Popular Chinese words find way into Oxford English dictionary
As Chinese language gained popularity across the world in view of Communist country's rise as a major economic power, some of the popular Chinese colloquial words have also found their way into new Oxford Chinese English dictionary.
Popular Chinese terms like shanzhai (fakes) and fangnu (mortgage slave) have been included in the new Oxford English-Chinese dictionary that was published earlier this month, local newspaper Global Times reported.
Complied over the past six years by Oxford University Press and its Chinese partner Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, the dictionary is the largest single volume of its kind and contains 670,000 words and phrases, it said.
Shanzai is used to describe cheap counterfeits of big-brand bags and knockoffs of electronic products. Fangnu, describes those who suffer from heavy burdens of home mortgages, especially the young in big cities.
Other popular Chinese terms such as niu (awesome) and mengliao (hot gossip) have also been included in the dictionary, which is now available for retail sales in Chinese bookstores and online.
