China’s new buzzword, tuhao, may be in next year’s Oxford English Dictionary. The word caught the attention of the dictionary’s editing team after BBC’s recent program on influential Chinese words. “If its influence continues, it is very likely to appear on our updated list of words,” said Julie Kleeman, project manager with the editing team. Kleeman told the Beijing Youth Daily that tuhao has some similarities with the English word bling, which refers to expensive, ostentatious clothing or jewelry. Both the words have existed for long but later on took a new meaning. In Chinese, tu means uncouth and hao means rich. It has traditionally been referred to rich people who throw their weight around in China’s rural areas. In recent years, people in the ACG (anime, comic and game) circle borrowed the term to describe those who spend money in an irrational manner. |