Popular Words

Have you ever seen a live performance, that was so magnificent and energetic, that it almost seemed like the floor itself was jumping? Musicians, athletes, and people who exhibit extraordinary traits are usually considered hardcore, cool and awesome. In an internet-centric world, it would only make sense that there would be a new buzzword created ...

Have you heard of the emerging and trendy internet slang from China called “土味情话 (tǔwèi qínghuà) ”? It can be compared to “cheesy pick-up lines” in English. “土味 (tǔwèi)” usually means outdated or old-school, while “情话 (qínghuà)” refers to the sweet nothings shared between lovers. Thus it’s a funny way to flirt with your partner ...

Interjections are commonly used in our daily life which are also known as “叹词 (tàncí)” or “感叹词 (gǎntàncí)” in Mandarin Chinese. These kinds of expressions are used in our daily lives to express exclamations or make various kinds of emotional responses.
It happens every day! We use interjections or exclamations to express our emotional responses to ...

Have you ever hear the Chinese term 爆表 (bàobiǎo)? Currently this term is extremely popular among young Chinese people and its all over the internet! This fun term originally referred to when a meter “explodes,” or the reader is higher than what the instrument can read, for example, there is an AQI over 500 but ...

After looking at the photo above are your eyes feeling spicy? What I mean is, does it feel like a pepper has been squirted in your eye? In Chinese, there is a fabulous internet phrase to describe when you are looking at something awful: 辣眼睛 (làyǎnjīng) or “spicy eyes.” It is a way of commenting ...

Jack: Eric, néng jiè diǎnr qián gěi wǒ ma?
Jack: Eric,  能    借 点儿   钱    给  我  吗？
Jack: Eric, can you lend me some money?
Eric: Nǐ yòu méi qián le?
Eric: 你  又   没   钱  了？
Eric: You ran out of money again?
Jack: Shì a, wǒ xiànzài qióng de zhǐnéng chītǔ le.
Jack: 是啊，我  现在     穷    得   只能    吃土 了。
Jack: Yeah, I’m _____.
What can we learn from the dialogue?
A. Jack wants to ...

八卦(bāguà) gossip

Origin of the Phrase
Yi Jing, also named The Book of Changes, says: “Yin and Yang form Tai Chi; Tai Chi forms two-stage; two-stage forms four-quadrant and four-quadrant forms Eight Diagrams.” A founder of a gossip magazine in Hong Kong thinks that various gossip in the world are formed from what happened in the ...

CHINESE / MANDARIN VOCABULARY -CAR(Click in the arrow to listen how to pronounce the word in Mandarin)

流行词语(liúxíng cíyŭ) Popular Words

物质(wùzhì) Materialistic

Origin and Meaning:
The phrase 物质(wùzhì) materialistic comes from a poem in Jin Dynasty, and it refers to substance and materials. But with the rapid development of material life, many people are paying more attention to materialistic things while ignoring the spiritual life. So now the phrase, as an adjective, ...

抬杠(táigàng) to argue for the sake of arguing

Where does the phrase originate from?
In the north of China in early times, there existed a custom called “抬杠会(táigànghuì)” argue meeting. On the day of Lantern Festival, some strong men carried the bamboo “杠(gàng), ” on which there is a sedan. ...