffer the effect.

裸漂 (luo3 piao1)
penniless drifter
Chinese people refer to those who try to start a career in a metropolitan city like Shanghai and Beijing as drifters, who either have a beloved partner in the city or other assets. But some drifters stay in a city with nothing or nobody to care for.

旅游散伙 (lv3 you2 san4 huo3)
farewell tour
A new trend has developed among university classmates in their senior year in which they take an out-of-town trip together in the summer before they start work.

三低男 (san1 di1 nan2)
three low men
The phrase, which comes from Japan, refers to a group of men with low stance, low risks and low bound. These men now appeal to women in Japan. They have replaced the highly educated, high income and tall men that Japanese women traditionally pursued in the 1980s.