Popular Words

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)

There’s no doubt about it, learning any language requires a commitment of time and effort, even more so when there’s a great difference between one’s native language and the new one. Here are some suggestions and on-line materials to maximum your effectiveness, minimize the time spent, and make learning Chinese easier.Relate new information to material ...

宅(zhái) to stay at home all day
Where does it originate from?
The saying of “宅(zhái)” refers to a group of people who indulge in something excessively, such as computer games, and cartoons. These people would rather stay at home than go out.
What does it mean?
This word means house or residence in Chinese. ...

碰壁(pèngbì) Be rebuffed
In this word, 碰(pèng) means “bump” and 壁(bì) means “wall.” The whole word 碰壁(pèngbì) literally means “run up against a wall.” But people usually use it to describe a situation in which you are turned down or rebuffed. In Chinese feudal times, a corrupted 衙门(yámen) government was always closed to the common people ...

啃老族 (kĕn lăo zú) Parent-dependent adults

What does it mean?
啃老族(kĕn lăo zú) refers to a group of adults who have a common feature: They stay at home instead of searching for jobs. This group is also called NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) in U.K. “啃(kĕn)”means “gnaw,” here it is used to vividly describe the ...

During the financial crisis (金融危机 jīn róng wēi jī), millions of people are suffering from the psychological problems caused by losing jobs (失业shī yè), and bankrupcy (破产pò chăn) .Ever since the financial crisis, we have seen an increasing amount of unemployment (失业人员shī yè rén yuán). These people suddenly suffered the fear of job loss ...