OMG! Chinese Buzzwords! (29)

吃生活(chī shēng huó)
To be beaten up, be hit (accidently)

This phrase has two parts: the first part 吃 , meaning "eat," and the second part 生活 , meaning literally "life." However, this does not mean "eating up a life," because in the vernacular, 生活 may also mean "chore" or "job."

For instance, if you want to know whether your friend has land a job, you may ask: "Have you found a 生活 ?"

Actually, this phrase has nothing to do with either "eat," "chore" or "job." At least, not directly. It means being beaten up and usually it’s the parents who beat their kids or the elder ones who beat the younger ones as a punishment.

Some people believe this phrase came from the confusion between 生活 and what the locals call draught animals. The sense came from beating the animals with a stick or whip to drive them on.

Others say that the meaning of "being beaten up" came from the tools used to do a job, such as rulers, spades or brooms, for they were frequently used by masters to hit their apprentices or parents to beat and punish their children.

Most locals, however, have no idea about the origin of this term, but they all use it to mean "being beaten up."

Sometimes, it is used to mean that one is hit by something accidently, while doing a job or carrying out a task. For example, when someone hits his own thumb while hammering a nail, he may say: "My left thumb 吃了一记生活," meaning "My left thumb was accidently hit (by the hammer)."

牵丝攀藤(qiān sī bàn téng)
To dilly-dally, move sluggishly, dawdle, linger

This literally means being stuck in tangled silk threads or entwined vines. This is annoying because it usually takes great patience and painstaking effort to disentangle oneself.

In the 1930s and 1940s, this might be used to imply someone was having an affair, usually an extramarital one.

In modern usage, however, it usually means to dilly-dally and do things in a sluggish manner. It can also describe someone who’s a slowpoke or who has a phlegmatic temperament.

Sometimes, it is used to indicate a lingering disease. For instance, one may say: "The cough has been coming and going for as long as three months. This is really 牵丝攀藤."

帮帮忙(bāng bāng máng)
Help, give a hand, come on!, cut it out

This usually means "help" or "give a hand." But as an imperative, it tells someone to stop his or her inappropriate behavior or abandon one’s attitude. It’s like saying, "Come on!" "Give me a break" or "Don’t give me that rubbish." To express absolute disapproval, you one may add "朋友" to this phrase and say: "朋友帮帮忙!" .

黑丝带(hēi sī dài)
fourth-generation stealth fighter jet
The nickname Chinese military fans have given to the fourth-generation stealth fighter plane that took a test flight recently in Chengdu. The expression literally means black ribbon as the plane is black and 丝带is pronounced in Chinese similar to 四代, the Chinese for fourth-generation.