China Has a Word for Its Crass New Rich

By RobertFrank

 

1 How do you say “nouveau riche”in China? Tuhao.

 

2 As in, “The Real Housewives ofBeverly Hills” are tuhao. Covering the inside of your Rolls-Royce with jade istuhao. Or, the most popular use, the new gold iPhone 5s is now known in Chinaas the “tuhao gold iPhone.”

 

3 Tuhao roughly translates as“crass rich,” since “tu” means uncultured and “hao” means bold or bullying. (Thoughsome sites say that “hao” translates better as “wealth” or “splendor.”) Itjoins “nouveau riche,” “parvenu” and “bling” and other terms for the newly richwho have more money than taste. And while it’s quickly gone viral in China,where flashy new wealth is sparking growing resentment, it’s also gainingglobal traction as the luxury-hungry Chinese rich are venturing around theworld.

 

4 The number of tuhao websites,blogs, comic books, TV shows and ad slogans is exploding. And tuhao’slegitimacy could soon become official, with the keepers of the Oxford EnglishDictionary saying they may include tuhao in its next edition.

 

5 “A lot of media has givenattention to the word ‘tuhao’ which also triggered our interest,” said themanagement authorities at Oxford University Press, the publisher of thedictionary. “If the influence of ‘tuhao’ keeps rising, we will considerincluding it in our dictionaries of the 2014 edition.”

 

6 The Oxford folks say the word“tuhao” dates back more than 100 years, when it referred to wealthy landholderswho would bully peasants or underlings. Oxford said the new usage has taken offin the past two months with growing media attention. In China, where the newrich are buying everything from gold-plated BMWs to $1 million dogs and $5,000bottles of wine, the term is the word of the moment.

 

7 Tuhao was listed as one of thetop “hot words” recently in China Daily.As the newspaper explained: “People find tuhao to be aptly worded, becausenouveaux riches have garish tastes and lack good cultural traits andsophistication. Although ‘tuhao’ is a derisive term, it is being widely used bynetizens to poke fun at the rich who are like luxurious products with littleuse or content.”

 

8 Tuhaos have become the chieftarget of ridicule on the China blogosphere. As a China media blog put it, theyare China’s version of the “Beverly Hillbillies.’”

 

9 The new gold iPhone 5s, whichhas become a huge seller in China, is now called “Tuhao Gold.”

 

10 Tuhao has also become thecenter of one of the most popular jokes making the rounds on the Chinablogosphere. A young man asks a Zen master, “I’m wealthy, but unhappy. Whatshould I do?” The Zen master says, “Define ‘wealthy.’”The young man answers, “I have millions in the bank and three apartments in centralBeijing. Is that wealthy?” The Zen master silently holds out a hand. The youngman says: “Master, are you telling me that I should be thankful and give back?”

 

11 The Zen master says, “No ...Tuhao, can I become your friend?”

 

12 Now, the phrase “Tuhao, can webe friends” is quickly becoming a catchphrase in China — which shows that asmuch as they dislike the tuhao, they also want to share in their good fortunes.

 

中国为它的暴发户起了个名字

罗伯特·弗兰克

 

1 在中国如何称呼“暴发户”？土豪。

2 比如“贝弗利的娇妻们”是土豪。用美玉装饰你的劳斯莱斯车内部是土豪。或者，最时髦的用法，新版金色iPhone 5s手机如今在中国被称作“土豪金苹果手机”。

3 土豪大致可译成“粗俗的富人”，因为“土”指没有教养，“豪”指“脸皮厚”或者“强横”。（虽然一些网站说“豪”译成“财富”或者“华丽”更恰当）。这个词语加入了nouveau riche（暴发户）、parvenu（新贵）、bling（珠光宝气）以及其他专指那些有钱但没有品味的新富人的词的行列。它迅速盛行于中国的网络，在那里浮华的新获得的财富正引发越来越多的憎恨。当追求奢侈品的中国富人们满世界闯荡时，这个词也逐渐被全世界所关注。

4 土豪网站、博客、漫画书、电视节目和广告标语的数量猛增。土豪这个词可能很快获得权威认可，《牛津英语词典》的掌门人说他们可能会在下一版词典中收录土豪这个词条。

5 “许多媒体已经关注‘土豪’这个词，这也引发了我们的兴趣，”该词典的出版商牛津大学出版社的高级管理人员说。“如果‘土豪’的影响力继续增长，我们将考虑将其收在我们2014年版的词典中。”

6 牛津大学出版社的人士说“土豪”一词起源于100多年前，当时指欺凌农民或者下人的富裕地主。牛津方面说，“土豪”的这一新用法在过去两个月里走红，并得到越来越多的媒体关注。在中国，新贵们无所不买，从镀金的宝马到一百万美金一条的狗和五千美元一瓶的红酒。这个词是当下最为盛行的词。

7 最近《中国日报》将土豪列为最“热门的词”之一。如该报所解释：“人们觉得土豪这一称呼很恰当，因为暴发户口味低俗，缺乏文化品位和修养。虽然‘土豪’是一个嘲讽式的词，但有众多网民们正用它来嘲笑那些同奢侈品一样华而不实或毫无内涵的富人们。”

8 在中国的博客空间，土豪已经成为被讥讽的主要对象。正如一家中国媒体博客所说，他们是中国版的“贝弗利山人”。

9 在中国畅销的新版金色iPhone5S手机现在被称为“土豪金”。

10 土豪也已经成了在中国博客圈中迅速流传的最流行的笑话之一的中心。一个年轻人问禅师：“我很富有，但是我却一点也不快乐。我该怎么办？”禅师说，“怎么富有？”年轻人答道：“我银行里有几百万，在北京市中心有三套公寓房。不算富有吗？”禅师默默地伸出一只手。年轻人说：“禅师，您是想说我应该学会感恩与回报吗？”

11 禅师说，“不……土豪，我们可以做朋友吗？”

12 如今，“土豪，我们可以做朋友吗？”这句话迅速火遍中国，这表明尽管人们不喜欢土豪，他们仍想分享土豪的财富。