OMG! Chinese Buzzwords! (23)

盲游(máng yóu)
blind tour
This refers to travelers who deliberately refrain from researching their holiday destinations before setting out. The group simply enjoys wandering “blindly,” embracing the freedom of life and seeking unknown challenges on the way.

冷妈(lěng mā)
cool mother
Different from traditional Chinese parents who tend to spoil their children, “cool mothers” have emerged as a new model of family education. They act calmly toward their children’s failure or heartbreaks, and teach their children how to face the truths and sometimes cruelty of real life. 

里程焦虑(lǐ chéng jiāo lǜ)
range anxiety
The fear that your all-electric vehicle might run out of power before reaching your destination, is thought to be one reason that deters prospective electric vehicle buyers.

翘辫子(qiào biàn zi)
Kick the bucket, turn up one's toes, die

When English speakers say "kicking the bucket," Shanghai locals would say "翘辫子(qao2 bi3 zi1)," which means literally one's "pigtail standing on its end or pointing upward."

This colloquialism derives from a local phenomenon common in the mid 20th century when trams operated in  Shanghai. Such trams usually had one or two poles installed above to draw an electrical current from overhead wires.

However, these trolley poles would often disconnect when the trams changed direction or lanes. As a result, the poles would be left standing on their ends pointing skyward, like two pigtails sticking out on a person's head. The  disengagement would cause a loss of power and the trams would come to a halt, or be "dead" as people would  call it.

Later, locals began to use the term 翘辫子(qao2 bi3 zi1) in a humorous manner to describe someone who's died.

Today, this Shanghainese phrase has a derogatory connotation.

别苗头(bié miáo tóu)
Compete, vie for superiority or limelight

This phrase translates literally as "distinguishing the seedlings," as local farmers do to determine in which field their crops are growing best.

However, the term was later used to mean competing with each other for superiority or limelight.

For instance, in the 1930s and 1940s, Shanghai ladies were known for being showy and pretentious. They all craved the limelight. As a result, they were often seen 别苗头(bi2 miao3 do) or competing with each other in almost  all aspects of life and particularly in terms of dress, wealth, appearance, knowledge, family success and talent. Everyone wanted to attract more attention and admiration and leave others standing.

Today, the phrase may be used to describe both men and women when they are trying to outshine or outdo others.