Leftover¹ women, this has been a much talked, and often controversial phrase in China in the past few years. It generally refers to single women above the age of 27.

经常被提起的剩女这个词，已经是近几年的中国热门争议词汇。剩女一般指的是27岁以上的单身女性。

Some unattached female 30-somethings refer to themselves, half-joking, as "loser dogs," after a 2004 Japanese book on the same phenomenon² in that country. In Taiwan, a real-estate company recently advertised a small, ritzy apartment as ideal for "loser dogs." This economic muscle is part of what gives women the freedom to embrace the single life.

30岁以上的未婚女性半开玩笑地称自己是“败犬”，这个名字来源于2004年日本出版的一本讲述同一现象的书。在台湾，一家房地产公司在给一种小户型豪华公寓打广告时，称其专门为“败犬族”量身定做。这种经济能力也是女性可以自由选择单身生活的原因之一。

Leftover women usually choose prospective³ husband among those more capable men in terms of wealth and social status, especially well-educated women who have decent job and good salary. They won't commit to marriage until they find a perfect candidate. So they choose to be single by themselves.

剩女们一般择偶标准比较高，她们在选择未来的老公时，会根据经济实力和社会地位考虑比较有能力的男性。受过良好教育、有着体面工作和高月薪的女性的择偶要求会更高。除非找到合适的人选，否则她们宁愿一直单身。所以说，大多“剩女”都是主动选择剩下的。

Family and friends often see the lifestyle as a phase and expect the singletons to settle down, and many singletons do insist they're not opposed to marriage, just determined⁴ not to commit until they find the right partner — one who respects their independence and shares their life goals. Presumably that means not expecting a wife to stay home and put up with a meddling⁵ mother-in-law.

单身女性的亲友往往将其单身生活视为一个阶段，希望她们最终安定下来，结婚生子。此外，也有不少独身主义者坚持说，她们并不反对结婚，只是下决心在找到理想的另一半前坚守阵地。理想的另一半必须尊重她们的独立性，拥有共同的生活目标；也就是说，不能指望妻子呆在家里相夫教子，忍受婆婆的指手划脚。

The source of leftover women:

剩女当道，哪些女性最容易被剩下来？

woman who haven’t fallen in love before graduation

大学毕业前还没谈过恋爱的女人

perfectionism woman

完美主义的女人

women who always think that they have suffered a lot

总以为自己已经历尽沧桑的女人

"obedient" daughters

听话的乖女儿

women who seeing love as food

把爱情当粮食的女人