失恋假 (shi1 lian4 jia4) heartache leave

A Shanghai business recently followed the example of a Japanese marketing company in offering its employees paid time off to deal with the heartache suffered from a breakup with a partner. The older the age, the longer the time will be - apparently on the basis that younger people are more resilient in dealing with love or setbacks than their older counterparts.

塑身衣 (su4 shen1 yi1) shapewear

As the fashionable trend always transcends the gender border line, some men reportedly have tried on shapewear to catch up with their female counterparts.

森女 (sen1 nv3) mori girl

The expression refers to women in their 20s who pursue a simple and natural lifestyle. First popular in Japan, it literally means girls living in wild forests. The word soon gained popularity among Netizens and developed wider use.

山寨锅 (shan1 zhai4 guo1) satellite TV copycat

The term refers to unauthorized cheap satellite TV receivers that are popular in villages. The Chinese term literally means “village pans,” partly because satellite TV dishes are called “pan” in Chinese and partly because “village” in China is commonly used to describe cheap copies.

素人 (su4 ren2) sirouto/layman/bungler

The Chinese expression comes from the Japanese and is mainly used to refer to those people who are inexperienced at doing a certain thing.

试消费 (shi4 xiao1 fei4) trial consumption

The practice of trial consumption originated from Websites offering shopping tips. The trials are mostly initiated by catering, tourism or hotel services which offer a group of Web users free trials as a promotion campaign via word of mouth. It provides a reasonable alternative for consumers to avoid blind purchasing.

手机幻听 (shou3 ji1 huan4 ting1) ringxiety

The term is formed from the words “ringtone” and “anxiety.” Ringxiety refers to the sensation and mistaken belief of some people who hear their mobile phones ringing or feel them vibrating, when actually the telephone is silent. The reason for this could be psychological or neurological, especially for those office workers who rely highly, perhaps obsessively, on the communication tool in both work and life.

十三点 (se2 sei1 di1) Bubble-brained, wacky, frivolous

This phrase means literally “13 points.” Again, there are quite a few explanations about how the term has become such a widely used phrase among Shanghainese speakers.

In pai gow, or Chinese dominoes, it’s a bummer if you take two cards that don’t add up to 13 points. In one kind of poker game, if all your cards add up to 13 points, you’ll be labelled as an “idiot.”

In the Chinese classic novel “The Butterfly Lovers,” the hero Liang Shanbo is so dumb that he has for a long time failed to realize that his closest classmate and pal, who disguised herself as a man, is actually a beautiful young lady. And the hero’s name reads almost the same as the figures 2, 3 and 8 in Shanghai dialect, which add up to 13.

So, one may say that Shanghai people have long shared the triskaidekaphobia (abnormal fear of number 13) with most Westerners, but for quite different reasons.

Some others, however, believe this term came from the English word “society,” which was once used in the city to mean “social butterfly” or “society woman.” The English word pronounces nearly the same as the figure 13 in Shanghai parlance and the latter, in modern usage, implies the characteristics of such women. As a result, the term is used to refer more often to women than men.

沙发冲浪 (sha1 fa1 chong1 lang4) couch surfing

To help cut the cost of traveling abroad, some travelers are turning to staying on a stranger’s couch. Different from home stay, couch surfing is staying the night at the home of another person for free. Participants, dubbed couch surfers, usually post their information on dedicated Websites.

闪停族 (shan3 ting2 zu2) find-and-park clan

It is reported that many drivers in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen motor around city streets during noon breaks and then drive back to a public parking lot again to avoid extra fees or being fined for exceeding a time limit.

三脚猫 (se1 ja4 mao1) Dabbler, Jack of all trades but master of none

Shanghai’s answer to a Jack of all trades in the West is a “three-leg cat” as this colloquial phrase translates literally. People believe the term originates from the term “三脚猫，” or “treble hook boat anchor,” which was used by small boats plying local rivers. According to a story about this phrase, a martial arts performer once used the heavy anchor as a weapon to demonstrate his skill.

Others later tried to do the same, but all failed. So people began to use “treble hook boat anchor” to describe any amateurish dabblers in martial arts.

Since the “treble hook boat anchor” shares the same pronunciation of 三脚猫 (se ja mao) in Shanghai dialect, the “anchor” was later replaced by “cat,” and “hooks” by “legs.” Today, locals always use “three-leg cat” to describe a Jack of all trades but master of none.

320人群 (320人群）Three 20s group

The term refers to those who smoke more than 20 cigarettes each day, have smoked for more than 20 years, and began smoking under the age of 20. The Three 20s group is regarded as having a high risk of lung cancer. Experts reminded this group of people, especially those who have relatives with lung cancer, to either stop smoking or smoke less.

世博大礼包 (shi4 bo2 da4 li3 bao1) Expo gift pack

Shanghai residents started to receive World Expo 2010 gift packs this month, including an Expo ticket, a thank-you letter, an Expo site map, a transport card and a souvenir pin of Expo mascot Haibao.

数码单反照相机 (shu4 ma3 dan1 fan3 zhao4 xiang4 ji1) digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera

This kind of digital camera has a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera. DSLRs have almost become a must-have gadget among urban young in the past two years.

手机博客 (shou3 ji1 bo2 ke4) moblog

A portmanteau of mobile and blog, it refers to blogs published on a website from a mobile phone.

视网膜显示屏 (shi4 wang3 mo2 xian3 shi4 ping2) retina display

The term refers to a super high-resolution screen offering extremely accurate images with quality sharp enough to equal the human retina. Iphone4, the latest Apple device, claims to have a retina quality LED screen of 960 × 640 pixels with 326ppi display, just beyond the 300ppi limit of the human retina to distinguish pixels.

蒜你狠 (suan4 ni3 hen3) crazy garlic

It’s a twist of a Chinese phrase “suan ni hen,” which means something like “I’m in your power.” The word for garlic is also pronounced “suan.” Speculators pushed up garlic prices like mad in the past few months, so people coined the term to describe the craziness of garlic prices. It’s usually used in a joking way.

石库门 (ze2 ku2 men) Stone-framed gate

This phrase refers to a unique architectural style for residential buildings in Shanghai, which combines both Chinese and Western elements. The two- or three-story townhouses, connected and arranged along lanes, first appeared in the city in the 1860s. Later, the city’s downtown area was dominated by such residential buildings, now also known as “lane houses.”

Each of such houses features a stoneframed black gate and a small front courtyard. The houses are considered a symbol of the city.

In recent years, many of these buildings have been pulled down to give way to modern shopping malls, high-rise apartments and other urban projects.

Xintiandi, a popular shopping, eating and entertainment complex, is comprised of renovated lane houses.

湿营销 (shi1 ying2 xiao1) wet marketing

A brand-new theory of marketing by signing up a certain group of consumers through online socializing software and encouraging them to contribute to and share product development.

三隐女 (san1 yin3 nv3) cover-up woman

Some young women in large cities like Shanghai go to great lengths to keep their age, marriage and parenthood secret. They pretend they are single because of bias against married women in the job market, because of competition for jobs and because bosses like single women.