jenny's blog

油腻 (yóunì)

The original meaning of this word is actually 'greasy'. However, last year, one Chinese blog post was titled: “How to avoid becoming a greasy, dirty middle-aged man” became a viral hit on the internet. The article sparked controversy by listing a number of behaviors of middle-aged men which the author considered “greasy”, such as putting down younger people or being sleazy. This has inspired a lot of commentary by other netizens, who have compiled their own list of greasy behavior, also for other demographics.

半途而废
bàn tú ér fèi

This means to give up halfway through doing something. The direct translation for these words are “half the journey, wasted.”

It usually comes because of lacking in stamina, which in turn comes from lacking a perception of the end objectives, such as advised for in the Western proverb “Begin with the end in mind.”

闷声发大财
（men1 sheng1 fa1 da4 cai2）

This phrase means not to stir things up and succeed with what you have at hand. This goes hand in hand with the chinese culture and is often used b yh politicians to ease the public. One famous politician that used this was ex president Jiang ZeMin.

In another way, it can also mean for you to succeed without boasting. The first two words directly translates to "muffled" while the last three words translates to "becoming rich". This can be used as a friendly advice to a friend or family member who loves to boast!

卧槽
Wò cáo

"卧槽" means lying but generally, it is used as a bad word. Interestingly, different tones when you pronounce the word can have different meanings!

For instance,
1 . 卧槽 （ wǒ cáo) with the third tone and the second tone would mean: " what???" (with a tint of confusion)

2.卧槽 （wò cào） where both are the fourth tone would mean: "OMG!! Unbelievable!"

3. 卧槽 （wo cào）with no tone and the fourth tone would mean: "thats amazing!" in a complimentary way

4. 卧槽 （wò cao）the forth tone and no tone would mean: " daaamn ! You scared me !! "

我们不能一起出生，但我们可以一起祸害苍生
Wǒmen bùnéng yīqǐ chūshēng, dàn wǒmen kěyǐ yīqǐ huòhài cāngshēng

This is a very interesting phrase that is commonly used by netizens.
The first part of the phrase is: 我们不能一起出生 which means, "Although we cannot be born together"
the second part of the phrase: 但我们可以一起祸害苍生 which means, "However, we can wreck havoc together" (or more directly, we can 'harm the world together')

Personally, I don't think this phrase has a well connotation or meaning but It is generally used jokingly! So, remember the context when you use this phrase ~

我说话雷人
Wǒ shuōhuà léi rén

Have you ever had someone say this to you?
雷 directly translates to lightning or thunder. However, in this case, it means that the words that you say are very shocking.
In a way, the word lightning is used as a descriptive word to the concept of being shocked.

There is a longer version of this phrase:
我说话雷人，为人有点疯。 你们叫我雷锋就好
(Wǒ shuōhuà léi rén, wéirén yǒudiǎn fēng. Nǐmen jiào wǒ léifēng jiù hǎo)

脸先着地，无力回天
Liǎn xiān zhuó dì, wúlì huí tiān

This phrase means to say that humans needs their 'face', trees needs their bark. So if one's face is facing the ground, then there is now hopeless.

Lets break down this phrase and see what it means:
脸: Face
先着地: facing towards the ground
无力: powerless
回天: to return to the sky/ heaven.

Therefore, in a way it is to say that once someone abandons their 'face' or pride/dignity, there is no way for them to stand back up.

跟女人打交道，最终总是这个结
Gēn nǚrén dǎjiāodào, zuìzhōng zǒng shì zhège jié

This is an interesting phrase that plays on the common sterotypes of men being rejected by women whenever they ask them out.
Lets breakdown the sentence to better understand what is going on:
跟女人打交道: this means that when you ask a women out
最终总是这个结: the ending is always like this

it is for us to infer what the ending is but usually, it is used in the context of dissuading someone else in asking another women out in a friendly conversation.

别拿你的木马，挑战我的密码
Bié ná nǐ de mùmǎ, tiǎozhàn wǒ de mìmǎ

This is quite an interesting sentence that plays on a pun.
The first part of the sentence means "Do not take your wooden horse" while the second part of the sentence means "challenge my password"

At first, it doesn't really make sense if you explain it like that in english. However, you will notice that:

木马 and 密码 are very similar sounding. (mùmǎ vs mìmǎ)

初恋无限好,只是挂得早
Chūliàn wúxiàn hǎo, zhǐshì guà dé zǎo

Now, we will also explain popular phrases and sentences instead of just popular words!
Today's sentence is very interesting as it concerns 'first love'. In Chinese culture, someone's first love is a huge deal. It can be the source of many couple's arguments.
Lets break down the sentence to understand what it means: