Pronounced: zhèngbù
Means: goose-stepping (in military parades). Also what Tianjin’s university sophomores have to do for hours each day this week . For example:
教官让我们踢很长时间正步。
jiàoguān ràng wǒmen tī hěn cháng shíjiān hèngbù.
Pronounced: chòu měi
Literally: “stinky beautiful”
Means: to smugly and shamelessly show off one’s good looks. Sometimes used in light teasing between friends.
Pronounced: sān sú
Means: The “Three Vulgarities” refers to things officially deemed vulgar (庸俗 yōngsú), low (低俗 dīsú), or pandering (媚俗 mèisú) in the ongoing anti-vulgarity censorship campaign that was launched in late July. English translations of the three vulgarities differ; see here and here to compare dictionary entries.
Pronounced: línshí bào fó jiǎo
Literally: “to clasp the Buddha’s feet in one’s hour of need.”
Means: professing devotion only when in trouble; to desperately plea for help at the last minute; to make a frantic last minute effort (in lieu of proper preparation); what a lot of Chinese high school seniors (and their parents) are doing today and tomorrow as millions of Chinese students take the all-important gāokǎo (高考) — the college entrance examination. These are the two days of reckoning for which Chinese children sacrifice their childhoods to their studies.
“…parents were streaming into the vermilion gates of the temples, to burn incense and pray for good scores. (One friend told me today about a fellow mother who is so crazed that she has been visiting Catholic churches as well, just for good measure.) The city itself even got into the spirit, ordering drivers to avoid honking, which might disturb students, and, in some places, closing down Internet cafes in the days before, to encourage studying.”
See: Why Does China Go Nuts Over a Test? and Two Stressful Days for China’s College Hopefuls
Pronounced:
hēi māo bái māo zhuāzhù hàozi jiùshì hǎo māo
Literally:
“black cat, white cat, catch mice is good cat”
Means:
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a black cat or a white cat, if it catches mice it’s a good cat.” Deng Xiaoping’s famous reformist pronouncement favouring practicality over ideology. (There’s no actual direct quote; different versions of this are attributed to Deng, though all convey the same idea.)
Pronounced: tāmen de mìngyùn bèi gǎibiàn le
Means: “Their fate/destiny has been changed.” This is how my latest interviewee, who teaches Chinese to the staff of a Christian international school, described the situation of Chinese orphans who’ve been adopted into loving families.
Pronounced: hā lì lù yà! zhǔ fùhuó le!
Literally: “Hallelujah! The Lord is resurrected!”
Means: “Hallelujah! Christ is risen!” These and other phrases were heard this morning at Tianjin’s Shanxi Lu Easter service, where there was hardly even any standing room. (“Happy Easter!” is “复活节快乐！” / “fùhuó jié kuàilè!”)
Canada:
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