瘦身 (shou4shen1)
slimming, streamlining
The term of getting slimmer has been generalized to mean reducing the size of almost anything. It could be streamlining government departments, shrinking investment plans or even reducing the weight of school kids’ satchels.

扫街 (sao3jie1)
street sweeping
Street sweeping does not just mean to clean the street any more. Now it can be used to describe activities involving a complete scrutiny of shops or people in a street. Tourists could sweep a street by visiting every food stall or bar there and paparazzi could sweep a street by closely watching everything moving there to wait for an exclusive shot.

物权法 (wu4quan2 fa3)
property rights law
The draft for the country’s first such law has been discussed during the past days at the nation’s legislature. The law covers movable and immovable properties, ranging from ownership of a house to ownership of a company.

屏蔽门 (ping2bi4men2)
metro barrier door
The city plans to install the barrier doors at 12major stations along the Metro Line 1 by the end of this year to save energy and protect the safety of passengers, particularly during the rush hours.

下三赖 (xia4san1lai4)
riffraff, low-class
Many Chinese students tend to use the literal English translation of this term, “down three bad.” As a translation, it’s not bad, since it conveys almost the right sense. In daily conversation, however, the term is widely used to express scorn.

紧急避孕药 (jin3ji2 bi4yun4yao4)
morning-after pill
It’s as medical method to help prevent unwanted pregnancies following unprotected sex or failed contraception. The Shanghai Family Planning Instruction Institute will cooperate with the Shanghai Pharmaceutical Association to train pharmacists and clerks at 1,000 drugstores on the proper use of the morning-after pill.