新词新译:亚健康/汗语/楼主/天价/月光族

亚健康
semi-health
Semi-health conditions are half way between good health and ill health. Such conditions, including headache, insomnia, stiff shoulders and chronic constipation, are often diagnosed as symptoms of illness, but they are deemed by TCM doctors as warning signs of health deterioration or harbingers of ill health.

汗语
chat-room jargon
This is a team coined to refer to those buzzwords common in online chat rooms or articles but completely incomprehensible to those who read only mainstream publications. It plays on the phrase “汉语” meaning Mandarin, which is pronounced exactly the same way. “Han” in the former means sweat, reminding one of the characters sweating in an exaggeratedly profuse way when they are frightened, embarrassed, shocked or frustrated.

楼主
thread starter
The person whose article or comment on the BBS or online chat room triggered off discussions and arguments on a specific topic is often referred to as a thread starter. As his or her article or comment appears at the very top of a string of remarks, a thread starter is therefore nicknamed as louzhu (chief of the building). The following debaters are called dwellers of the second-floor, third-floor, etc, according to the appearance sequence of their comment.

天价
whopping price
The Chinese term literally means the price is as high as the sky An old man who is treated in a local hospital in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province last summer had to pay an unbelievably high price of 5.5 million yuan (US$680,000). Many expenses were later found to be fabricated by the hospital.

月光族
moonlite
This concocted Chinese term is the moniker for people who always spend all their salaries or earnings before the end of the month. The first Chinese character in the term means “month” or “moon,” and the second “leaving nothing behind” or “light.”

>>点击查看更多关于新词新译的文章