The Top Ten Most Popular Terms (01/15/2007) 来源:www.exam (YCWB; Southern Metropolis Daily) Even though the National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center heads the list of sponsors, there is no scientific basis to determine which are the most popular terms in Chinese newspapers, radio and television. Nevertheless, the selections will give some sense of the Zeitgeist. In 2002, there were terms such as 短信 (SMS), 降息 (interest rate reduction), 十六大 (Sixteenth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party); in 2003, there was 非典 (SARS), 隔离 (isolation), 三峡工程 (The Three Gorges Project); in 2004, there was 科学发展观 (the scientific development approach), 执政能力 (ability of governance), 审计风暴 (audit storm); in 2005, there was 保持***员先进性教育 (sustain the progressive education of Communist Party members), 十一五规划 (The Eleventh Five-year plan), 神舟六号 (Shenzhou 6).
In 2006, the top ten terms were 和谐社会 (harmonious society), 社会主义新农村 (new socialist rural villages), 青藏铁路 (Qinghai-Tibet Railroad), 自主创新 (autonomous innovation), 社会主义荣辱观 (socialist definitions of honor and shame), 中非合作论坛 (Sino-African Cooperative Forum), 消费税 (consumption tax), 长征精神 (the spirit of the Long March), 非物质文化遗产 (non-materialistic cultural heritage).
The commentary about this list is that it tends to be 'too harmonious.' But even a healthy body can sometimes experience pain. So here are some popular terms that were not mentioned: 流氓软件 (spyware), 潜规则 (hidden rules), 假药 (fake medicine), 食品安全 (food safety), 多宝鱼 (turbot fish), 平价医院 (cheap hospital), 福寿螺 (Amazonian snail), 狂犬病 (rabies), 红心鸭蛋 (red-cored duck egg), 汉芯 (Hanxin microchips), 恶搞 (spoof), 福利腐败 (welfare corruption). 来源:www.exam In the sports category, the listed top ten terms are Liu Xiang, Bird Nest, Water Cube, etc. Missing was 冠军搓澡工 (champion bathing assistant), in reference to the former champion weightlifter Zhou Chunlan who is presently working in a bathhouse as a rubbing assistant. Zhou had said: "When I was first selected to become a weightlifter, the coach started giving me medicine that he said would make me stronger and deliver better results. My present educational level is third grade, elementary school. I don't even know how to do pinyin. It is a lot more difficult to earn a living than training."