乳波臀浪 (Euphemism)

What is the film that has smashed the box office record made by Avatar in Taiwan and Hong Kong, making it the biggest hit so far this year? --3D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy 3D肉蒲團之極樂寶鑒(rou4 pu3 tuan2 zhi ji2 le4 bao3 jian4), the media reported.

I was not surprised by the fact that the film, based on an erotic novel written in the seventeen century肉蒲團 (rou4 pu3 tuan2), The Carnal Prayer Mat, has been a hit these days. What caught my eye was such phrases as乳波臀浪(ru3 bo tun2 lang4) and波濤洶湧(bo tao xong yong3) used by the media to describe the film, which incited me to write this.

波浪(bo lang4)means waves of the sea. But 波 is also used to refer to boob. I hear that the euphemism of comparing what is like when a big-breasted woman is walking to the ocean waves is from Hong Kong. They call a big-breasted woman 波霸(bo ba4) as the word 霸means jumbo.

As this is an erotic film starring many plump big-boobed actresses, the reporters combined the phrase波浪 and 乳, milk, also referring to the breast, as well as臀, butt. And the phrase 波濤洶湧originally means the surging of the ocean waves as 波濤is the waves, while洶湧 is the surging. Now the implication is clear as you know what 波 means here.

Another highly-used term for actresses like Marilyn Monroe is 肉彈(rou4 dan4), a flesh bomb. In some way it’s similar to bimbo in that it carries the degrading implications that these women are simple-minded who make their marks by nothing but their breasts and looks.

The euphemisms mentioned above are more sexually-tinged compared with a more child-like term, 咪咪(mi mi), which is similar to a child talk for kitty, 貓咪(mao mi). And a quite new one is事業線(shi4 ye4 xian4), referring to the cleavage of a woman.

事業線originally refers to one of the slightly indented lines everyone has in his palm. We call the way your palms look 手相(shou3 xiang4), the way the lines intertwine, the size of your palms or fingers, the thickness of your palms, etc. Some people believe that by reading someone’s palm 看手相(kan4 shou3 xiang4), we can foretell his fortune. 事業線 is one of the lines, which reveals someone’s fortune for his career事業.

Somehow this line has been given a new meaning these days, referring to a woman’s cleavage. So a big-breasted woman is said to have a “deep career line.” 事業線很深(shi4 ye4 xian4 hen3 shen). I guess these days when big boobs are in, those who with “deep” cleavages are more likely to achieve success in entertainment business. It makes senses to use事業線 in its new meaning.

For those who have not so much 事業線, jokingly we’ll call their breasts 飛機場(fei ji chang3), airfield as they’re as flat. And Princess Tai-Ping of Tung Dynasty, 太平公主(tai4 ping2 gong zhu3) also carries the same meaning as 太平 can also be interpreted as “too flat.”

Well, I think I’ll leave male’s part until later since Princess Tai-Ping, me, has a lot of work to do.

肉蒲團之極樂寶鑒=肉蒲团之极乐宝鉴

波濤洶湧=波涛汹涌

肉彈=肉弹

貓咪=猫咪

事業線=事业线

飛機場=飞机场