FARAWELL TO TUHAO, WELCOME TO TUHAO. Language and society in China as they emerge from the buzzwords of the last decade

Buzzwords are fashionable words or phrases. Often, as technical words or phrases, buzzwords are coined and used by an inside community. However, when used in larger contexts they may have implications for the larger community of outsiders, even when the outsiders cannot fully grasp the precise meaning of the word. In the framework of the ongoing debate on the interactions between vocabulary and social practices, this paper undertakes to analyze Chinese neologisms in their twofold role of mirroring new trends in society and contributing to the conceptualization of the social reality. Neoliberal practices and state rhetoric together with values emerging from the civil society all concur, often in contradictory ways, to the coining of neologisms that, in turn, contribute to orient today’s Chinese dominant discourses and practices.