Local Tyrant 土豪

Meaning: Local tyrant originally meant a rich and powerful person or family in a town or area, with a derogatory sense or negative connotation in Chinese. However, the old term has assumed new meanings, and has become a popular term. It was first extended to the virtual world to describe more people who are willing to spend a huge sum of money on computer games. Later, it was extended to describe the nouveau riche who like to brag about their wealth.
土豪原指在鄉(xiāng)里憑借財勢橫行霸道的壞人,含貶義。近來,它被賦予了新的內(nèi)容,成為網(wǎng)絡(luò)上十分流行的一個詞匯。最初,網(wǎng)友將這一詞匯引入虛擬世界,指的是那些在網(wǎng)絡(luò)游戲上舍得花大錢的玩家。另外,土豪也有暴發(fā)戶的意思,指突然發(fā)了財、得了勢,同時又很喜歡炫耀的人,因此有著更為廣泛的應(yīng)用。有些人把比自己肯花錢的人也都稱作土豪。微博上發(fā)起“與土豪做朋友”以及“為土豪寫詩”等活動,誕生了“土豪,我們做朋友吧!”這一流行語,再次加劇了土豪的走紅。“土豪,我們做朋友吧!”代表了一種屌絲網(wǎng)民對成為有錢人的向往與渴望,也表達了他們對有錢人持有的一種羨慕嫉妒恨的心理。而網(wǎng)絡(luò)流行語“土豪金”(local tyrant gold)由“土豪”一詞衍生而來,用以形容蘋果公司新推出的金色版iPhone 5S手機。蘋果公司將這種顏色稱為“香檳金”(champagne gold),而中國網(wǎng)友則不留情面地稱之為“土豪金”,譏諷其炫富的外表。
Local tyrant gold is derived from the term local tyrant, and has become a popular phrase in China.
“土豪金”是由土豪一詞衍生而來,在中國已經(jīng)成為了一個流行詞語。
Lottery Mentality 彩票思維

Meaning: Lottery mentality refers to the desire to obtain money without working for it or the belief that a large sum of money can solve a person’s problems.
“如果我能中500萬就好了!”這樣的話很多人都應(yīng)該聽過或者說過。遇到困難或錢不夠用的時候我們可能都會希望有一筆飛來橫財,似乎有了錢一切問題都能迎刃而解。而這樣美好的期望好像也只有在彩票類的活動中才能實現(xiàn),所以,英文里把這種夢想飛來橫財、不勞而獲的想法叫做彩票思維(lottery mentality)。彩票思維指的是不干活就能拿錢,即不勞而獲的想法;或是認為錢能解決所有問題的想法。
The American dream, of working hard and getting ahead, is starting to succumb to that lottery mentality my father saw as hurting the nation’s economy.
努力爭先的美國夢凋零了,彩票思維卻風頭日盛。在我爸爸看來,損害國家經(jīng)濟的正是這種彩票思維。
Nillionaire 窮光蛋

Meaning: Nillionaire refers to a person who has very little money. The term is a portmanteau of nil and millionaire, where the word nil means zero or nothing.
大家不要以為我們拼錯單詞了,這里說的不是百萬富翁millionaire,而是一文不名的nillionaire。nillionaire是指手里沒什么錢的人,也就是“窮光蛋”。這個詞是由nil和millionaire(百萬富翁)兩個詞混合而成,nil就是“零”、“無”的意思。
? I am sick of being a nillionaire.
我受夠了當窮光蛋的日子。
Spending Fast 限制支出期

Meaning: A spending fast refers to a period in which a person voluntarily spends as little money as possible.
上大學的時候經(jīng)常會有這樣的情形:月初的時候大家花錢都很闊綽,吃飯、逛街、看電影一樣都不能少;到了后半月,家里寄來的生活費已經(jīng)花得差不多了,很多人就開始急劇縮減開支,葷素搭配的三餐可能降級為饅頭加咸菜,除了上課以外,其他時間都悶在宿舍……這樣的行為在英文里叫做spending fast(限制支出期)。限制支出期指某人自愿將支出減少到最低程度的一段時間。這里之所以會用fast這個詞來表示“限制”的意思,是因為fast做名詞或動詞的時候,指的是(a period of) abstaining from food,即“禁食,齋戒(期)”之意。由此,spending fast就是表示abstaining from spending,即“禁止支出期”或者“限制支出期”的意思。
I never thought a spending fast could be so difficult.
我從來沒想到限制開支會這么難。