十大热词翻译

It’s time to do a year-end summary since it is already December! Chinese netizens have summed up many network buzzwords of 2014, and we choose 10 of them, listed in no particular order.

1. 萌萌哒(méng méng da)

“萌” (méng) literally means “cute” and “哒” (da) is a modal particle. The phrase萌萌哒originated on a Chinese website called “douban”, and was used to refer to someone who was a bit strange and needed to take medicine as a result. However, it has gained in popularity because of a series of gifs released by the Palace Museum, where the ancient emperor Yongzheng looks very cute. In daily conversation, the phrase is now used to describe someone who is incredibly cute.

E.g. jīn tiān huà le gè zhuāng, gǎn jué zì jǐ méng méng da.

今天化了个妆，感觉自己萌萌哒。

I did a make-up today and felt myself terribly cute.

2且行且珍惜It is to be cherished.

On March 31, 2014, Chinese actress Ma Yili responded to her husband Wen Zhang's cheating on China's twitter-like Sina Weibo. It reads as follows: "恋爱虽易，婚姻不易，且行且珍惜"(liàn ài suī yì hūn yīn bú yì qiě háng qiě zhēn xī), meaning "Being in love is easy, being married is not. It is to be cherished." Soon many Internet users began to make sentences with this pattern.

E.g. chī fàn suī yì jiǎn féi bú yì qiě chī qiě zhēn xī

吃饭虽易，减肥不易，且吃且珍惜。

Eating is easy, losing weight is not. It is to be cherished

3. 脸基尼（liǎn jī ní）

When it comes to Chinese dama 大妈(dà mā ), or old grannies, you can’t ignore their fixation for purchasing gold and their love of square dancing. Recently, a new initiative was created by this group known as dama, which has had an enormous influence on the French fashion circle. This initiative is the so-called “脸基尼”（liǎn jī ní）, a bizarre mask used to cover a swimmer's entire head and neck down to their collar bones, equipped with holes for eyes, nostrils and mouth, so as to prevent people from getting a tan on their face. “脸基尼（liǎn jī

ní）” is a phrase comprising the words face (“脸”liǎn) and bikini（“基尼”jī ní）creating an entirely new meaning in the world of fashion. Now the phrase has gone viral among French fashion circles and is the talk of the town in Paris.

E.g. liǎn jī ní xiàn zài chéng le hǎi tān yóu bì bèi pǐn

脸基尼现在成了海滩游必备品。

The Facekini has become an essential fashion item for trips to the seaside.. 逗比（dòu bǐ）In daily life, there is always a group of people who are ridiculous or a little strange in terms of their normal behavior. We can refer to these people as “逗比（dòu bǐ）”in Chinese. Initially, the word carried a derogatory meaning but it has slowly evolved into a positive term. It is often used to make fun of friends in a neutral way.

E. g. yě jiù zhǐ yǒu tā zhè gè dòu bǐ néng gàn chū zhè zhǒng shǎ shì.

也就只有他这个逗比才能干出这种傻事。

Only a twit like him would do such stupid things.

5. 拉仇恨（lā chóu hèn）

“拉” (lā) means “pull” and “仇恨” (chóu hèn) means “hatred”. The three Chinese characters together mean “courting envy”. The word is often used when someone boasts about to his or her friends in order to make them jealous. For example, when you are very hungry at night and you see one of your friends posting pictures of delicious food that he has tasted abroad on social media, then you can say in jest, “你是在拉仇恨吗（Are you trying to make me envious?）”.

E. g. jiǎn zài tā de péng yǒu quān shài tā xīn mǎi de LV bāo bāo, zhè jiǎn zhí shì lā chóu hèn ma. 简在她的朋友圈里晒她新买的LV包包，这简直是在拉仇恨嘛。

Jane is showing off her newly bought LV handbag on her WeChat, that’s just courting envy.(Chinese netizens who love to share their stuff online actually have an official net language term to describe their behavior –“shài” (晒/show). )

6. 作死（zuō sǐ）

“作死”（zuō sǐ）is a typical Chinese pet phrase, which literally means “to seek death”. The popular phrase commonly used on the internet in China “不作死就不会死” (bù zuō sǐ jiù bú huìsǐ) is its variant. It is reported that this phrase received over 1,600 likes among western social media within just 3 months. It is so widespread that the Urban Dictionary, an online slang dictionary in America, has included it and defined it as “no zuo no die”. Let’s check out Urban Dictionary’s definition:

7. 7. 吐槽（tǔ cáo）

“吐” means to “spit,” and “槽” is a “trough” or “tank.” The phrase “吐槽” came from Fujian dialect, literally meaning to “spit into other people’s bowls”. Nowadays, more and more people use it in daily life, and it simply means to “complain, defile or abuse” others.

E. g. wǒ zài guó wài de shēng huó tài kǔ le, wǒ yào tǔ cáo yī xià.

我在国外的生活太苦了，我要吐槽一下。

My life abroad is too tough and I need get my problems off my chest.

有钱就是任性yǒu qián jiù shì rèn xìng

"有钱" means "having lots of money" and "任性" means "unrestrained and willful". It jokingly says people who are rich have the right to be willful..

Many people claimed themselves "rich and unrestrained" in friends circle on WeChat and Sina weibo. What a "malicious" world! The buzzword originates from a real event: In April, Mr. Liu spent 1760 yuan online buying a health care product. Soon after, he got calls from a stranger who persuade him to buy other matched medicines. In the following four months, Mr. Liu remitted a total of 540,000 yuan to the swindler. He said that he had already found himself cheated when he was fooled out of 70,000 yuan. "I just wanted to see how much could they take from me!"

9. 这画面太美我不敢看zhè huà miàn tài měi wǒ bú gǎn kàn

This is another joke in which unsightly things are intended to be good-looking. The buzzword comes from a sentence of Jolin's song "Prague Square", which was extended to describe weird things. For example, when you see a very shocking picture, you can use this sentence to express the visual or psychological impact: "这画面太美我不敢看。", meaning "It's so

beautiful that I'm too scared to open my eyes."

10.也是醉了！yě shì zuì le

"醉" means "being drunk". The buzzword originates from Jin Yong's "Swordsman". The hero in the novel Linghu Chong satirizes others' flattering by saying "The moment I see those who flatter me would I feel so uncomfortable as if I were drunk." Then a group of DOTA players often use this phrase. No matter one's skill is good or bad, they will say "我也是醉了", meaning "Are you kidding me?”