“土豪”有望被收入牛津词典

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.

The word gained credence in September with the launch of Apple’s new gold-colored iPhone, an item loved by China’s nouveau riche. The color became known as “tuhao gold.”

The word is now often used by the online community to refer to people who have the cash but lack the class to go with it.

Kleeman also mentioned two other Chinese words — dama and hukou — which may also make it into the dictionary.

Hukou means household registration in Chinese and has been widely used by Xinhua news agency and China Central Television. It has become a hot word in recent years because of its links with corruption cases.

Dama, meaning middle-aged women, was first used in the Western media by the Wall Street Journal in May when thousands of Chinese women were buying up record number of gold. They were the driving force in the global gold market between April and June when the gold prices had slumped.

Lianghui is another Chinese word that may be included in the dictionary. It is actually a Chinese abbreviation for the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The domestic media have been using lianghui regularly and overseas media have followed suit.

People can have an “intuitive” grasp of the meanings if they see pinyin, Kleeman said, adding that people avoided using an English word to retain the original meaning.

“We have nearly 120 Chinese-linked words now in Oxford English Dictionary,” she said.

Some of them are: Guanxi, literally meaning “connection,” is the system of social networks and influential relationships which facilitate business and other dealings.

Dim Sum originates from Cantonese dialect and refers to a Chinese dish of small steamed or fried savory dumplings containing various fillings.

Taikonaut is a mix of taikong, meaning outer space, and astronaut.

The new words will be first uploaded on the official website before the dictionaries arrive. The online version is also renewed every three months.

“It at least broke our old rules. It used to take 10 years to include a new word but now we keep the pace with the era,” according to a statement issued by ex-chief-editor John Simpson.

中国时髦热词“tuhao”（土豪）明年有望被收入《牛津英语词典》。

在BBC近期一档关于中国热词的栏目播出后，“tuhao”一词引起了《牛津英语词典》编著者的关注。

编辑级项目经理朱莉•克里曼在接受记者采访时说：“如果‘tuhao’的影响力持续，很有可能出现在我们的最新词汇列表中。”

克里曼告诉《北京青年报》记者，“tuhao”与英语中“bling”（意指穿名牌衣服戴璀璨珠宝）一词有着相似之处。这两个词语虽然由来已久，但近来都延伸出了新的含义。

在中文中，“土”意为粗野，“豪”意为富有，习惯上常用来指那些在中国农村权势欺人的人。近年来，动漫作品和游戏玩家借用该词来形容那些大手大脚、挥霍钱财的人。

继九月份苹果公司的金色iPhone新品发布后，这款受到中国新贵热捧的手机使得“土豪”一词更为风靡，该款手机的颜色也被人们称之为“土豪金”。

现在网络社区也常用该词来指那些财大气粗却缺乏相应品味的人。

克里曼还提到了另外两个有望收入词典的词语－－“Dama（大妈）”和“Hukou（户口）”。

“Hukou（户口）”的中文意思是户籍登记，该词已被新华社和中国中央电视台所广泛采用。近年来，这个词语因为牵扯腐败案件而成为热词。

“Dama（大妈）”，通常用指中年妇女，最早因为五月份《华尔街日报》刊出数以千计的中国中年妇女买入创纪录数量黄金的消息而现身西方媒体。今年4-5月全球黄金市场金价大跌，而中国大妈则是黄金抢购风潮中的主力军。

“Lianghui（两会）”是另一个可能被收入的词语，其全称为“全国人民代表大会”和“中国人民政治协商会议”。国内媒体报告时一贯采用“两会”一词，这一词也逐渐为国外媒体所沿用。

“人们能够通过拼音‘直观地’抓住词语的意思”，克里曼还说道。“为了保持原有的含义他们不会使用英语”。

“《牛津英语词典》之中大约收录了120个含有中文渊源的词，”她说。

其中包括：

“Guanxi（关系）”，字面上理解和“connection（联系）”是一个意思，是中国社交系统中有助于商业交流和其他交易的名词。

“Dim Sum（点心）”源于“点心”的粤语发音，意为蒸炸皆可、馅料丰富的中式餐点。

“Taikonaut（中国宇航员）”则是由taikong（太空，即外层空间）和astronaut（宇航员）这两个词语组合而成。

在收入词典前，新词会先在官方网站上公布。《牛津英语词典》网络版每季度更新一次。

前主编约翰•辛普森曾在声明中表示：“这至少打破了陈规，以前我们需要花上10年的时间来收入一个新词，而现在，我们跟上了这个时代的步伐”。