Zhonghua, historical and cultural term for China, often used to denote Chinese civilization and identity (as in 中華文化|中华文化[Zhong1hua2 wen2hua4] "Chinese culture") / used in the official name of the Republic of China, 中華民國|中华民国[Zhong1hua2 Min2guo2]
south of Changjiang or Yangtze river / south of the lower reaches of Changjiang / often refers to south Jiangsu, south Anhui and north Zhejiang provinces / a province during Qing times / in literature, refers to the sunny south / Gangnam (district in Seoul, South Korea)
成语
chéng yǔ
Chinese set expression, typically of 4 characters, often alluding to a story or historical quotation / idiom / proverb / saying / adage / CL:條|条[tiao2],本[ben3],句[ju4]
气管炎
qì guǎn yán
bacterial tracheitis (inflammation of the windpipe, often caused by Staphylococcus aureus) / henpecked (a pun on 妻子管得嚴|妻子管得严[qi1 zi5 guan3 de5 yan2] used in comic theater)
小编
xiǎo biān
editor or creator of online content (diminutive term, often used to refer to oneself: I, me, this writer)
后顾之忧
hòu gù zhī yōu
fears of trouble in the rear (idiom) / family worries (obstructing freedom of action) / worries about the future consequences / often in negative expressions, meaning "no worries about anything"
(in elections for village committees in the PRC since the 1990s) unrestricted nomination, a type of election where 1. everyone in the community is eligible to nominate somebody 2. voting is done by writing the name of one's nominee on the ballot, and 3. one's nominee can be anyone in the community (Nominees who receive the highest number of votes may be thereby elected or, more often, presented as the candidates in a further round of voting.) / (in other contexts) selection of the best contender in a process open to all comers / (in the entertainment industry) open audition
钱庄
qián zhuāng
old-style money shop (a type of private bank that first appeared in the Ming dynasty, flourished in the Qing, and was phased out after 1949) / (in recent times) informal financial company, often operating at the edges of what is legal
见怪不怪
jiàn guài bù guài
to have seen sth so often that it doesn't seem strange at all / to be well accustomed (to sth)
花坛
huā tán
decorative mass planting of flowers and shrubs, often bounded by a low masonry border, and often part of a streetscape
very / quite / (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element)
花厅
huā tīng
reception pavilion (generally part of a large residence, and often built in a garden)
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]
貔貅
pí xiū
mythical animal that brings luck and wards off evil, having head of a dragon and lion's body, often with hoofs, wings and tail / also written 辟邪 / fig. valiant soldier
中山装
zhōng shān zhuāng
Chinese tunic suit, a jacket style introduced by Sun Yat-sen 孫中山|孙中山[Sun1 Zhong1shan1] and often worn by Mao Zedong
耳鬓厮磨
ěr bìn sī mó
lit. to play together ear to ear and temple to temple (idiom) / fig. (of a boy and a girl) to play together often during childhood
匪帮
fěi bāng
gang of bandits / criminal gang (formerly often used of political opponents)
走资派
zǒu zī pài
capitalist roader (person in power taking the capitalist road, a political label often pinned on cadres by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution)
喀斯特地貌
kā sī tè dì mào
karst landform (weathered limestone, often forming caves)
常来常往
cháng lái cháng wǎng
to visit frequently / to have frequent dealings (with) / to see each other often
评话
píng huà
storytelling dramatic art dating back to Song and Yuan periods, single narrator without music, often historical topics with commentary
平话
píng huà
storytelling dramatic art dating back to Song and Yuan periods, single narrator without music, often historical topics with commentary
only / alone / -ism (in Chinese, a prefix, often combined with a suffix such as 主義|主义[zhu3 yi4] or 論|论[lun4], e.g. 唯理論|唯理论[wei2 li3 lun4], rationalism)
(bound form) beautiful woman (in practice, often pronounced [yuan2]) / Taiwan pr. [yuan2]
替古人担忧
tì gǔ rén dān yōu
to fret over the worries of long-departed people (idiom) / to worry unnecessarily / crying over spilt milk / often used with negatives, e.g. no need to worry about past issues
替古人耽忧
tì gǔ rén dān yōu
to fret over the worries of long-departed people (idiom) / to worry unnecessarily / crying over spilt milk / often used with negatives, e.g. no need to worry about past issues
精子密度
jīng zǐ mì dù
sperm concentration, often called sperm count
不定元
bù dìng yuán
indeterminate element (math.), often denoted by x
乩童
jī tóng
(Daoism) a spirit medium, often a young person, believed to be possessed by a deity during rituals, acting as an intermediary for communication between the spirit world and humans
大红鼻子
dà hóng bí zi
rhinophyma (red nose, often related to rosacea or excessive alcohol) / brandy nose
村证房
cūn zhèng fáng
"village-certificated house", residence supposedly only transferable to other village residents but often sold on the open market
(literary) (Chinese mythology) creature resembling a turtle with the head of a dragon, said to be capable of bearing great loads, often carved as plinths for steles in former times / (literary) strenuous / exerting great force
扳指
bān zhǐ
ornamental thumb ring (originally a ring, often made from jade, worn by archers in ancient times to protect the right thumb when drawing a bowstring)
鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利
yù bàng xiāng zhēng , yú wēng dé lì
lit. when the snipe and the clam grapple with each other, the fisherman catches them both (idiom) / fig. when two sides are locked in dispute, it's often a third party that benefits
衍声复词
yǎn shēng fù cí
compound word, such as 玫瑰[mei2gui1] or 咖啡[ka1fei1], whose meaning is unrelated to the individual characters (Note: These characters are often not used independently in modern Chinese.)
同妻
tóng qī
(neologism c. 2009) wife of a gay man (the man may marry to conform with social expectations, and the woman often enters the marriage not knowing he is gay)
uptight / obstinate / to awkwardly force oneself to do sth (from Taiwanese, Tai-lo pr. [king], often written as ㄍㄧㄥ, no generally accepted hanzi form)
教师爷
jiào shī yé
master of martial arts, in former times often employed by a landlord to teach fighting skills and guard the house / (fig.) sb who arrogantly and condescendingly lectures others
电访
diàn fǎng
(Tw) to make a telephone call (generally as a representative of a company, school or agency etc, to an individual, often for the purpose of conducting a survey) (abbr. for 電話訪問|电话访问)
intellectual property (in China, esp. since 2015, often used as an entertainment industry term for a creative work used as the basis of a new product, such as a manga adapted as a tv series, or the image of a cartoon character appearing on merchandise)
(Tw) (coll.) cool / awesome / (etymologically, a contracted form of 不一樣|不一样[bu4 yi1 yang4]) / often written as ㄅㄧㄤˋ
八家将
bā jiā jiàng
Ba Jia Jiang, the eight generals that guard the godly realm in Taiwanese folklore, represented by troupes of dancers in temple processions / (slang) lowlife gangster or young hoodlum, often written as "8+9", [ba1 jia1 jiu3]
解㑊
xiè yì
(TCM) fatigue, often associated with muscle atony and emaciation
绿林好汉
lù lín - hǎo hàn
(idiom) chivalrous hero, often one who combats injustice or fights for a noble cause (originally referred to a group of outlaws who assembled in 綠林|绿林[Lu4lin2])
螺蛳粉
luó sī fěn
luosifen (rice noodles served in a broth made from river snails and pork bones, often seasoned with stinky fermented bamboo shoots)
频发
pín fā
(usu. of bad things) to frequently happen / to occur often
饹馇
gē zha
a kind of flat cake made from bean flour, often cut up and fried
cháng