新词新译：不粘锅/哈密瓜/纸馅包子/丛林肉/潜台词/孕味摄影/拎包党/斩熟

不粘锅
diner-out
The Chinese phrase, which literally means Teflon cooking utensils, is now often used to describe those young people who always eat out and stay away from their kitchens. It’s because either they are too busy with their job or don’t bother to do the cooking.

哈密瓜
Potterhead
Hami melon, as the Chinese term means, is a special sweet, juicy fruit produced in Hami area of northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. But today in the global craze about the books about a young wizard, it is borrowed to mean bona fide Harry Potter fans. Because of the similarity of their pronunciation, the three Chinese characters in this term are used to represent “Harry Potter,” “fan” and “muggle.”

纸馅包子
cardboard bun
It refers to steamed buns stuffed with a mixture of minced pork and cardboard pulp. Beijing TV Station has been widely criticized for fabricating a “news” story about a Beijing vendor selling steamed buns with cardboard stuffing.

丛林肉
bushmeat
This Chinese term is a translation of the English word “bushmeat,” meaning wildlife killed by commercial or subsistence hunters. The use of and trade in bushmeat is now believed to be a key cause of the drastic decline of wild animal populations.

潜台词
subtext, implication 
This term refers to the tacit message of people’s remarks or behavior. To get the message, one has to read between the lines or interpret the insinuation.

孕味摄影
pregnancy photography
This term refers to stylish photos of pregnant women. It’s a play on the words in Chinese as the first two characters of this term sound similar to a common Chinese phrase meaning “lasting appeal,” but the first character now means “pregnancy.”

拎包党
bag grabbers
The term refers to thieves who grab someone’s bag and run away when he or she fails to guard it tightly in a public place. Such robbers usually act with accomplices and often employ bicycles, motorbikes or other getaway means.

斩熟
rip off a friend
It’s a not-so-rare phenomenon these days for someone swindling his or her friends, colleagues or even relatives for financial gain. They usually sell fake or substandard products to their friends by abusing the latter’s trust and friendship. It’s particularly common for those involved in pyramid sales schemes.

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