Chinese evolves faster than any other language.

Just this week, I learned 4 old words with totally new meanings, which aren't in any dictionary.

They were in 1 news story: The launch of Strong Nation Transport (强国交通) app launched last week.

So here they are!

🧵👇

1) 碰瓷 pèng cí - "bumping porcelain"

• Original meaning: A scam to extort money

• New meaning: Piggybacking on something as scam to make profits

2) 野鸡 yějī - "wild chicken"

• Original meaning: Fake university 野鸡大学, "diploma mill"

• New meaning: Illegal company, a company doing something illegal 野鸡公司

3) 牵强附会 qiān qiǎng fù huì - "far fetched"

• Original meaning: To "force" two things to be linked even though they are not

• New meaning: No link between the Strong National Transport app and the Study Strong Nation app

强 qiǎng "force" is replaced by 强 qiáng "strong"

4) 算盘 suàn pán - "abacus"

• Original meaning: Normally a verb meaning "Have negative intentions" 打小算盘

• New meaning: A "plot" (noun)

In summary:

1) 碰瓷 pèng cí = "piggyback scam"

2) 野鸡公司 yějī gōngsī = "illegal company"

3) 牵强附会 qiān qiáng fù huì = “Study Strong Nation and Strong Nation Transport apps are not linked”

4) 算盘 suàn pán = "a plot"

If you enjoyed learning these new words, you'll love my weekly newsletter, Slow Chinese.

It helps aspiring Mandarin learners stay on top of the latest Chinese language trends.

Check out this week's Slow Chinese (including the 4 words in this thread):

https://newsletter.slowchinese.net/p/publicity-stunt-by-new-ride-hailing-f32