sheng nu

English

Alternative forms

• shengnü, shengnu, sheng nü

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 剩女 (shèngnǚ, “leftover woman”). Typologically compare Turkish kalık (“residue, leftover; leftover woman, spinster”).

Noun

sheng nu (plural sheng nu)

1. (derogatory) A woman in her mid- to late twenties and not yet married, particularly an unmarried successful businesswoman.
   • 2010 Schott, Ben (15 March 2010). "Leftover Ladies & 3S Women". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2013.

     The increasing prevalence of shengnü in China has boosted the number of shengnan – leftover men.

   • 2012, Fincher, Leta Hong (12 October 2012). "OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR; China's 'Leftover' Women". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2013:

     In 2007, the Women’s Federation defined “leftover” women (sheng nu) as unmarried women over the age of 27 and China’s Ministry of Education added the term to its official lexicon.

   • 2012, Robert L. Moore and Li Wei, "Modern Love in China", in Michele Antoinette Paludi, The Psychology of Love, volume 1, page 31:

     Most of these parents come to this “marriage market” out of concern for their child being sheng nu (leftover women) or sheng nan (leftover men))—a rather stigmatized term for a growing number of young men and young women in their late twenties and early thirties who are well educated and career-minded but still single.

   • 2012, Sebag-Montefiore, Clarissa (August 21, 2012). "Romance With Chinese Characteristics". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-12-24.

     Women, meanwhile, must be married by 27; after that they are branded sheng nu or “leftover women.” (This derogatory term — whose prefix “sheng” is the same word used in “leftover food” — was listed as a new word in 2007 by the Chinese Ministry of Education).

   • 2013, Liza Mundy, The Richer Sex: How the New Majority of Female Breadwinners Is Transforming Our Culture, page 211:

     In China, the growing ranks of educated unmarried females are referred to as sheng nu, or “left—over women.”

   • 2013, "BE MY KEPT WOMAN - actress asked to 'name her price'", Malaysia Chronicle (Wednesday, July 31, 2013):

     "I'm definitely a 'sheng nu' (leftover woman). Women should learn to take it in their stride, and (realise) it's just a label that society gives us," Tsui said.

Usage notes

• Used especially of educated mainland Chinese women.

Synonyms

• 3S (single, seventies (1970s), and stuck)
• spinster
• catherinette

Translations

leftover woman

• Armenian: տանը մնացած (tanə mnacʻac)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 剩女 (sing⁶ neoi^5-2)

  Mandarin: 剩女 (zh) (shèngnǚ)

• Finnish: ylijäämänainen
• Japanese: 売れ残り (ja) (うれのこり, urenokori) (spinster, lit.: "leftover goods")
• Korean: 올드 미스 (oldeu miseu)
• Russian: невостре́бованная же́нщина f (nevostrébovannaja žénščina) (as used in the media), ста́рая де́ва (ru) f (stáraja déva)
• Turkish: kalık (tr)

See also

• OL ("office lady")
• キャリアウーマン (kyaria ūman) (Japanese career woman)

References

• Cambridge University, 2013
• New York Times, 2012, added to the official lexicon of the Chinese Ministry of Education
• Business Week, 2011
• Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, 2011
• CNN, 2010