club (the organisation or its premises) (loanword) / CL:個|个[ge4]
灌水
guàn shuǐ
to irrigate / to pour water into / to inject water into meat to increase its weight (plumping) / to cook the books / to post low-value messages (small talk etc) on Internet forums
国语
Guó yǔ
Chinese language (Mandarin), emphasizing its national nature / Chinese as a primary or secondary school subject / Chinese in the context of the Nationalist Government / Guoyu, book of historical narrative c. 10th-5th century BC
首家
shǒu jiā
first (hotel of its type, store of its type etc)
旨在
zhǐ zài
to have as its purpose / to be intended to / to aim to (do sth)
源于
yuán yú
has its origins in
樱花
yīng huā
oriental cherry (Prunus serrulata or Prunus yedoensis), prized for its blossom / also known as sakura (Japanese) or Yoshino cherry
公车
gōng chē
bus / abbr. for 公共汽車|公共汽车[gong1 gong4 qi4 che1] / car belonging to an organization and used by its members (government car, police car, company car etc) / abbr. for 公務用車|公务用车[gong1 wu4 yong4 che1]
positive (in its effect) / leading to good consequences / virtuous / (medicine) benign (tumor etc)
标注
biāo zhù
to mark out / to tag / to put a sign on sth explaining or calling attention to / to annotate (e.g. a character with its pinyin)
游走
yóu zǒu
to wander about / to roam / to move back and forth between (government and academia, two or more countries etc) / to flow through (a circuit, a network, the body) / to skirt (the border of legality) / (of a singer's voice) to move within its range / (of a stock price) to fluctuate within (a range)
摘下
zhāi xià
to take off / to remove (one's hat, a door from its hinges etc) / to pick (a piece of fruit from a tree etc) / (sports) to pick off (a rebound etc)
Sogou, Chinese tech company known for its search engine, www.sogou.com
乱码
luàn mǎ
mojibake (nonsense characters displayed when software fails to render text according to its intended character encoding)
铁道部
Tiě dào bù
Ministry of Railways (MOR), disbanded in 2013 with its regulatory functions taken over by the Ministry of Transport 交通運輸部|交通运输部[Jiao1 tong1 Yun4 shu1 bu4]
中国特色社会主义
Zhōng guó tè sè shè huì zhǔ yì
socialism with Chinese characteristics, phrase introduced by the CCP in 1986 to refer to its ideological model, embracing the economic reforms of the post-Mao era
皇城
Huáng chéng
Imperial City, inner part of Beijing, with the Forbidden City at its center
复位
fù wèi
to restore sb or sth to its original position / to regain the throne / to reset (a dislocated joint, an electronic device etc) / reset
天龙八部
Tiān lóng Bā Bù
Demigods and Semidevils, wuxia novel by Jin Yong 金庸[Jin1 Yong1] and its TV and screen adaptations
潮汕
Cháo shàn
Chaoshan, region in the east of Guangdong, encompassing the cities of Chaozhou 潮州市[Chao2 zhou1 Shi4] and Shantou 汕頭市|汕头市[Shan4 tou2 Shi4], with its own distinct language (Chaoshan Min 潮汕話|潮汕话[Chao2 shan4 hua4]) and culture
满清
Mǎn Qīng
Manchurian Qing (refers to the Qing dynasty, esp. at its decline, or as an anti-Qing slogan)
防风
fáng fēng
to protect from wind / fangfeng (Saposhnikovia divaricata), its root used in TCM
绝无仅有
jué wú jǐn yǒu
one and only (idiom) / rarely seen / unique of its kind
提法
tí fǎ
wording (of a proposal) / formulation / viewpoint (on an issue) / (one of eight methods of bonesetting in TCM) restoring the part displaced by a fracture to its correct position by lifting
翻天覆地
fān tiān fù dì
sky and the earth turning upside down (idiom) / fig. complete confusion / everything turned on its head
金瓶梅
Jīn píng méi
Jinpingmei or the Golden Lotus (1617), Ming dynasty vernacular novel, formerly notorious and banned for its sexual content
天翻地覆
tiān fān dì fù
sky and the earth turning upside down (idiom) / fig. complete confusion / everything turned on its head
正名
zhèng míng
to replace the current name or title of sth with a new one that reflects its true nature / rectification of names (a tenet of Confucian philosophy)
一把抓
yī bǎ zhuā
to attempt all tasks at once / to manage every detail regardless of its importance
钓鱼台
Diào yú tái
Diaoyu Islands, located between Taiwan and Okinawa, controlled by Japan &ndash / which calls them the Senkaku Islands &ndash / but claimed by China as part of its territory
形象大使
xíng xiàng dà shǐ
person who represents an organization and enhances its image / ambassador
拍马
pāi mǎ
to urge on a horse by patting its bottom / fig. to encourage / same as 拍馬屁|拍马屁, to flatter or toady
决堤
jué dī
(of a watercourse) to breach its dike / (of dikes) to collapse
各有千秋
gè yǒu qiān qiū
each has its own merits (idiom)
溯源
sù yuán
to investigate the origin of sth / to trace a river upstream back to its source
出车
chū chē
to dispatch a vehicle / (of a vehicle or its driver) to set off
就事论事
jiù shì lùn shì
to discuss sth on its own merits / to judge the matter as it stands
自生自灭
zì shēng zì miè
to emerge and perish on its own / to run its course (idiom)
清零
qīng líng
to restore sth to its initial state / to reset (an odometer etc) / to empty (a bank account) / to eradicate (a disease) / (computing) to clear (memory) / to zero (a hard drive)
成虫
chéng chóng
imago (adult, sexually mature insect, the final stage of its development)
the five regions: the east, south, west, north and center / all parts / China and the lands beyond its frontiers
麦冬
mài dōng
dwarf lilyturf (Ophiopogon japonicus), its tuber used in TCM
空载
kōng zài
(of a ship, train etc) not carrying any load (i.e. no passengers or freight etc) / (electricity) no-load (used to describe the condition of a transformer when there is no load connected to its secondary coil)
自负盈亏
zì fù yíng kuī
responsible for its profit and losses (of organization) / financially autonomous / personal financial responsibility
水帘洞
Shuǐ lián Dòng
cave with a waterfall at its mouth
强弩之末
qiáng nǔ zhī mò
lit. an arrow at the end of its flight (idiom) / fig. spent force
寿终正寝
shòu zhōng zhèng qǐn
to die of old age / to die in one's bed at a ripe old age / (fig.) (of a structure or machine etc) to come to the end of its life
追根
zhuī gēn
to trace sth back to its source / to get to the bottom of sth
开屏
kāi píng
(a peacock) spreads its tail
决口
jué kǒu
(of a watercourse) to breach its banks / (of a dam) to burst
挖角
wā jué
to poach (talent, personnel from competitors) / to raid (a competitor for its talent) / Taiwan pr. [wa1 jiao3]
京畿
jīng jī
capital city and its surrounding area
含羞草
hán xiū cǎo
mimosa / sensitive plant (that closes its leaves when touched)
人不可貌相
rén bù kě mào xiàng
you can't judge a person by appearance (idiom) / you can't judge a book by its cover / often in combination 人不可貌相，海水不可斗量[ren2 bu4 ke3 mao4 xiang4 , hai3 shui3 bu4 ke3 dou3 liang2]
地黄
dì huáng
Chinese foxglove (Rehmannia glutinosa), its rhizome used in TCM
拾金不昧
shí jīn bù mèi
to pick up money and not hide it (idiom) / to return property to its owner
月嫂
yuè sǎo
woman hired to take care of a newborn child and its mother in the month after childbirth
滚瓜烂熟
gǔn guā làn shú
lit. ripe as a melon that rolls from its vine (idiom) / fig. to know fluently / to know sth inside out / to know sth by heart
Zhang Juzheng (1525-1582), Grand Secretary during the Ming dynasty, credited with bringing the dynasty to its apogee
金蝉脱壳
jīn chán tuō qiào
lit. the cicada sheds its carapace (idiom) / fig. to vanish leaving an empty shell / a crafty escape plan
圆周率
yuán zhōu lu:4
(math.) the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter (π)
茭白
jiāo bái
Manchurian wild rice 菰[gu1], aka water bamboo, or its edible stem, which resembles a bamboo shoot
打口
dǎ kǒu
(of CDs, videos etc) surplus (or "cut-out") stock from Western countries, sometimes marked with a notch in the disc or its case, sold cheaply in China (beginning in the 1990s), as well as Eastern Europe etc
物归原主
wù guī yuán zhǔ
to return something to its rightful owner
茶经
Chá jīng
the Classic of Tea, first monograph ever on tea and its culture, written by 陸羽|陆羽[Lu4 Yu3] between 760-780
康生
Kāng Shēng
Kang Sheng (1896-1975), Chinese communist leader, a politburo member during the Cultural Revolution and posthumously blamed for some of its excesses
picul (100 catties, 50 kg) / two buckets full / carrying pole and its load / classifier for loads carried on a shoulder pole
福寿螺
fú shòu luó
giant Amazon snail (Ampullaria gigas spix) that has devastated rice paddies in China since its introduction in the 1980s
新竹市
Xīn zhú shì
Hsinchu, city in north Taiwan noted for its high tech industries
抓周
zhuā zhōu
custom of placing a variety of articles (writing brush, abacus etc) before an infant on its first birthday to see which one he or she picks up (The article chosen is supposed to be an indication of the child's inclinations, future career etc.)
apex / crown of the head / top / roof / most / to carry on the head / to push to the top / to go against / to replace / to substitute / to be subjected to (an aerial bombing, hailstorm etc) / (slang) to "bump" a forum thread to raise its profile / classifier for headwear, hats, veils etc
used in expressions that convey frustration and futility, such as 無奈|无奈[wu2 nai4] and 莫可奈何|莫可奈何[mo4 ke3 nai4 he2] (literary) / used for its phonetic value in writing foreign words
qí
