Buzzwords

Positive Energy Zhengnengliang ( 正能量 ) or 'positive energy', first showed up on Sina Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, to encourage people to have faith in the face of violence, disaster and inequality. It's also a phrase that the government has latched on to, using the word to remind people to maintain hope when confronted with hardships. 

Yuan Fang, What Do You Think?

'Yuan Fang, what do you think?' ( 元芳你怎么看 ?) is a sentence from a popular TV series called Amazing Detective Di Renjie where the leading role, the detective Di, always turns and asks his assistant, "Yuan Fang, what do you think?". The phrase makes the famous detective look like an unsure amateur, constantly seeking his subordinate's advice.  It has become hugely popular online. When you see somebody post his opinion online, you will probably see somebody reply with " 元芳你怎么看 ?"

Getting Shot While Lying on the Ground

The meaning of ' 躺着也中枪 , roughly translates to 'even if I lie on the ground I still get shot'. It's a famous line from a comedy movie, referring to people who have extremely bad luck, so bad in fact that if someone was on a shooting spree, they would still get shot even if they lay flat on the ground.   When people say this, they most often mean, 'I got busted even though I didn't do anything!" For example, when Chinese Internet security services company Qihoo had a dispute with Baidu, Baidu users discovered that they were having problems with their Baidu accounts and said 'tangzhe ye zhongqiang'.

Basically, Xinjiang nut cakes, typically is a street snack usually sold by Uyghurs riding a tricycle. But Xinjiang nut cakes is now given much more significance than a street food.

Xinjiang nut cakes

The incident involved a fight between a villager and ethnic Uyghurs over the extremely high price they were charging for a nut cake. Xinjiang nut cakes of a total worth of about RMB 160,000 were destroyed. Total damage was about RMB 200,000, including fees for broken motorcycle and injured people. The Uyghur men involved were refunded RMB 160,000 for their damaged cakes — around $25,000. The average annual salary in Xinjiang in 2011 was $703.

Are You Happy?

Last year, China Central Television did a series of street interviews during which they asked ordinary people if they were happy.

They asked one construction worker, ni xing fu ma? (Are you happy?) The answer they got was 'Wo xing Zeng (My surname is Zeng)'. The reason? 'Ni xing fu ma' in Chinese sounds the same as the question 'Is your surname Fu?' Since then, it has become a catchphrase for many people who have made fun of the program.

Foodie

吃货 refers to people who love food and feel happy or at peace when around food.  Actually, the character 货 has a derogatory 贬损的 connotation, and 吃货 used to refer to people who constantly overeat. But it has since then become the Chinese word for 'foodie'. 

Destroy Three Essential Values

 When things or opinions are so unreasonable and go against most people's values, we can say they 毁三观 . The term refers to the destruction of three values: life outlook, world outlook and moral values.

Morality Has Been Broken into Many Pieces

When people do extremely shameless things, the Chinese say that their ' 节操碎了一地 ' , which means that their sense of morality has broken into many pieces and is now scattered all over the ground.  Sometimes, people also use it self-deprecatingly 自贬的 , 自谦的 when forced into a situation where they cannot keep their tempers or manners. 

A couple's shocking behavior on the street