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Random new word of the day


roddy

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土豪金 -

 

(1) the golden iPhone 5S; the golden colour of iPhone 5S; things of similar colour showing (off) the wealth of the owners

 

(2) a description of rich rednecks' behaviours/tastes and the types of goods they like

 

http://baike.baidu.com/view/10917013.htm

 

PS - This term goes well with 高富帥 -> 离开乔布斯的苹果 从“高富帅”到“土豪金” :P

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Even just 土豪 by itself is very common. My understanding is it's more or less the same as 暴发户 (aka 新贵). In English we say "nouveau riche" (itself from the French), but in Australia it's more common to refer to these people as just "cashed-up bogans". :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

My father's business is furniture and the business is in an area of Melbourne which is popular with immigrants who have newly moved to Australia.

 

For decades his suppliers and business partners have made fun of him because he insists that furniture have gold trim or fittings (e.g. gold colored handles or knobs or a line of gold colored strip around the edge of the furniture).  Frankly, it's just good business for him because that's what sells, and adds practically nothing to the cost.

 

The whole gold iphone thing is just this exact trend coming to the electronics business.  I will be sure to let him know that Apple now approves of his business decisions... 

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In light of the passing of a noted double Nobel winner:

 

测序 = sequencing (e.g. of DNA, RNA, protein etc. in biochemistry)

 

逝世 = to pass away (although I use 去世 or 过世 by default, the sound of 逝世 is very particular, and the two characters rhyme in Cantonese as well) 

 

碱基 = base (in genetics). Unites the dual meaning of the word "base" in English and the European languages into a usefully specific word. Also 碱基对 = base pair; something to look out for while parsing!

 

硝 = saltpetre, -nitro-

 

噬菌体 = bacteriophage

 

封爵 = hierarchy, the orders of nobility

 

五等爵位 = The Five Orders of Nobility (especially in Zhou dynasty China)

 

谦逊 = meek, humble. I have the impression that this is used more often than 谦卑, although I appreciate the nuance is slightly different. 

 

滴水穿石 = Dripping water penetrates the stone; perseverance overcomes any difficulty. Well known and well used, in science as well as in many other fields of endeavour.

 

复生 = recover, regenerate, come back to life. I have the feeling 复活, because of its use in the translation of the Bible, is more common among various Christian communities (than in other contexts), whereas 复生 is more general in scope among various faith and religious groups, as well as finding use in biological contexts.

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掃貨 - buy in large quantity, go on a shopping spree, imagine sweeping all the goodies in a shopping basket.

 

I think this term originated from HK but is now used in both Mainland China and Taiwan.

There is another term 掃街, which is not as popular and does not appear to be in use outside HK. Besides the literal meaning of sweeping the street, it can also mean buying/eating food from all of the food stalls in one area.

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黑匣子 they say in China,

黑盒子 we say in Taiwan

:)

 

My word is 機車 ji 1  che 1 it means scooter

but also means "a picky person in an annoying way / or if someone is teasing you and you think he's annoying, you can say he/ she is very 機車。(slang in Taiwan)

 

我的老闆很機車。 My boss is very picky annoying.  :)

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Leafing through the Look Inside bits of this book on Amazon (I'm going to have to buy it), in the section on phonaesthetics:

谑而不虐, xùe‘érbùnüè - to tease without malice. And not also the parallel in character structure. 

 

比特幣 - Ah, I'd heard that a couple of times in the passing and hadn't been paying enough attention to figure out what it was. 

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