Ning Makes History 宁泽涛

喀山世锦赛男子100米自由泳决赛，宁泽涛创造历史，以47秒84的成绩成为中国乃至亚洲第一位男子短距离自由泳世界冠军，令人感觉酸爽无比！

China's Ning Zetao claimed a historic win at the World Swimming Championships in Kazan, Russia, grabbing the most eye-catching men's 100m freestyle gold in 47.84 seconds. What exciting news! (酸爽! suān shuǎng)





宁泽涛有着高颜值，被称为“小鲜肉”，拥有众多花痴粉。但网友们称赞他“不靠颜值靠实力”，将自己的名字写入了中国和亚洲男子游泳的历史。

Ning has been referred to as " fresh little meat"(小鲜肉) and "dreamy guy"(男神) in China because he is very good-looking, not to mention he has an incredible body to boot. Naturally, he has lots of fans who drool over him (花痴粉). Chinese netizens jokingly say that he could have an easy life with that face, but instead, he chose to rely on his talent and hard work(不靠颜值靠实力). By becoming the first Asian man to win the event in the world’s top arena, Ning has forever etched his name into sports history. 

重点词汇 Key Words & Phrases:

酸爽 suān shuǎng
“酸” means “sour” and “爽” means “good and exciting feeling”. The term became popular after Wang Han, a well-known talk show host on Hunan Satellite TV, used it in a commercial for a certain instant noodle brand. In the commercial, he said "这酸爽，简直让人不敢相信!"(How delicious! One can hardly believe it!) to express his excitement. The term quickly caught on and has since been widely used to describe exciting experiences, although sometimes in sarcasm.

Eg.  天真热，吃个冰淇凌吧，真是酸爽极了！　
It is so hot today. Have an ice cream. It will blow your mind!

    太阳真毒，我们军训了一天，感觉这叫一个酸爽！
Under the scorching sun, we had military training for a whole day. What an exciting experience!
    

颜值 yán zhí
It is one of the hottest buzz words in Chinese. Literally, “颜” means “appearance” and “值” is short for “数值”(numerical value; figure); So the word basically means“appearance score”. The higher someone’s 颜值 is, the more beautiful/pretty/handsome he or she is.

Eg. 她被赞颜值爆表。
   She is extremely beautiful.
   (Literal meaning: She is praised for her extreme beauty, as the numerical value of her face goes off the charts.)


小鲜肉 xiǎo xiān ròu
Literally meaning "fresh little meat", this phrase describes young, cute, handsome and innocent male idols, roughly between the ages of 12 and 25. Originally, it was used on celebrities, but now it can refer to ordinary guys as well, as long as they fit the criteria.

可以靠脸吃饭，却偏偏要靠实力
kě yǐ kào liǎn chī fàn què piān piān yào kào shí lì

This slangy expression comes from Chinese comedian Jia Ling. Chinese netizens accidently found an old photo of Jia Ling’s, in which she looked young and pretty, quite different from her current appearance. When netizens discussed the photo, she relied wittily on her weibo, "我深情地演绎了:明明可以靠脸吃饭,偏偏要靠才华。"(My story indicates: I could totally live on my good looks, but I chose to rely on my talent.) Due to its humor, the sentence became very popular on the Internet. Since then, it has been widely used to describe those who succeed at what they do by merit rather than by looks.
P.S. 实力 and 才华 more or less mean the same thing, but in sports, 实力 is more frequently used. In addition to talent, it also implies hard work.