| 奔奔族 |
| bēnbēn zú |
| 'The group in a hurry'; refers mostly to Chinese born around 1980 who are in constant rush due to the competitive socioeconomic conditions and high prices of apartments, cars, etc |
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| 隐婚族 |
| yǐnhūn zú |
| 'The group married in secret'; women who marry at young age and hide this fact when applying for a job, because employers often do not hire or promote a woman who is expected to request a maternity leave |
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| 嫁碗 |
| jiàwǎn |
| 'Marry the bowl'. 'Bowl' signifies stable government job (iron rice bowl), thus this term describes women who seek the most stable of husbands |
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| 孩子奴 |
| háizi nú |
| 'Children's slave', parents who are the servants of their child, a common phenomenon in the era of the single child family |
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| 房奴 |
| fáng nú |
| 'Apartment slave', mortgage slaves, someone who works hard only to pay off the rent or the mortgage |
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| 一夜情 |
| yī yè qíng |
| "One-night love/affection", meaning 'one night stand'. |
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| 管二代 |
| guǎn èr dài |
| 'Second generation of officials'; a negative term, depicting sons and daughters of government officials, which are stereotyped for enjoying special social privileges and often being admitted to governmental posts. This term became widespread following several crimes committed by 'guan er dai' in the last three years. |
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| 新新人类 |
| xīnxīn rén lèi |
| 'Neo neo group'; this term refers to youngsters (late teens or early 20s) who represent the new age in terms of fashion and technology. The 'xinxin renlei' are considered independent and creative, yet very absorbed by fashion, adopting unique appearance styles. This concept has been 'imported' from Japan and Taiwan. |
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| 布波族 |
| bù bō zú |
| 'Bobo group'; bourgeois and bohemian, a translation to the English term 'bobo' referring to a group of special taste within the bourgeois middle class. In 2002 this term became very popular in China. |
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| 布尔乔亚 |
| bù ěr qiáo yà |
| Bourgeois |
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| 波希米亚 |
| bō xī mǐ yà |
| Bohemia, bohemian |
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| 丁克族 |
| dīngkè zú |
| 'DINK' - 'double income no kids'; Chinese couples who choose not to have children, an economic decision that nagates the lifestyle of traditional families |
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| 草莓族 |
| cǎoméi zú |
| 'Strawberry group/clan'; post 1980s or 1990s youngsters who enjoyed a cozy childhood and now cannot deal with the pressures of adult life and reality... |
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| 宅男/宅女 |
| zhái nán zhái nǔ |
| 'Residence man/ residence woman' - A person who likes to stay at home, rather than go out. Often referring to someone who spends hours near the computer as a hobbie.
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| 齐天大剩 |
| qí tiān dà shèng |
| An old bachelor or single woman: This is a moderation of 齐天大圣, an expression taken from 'Journey to the West' meaning 'the great sage of the even skies'. In 齐天大剩, sage (圣) is replaced by 'left over' (剩), thus this means 'the great leftover of the even skies' |
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| 毕婚 |
| bì hūn |
| 'Graduation marriage'; getting married immediately after graduation from university, a habit conducted by many youngsters nowadays. |
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| 北漂 |
| běi piāo |
| 'Floating in Beijing' (北=北京); Chinese immigrants in Beijing, who don't have a Beijing residence permit, nor a stable housing or job, and just 'float', trying to survive while hoping for a better future. |
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| 第三者 |
| dì sān zhě |
| 'The third'; a mistress of a married man, the third side in a couple's relationship. |
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| 小三 |
| xiǎo sān |
| 'Small third', small mistress (a derogatory term for 'mistress') the 'third side' in a married couple's relationship. |
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| 傍大款 |
| bàng dà kuǎn |
| Date a rich guy, date a sugar-daddy. |
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| 吃软饭 |
| chī ruǎn fàn |
| 'Eat soft rice'; a weak, low-income-earning man, living off his wife. |
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| 潜规则 |
| qián guīzé |
| 'Hidden regulation' - An illegal or immoral practice, known to most people, though nevertheless still taking place and becoming a norm. |
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| 试婚 |
| shì hūn |
| 'Trial marriage' - Normally refers to a couple living together and spending much time with each other, as a phase before they decide whether to get married. |
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| 一白遮百丑 |
| yī bái zhē bǎi chǒu |
| 'One white covers a hundred ugliness'; a phrase which expresses the preference of white skin. |
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| 七年之痒 |
| qī nián zhī yǎng |
| 'The itch of seven years' - Referring to the difficulties experienced after seven years of marriage, a time point which is often considered as problematic in a marriage life. |
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| 仇富 |
| chóu fù |
| 'Enemy rich' - A term which expresses hatred and envy towards the rich. |
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| 空巢 |
| kong cháo |
| 'Empty nest' - Elder parents who remain alone in their house, after the offsprings had all grown up and left home. |
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| 白领 |
| báilǐng |
| 'White collar', an educated worker who performs administrative or office job. |
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| 蚁族们 |
| yǐ zú men |
| 'Ants', refers to the urban residents, who like ants spend a busy, hard-working and restless life, trying to make a decent living. |
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| 蛋形蜗居 |
| dàn xíng wōjū |
| The term 蜗居 (wōjū), 'snail residence', describes the burden of purchasing an apartment, as the payments the buyer must provide are heavy as a carrying the house on the back (like a snail does). 蛋形 (dàn xíng) means 'egg shaped' and the whole expression refers to small apartments, which are still a heavy burden on those who purchase them. |
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| 胶囊公寓 |
| jiāo náng gōngyù |
| 'Capsule flats', a nickname for tiny city apartments. |
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| 80后(八零后） |
| bā líng hòu |
| 'After 80' - The generation born in the 1980's, who share some attributes, as being mostly singletons, born into a new era of the economic reforms. |
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| 另类 |
| lìnglèi |
| 'Other type' - A term which is relevant to fashion and style, linked to 'alternative' youngsters who rebel against the common norms. |
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| 小皇帝 |
| xiǎo huángdì |
| 'Little emperors'; a term associated with the new spoiled singletons generation, and to the central position of the single child in his or her family. |
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| 富二代 |
| fù èr dài |
| 'Rich second generation' - The children of the rich, mostly referring to children of parent who became rich during the reform era. The 富二代 are often considered lazy and relying too much on their parents' money and social status. |
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| 裸婚 |
| luǒ hūn |
| 'Naked marriage' - A couple that gets married without having an apartment or a solid financial foundation. |
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| 闪婚 |
| shǎn hūn |
| 'Flash marriage' - A couple that gets married after a very short dating period. This phenomenon is associated with many youngsters nowadays. |
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| 剩斗士 |
| shèng dòushì |
| 'Left over warriors' - In modern slang this expression refers to single ladies, who have failed to find a husband until now. |
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| 白骨精 |
| báigǔjīng |
| Originally meaning a devious famale demon, which appears in the novel 'Journey to the West' (西游记), in modern slang 白骨精 means a successful white-collar manager or worker (白 stands for 白领, white collar; 骨 stands for 骨干, backbone or key player; 精 stands for 精英, essence). |
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| 半糖主义 |
| bàn táng zhǔyì |
| 'A half candy doctrine' - A married couple who isn't living together and only meet each other on the weekends, when work is over. |
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| 剩女 |
| shèng nǔ |
| 'Leftover women' - Women who remain unmarried in a relatively old age. 剩女 is pronounced exactly like 圣女 (holy women), giving this expression an amusing double meaning. |
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| 蜗居 |
| wō jū |
| 'Snail Residing' - A popular term describing the difficulty of purchasing an apartment in urban China nowadays. Buying a house creates a huge burden (in the form of morgage, debts and money deficit), hence such a situation is compared to a snail, which has to carry the heavy burden of its house throughout its entire life. |
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| 啃老族 |
| kěn lǎo zú |
| 'Gnawing the old group' - Young adults who don't have a good income (and sometimes not even their own home), who are a financial, or emotional, burden on their aging parents. |
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| 月光族 |
| yuèguāng zú |
| 'Spending salary group' - A term which refers to young to middle age, hardworking people, who don't manage to save money as their entire salary is spent every month. |
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