The story
Borrowed from Mandarin 剩女 (shèngnǚ, “leftover woman”). Typologically compare Turkish kalık (“residue, leftover; leftover woman, spinster”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
sheng nu
Today it means: A woman in her mid- to late twenties and not yet married, particularly an unmarried successful businesswoman. Full definition →