滴滴打车走红 滴滴打人跟风

 　　At first, it seemed like a brilliant marketing¹ plan. Perhaps it still is.

　　起初，这看上去是一个非常棒的营销方案。或许现在依然如此。

　　The popularity of the Chinese ride-sharing app Didi Dache (滴滴打车), which translates as “Honk² Honk Hail a Cab,” inspired a simple pun. With the change of one character, the name became Didi Daren (滴滴打人), or “Honk Honk Beat a Person.”

　　中国的招车应用软件滴滴打车（意思是嘀嘀两声打辆车）风靡一时，为一句简单的俏皮话提供了灵感。只消换掉一个字，“滴滴打车”就变成了“滴滴打人”（意思是嘀嘀两声打个人）。

　　And in such a joke, one tech company in Hunan Province in the south saw an opportunity. The company, Changsha Zhang Kong Information Technology Limited, whose English name is Joke, decided³ to develop just such an app.

　　中国南方省份湖南省的一家科技企业从上述笑话中看到了机会。这家名为长沙掌控信息科技有限公司(Joke)的企业，决定开发一款跟这句俏皮话同名的应用软件。

　　滴滴打车走红 滴滴打人跟风

　　“We heard about Didi Dache every day in the news, so we wanted to sort of take a free ride on its fame,” said the head of Joke’s business department, who would give only his surname, Yuan.

　　“滴滴打车天天上新闻，所以我们就想搭个便车，”掌控公司营业部的袁姓负责人说。

　　The result illustrates⁴ the turbulent world of technology in China. From abroad, the common image of the Chinese Internet is one of censorship and tight control. But outside the realm of activism and political speech, the online world in China is fiercely competitive and anarchic at times.

　　这件事说明了中国科技行业嘈杂纷扰的现状。外界普遍认为，中国的互联网是受到审查和严格控制的。但除去跟行动主义和政治言论有关的部分，中国的网络世界其实充满激烈的竞争，有时甚至处于无政府状态。

　　That is particularly true of apps for smartphones, which come out too quickly to track and are available for download on Android app stores that, unlike in the rest of the world, are not dominated by Google. As a result, products are not closely vetted⁵ before release, and companies seek any advantage to grab the attention of potential users. Sometimes the results can backfire, but sometimes it pays to be audacious.

　　智能手机应用软件领域尤为如此：层出不穷的应用软件令人目不暇接，在安卓(Android)应用商店里即可下载，而且跟其他地方不同，这里的安卓应用商店并非由谷歌(Google)主导。因此，产品无需经过严格的审核就可以发布出去，企业纷纷投机取巧，以吸引潜在用户的眼球。这样做有时会产生适得其反的效果，但有时大胆而为带来了相应的回报。

　　Now that it has gotten some attention, Didi Daren does have a chance at achieving some success. China’s smartphone users have proved to be relatively⁷ comfortable with social networks that connect them to strangers nearby. One successful application, called Momo, connected strangers looking for dates, love — and more — well before similar apps like Tinder became popular in the United States.

　　即然滴滴打人已经受到了关注，它很有可能获得一定程度的成功。事实证明，中国的智能手机用户并不排斥能够把他们和附近的陌生人联系起来的社交网络。早在Tinder等陌生人交友应用红遍美国之前，帮助渴望约会、爱情以及更多东西的陌生人建立联系的陌陌就已在中国大获成功。

　　Rather than create an “Uber for Assault,” Joke said it had intended to create a concierge⁸ service, much like the app Magic, which allows users to negotiate for services like deliveries and housecleaning.

　　掌控公司称，他们要打造的并不是“用来召集打手的优步(Uber)”，而是一款跟Magic很像的礼宾服务应用软件，用户可以通过它跟提供快递、保洁等服务的人员接洽。

　　Just as Dache means “to hail a cab,” one could, with a little creativity, take Daren to mean “hail a person.” But after the release in January, some users understandably took the name at its literal meaning. Chinese news outlets⁹ said that people were using the app to offer themselves as thugs for hire, though it was unclear if any such transactions were actually completed. The Yunnan Information News reported on Saturday that it had used the app to contact a man in Shanghai who offered, for 200 to 500 renminbi, or about $30 to $80, to put someone in the hospital.

　　正如“打车”的意思是“叫车”，你也可以有点儿创意，把“打人”理解成“叫人”。但滴滴打人1月份上线后，一些用户却在按照字面意思来解读“打人”二字，他们这样想也是可以理解的。中国媒体称，有自称打手的人在滴滴打人上招揽生意，但目前尚不清楚他们是否真的跟人达成了交易。《云南信息报》周六报道称，该报已经通过这款应用软件联系到了一个身在上海的男人，他说只要200至500元人民币（约合30至80美元），他就可以让某个人躺进医院。

　　It did not help that “Baozou Big News,” an online comedy show, broadcast a skit¹⁰ in February about an app that did just that, with a bullied¹¹ nurse and a schoolgirl being pursued by a lecherous¹² teacher ordering beatdowns of their tormentors.

　　网络搞笑脱口秀《暴走大事件》今年2月播放的滑稽短剧对事情并没有什么帮助。剧中，一个遭受欺凌的护士和一个受到好色老师骚扰的女学生用一款应用软件找到打手，把欺负他们的人暴揍了一顿。

　　Mr. Yuan said that Joke was aware that users might take the name literally¹³, and that it included warnings in the app against criminal activity. Still, he said the company was surprised that the app was seen as a service for hiring thugs. “We didn’t anticipate this,” he said.

　　袁姓主管称，掌控公司察觉到用户可能会按照字面意思来理解“滴滴打人”4个字，于是在这款应用软件中加入了反对犯罪行为的警示语。但他表示，该公司还是惊讶于滴滴打人竟被视为一款帮人雇佣打手的服务。“我们没料到这种情况，”他说。

　　Over three months, the app was downloaded about 200,000 times. But to the likely disappointment of high-tech¹⁴ hoodlums, the company and several app stores pulled Didi Daren on Monday after several critical reports emerged in the Chinese news media. Mr. Yuan said Joke planned to release a new version of the app in a few weeks that would include a “secretary,” a function to vet⁶ requests that were previously¹⁵ negotiated directly between users. And the app will have a new name, he said. The company also plans to ask users to submit their suggestions.

　　在3个月时间里，滴滴打人被下载了20万次。但让通晓高科技的流氓失望的是，中国媒体刊发了几篇批评性报道之后，周一，掌控公司和多家应用商店将滴滴打人下架处理。袁姓主管称，掌控公司计划在几周之内推出带有“秘书”功能的新版应用软件，用户发布的请求会受到审查，而在以前，用户间都是直接接洽的。另外，他说，这款应用软件会有一个新名字。该公司还打算让用户给出建议。

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 honk   

n.雁叫声，汽车喇叭声

参考例句：

• Don't honk the horn indiscriminately.不要乱鸣喇叭！
• While passing another vehicle,you must honk your horn.通过另一部车时必须鸣按喇叭。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

5 vetted   

v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的过去式和过去分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• The recruits were thoroughly vetted before they were allowed into the secret service. 情报机关招募的新成员要经过严格的审查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All staff are vetted for links with extremist groups before being employed. 所有职员录用前均须审查是否与极端分子团体有关。 来自辞典例句

6 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 concierge   

n.管理员；门房

参考例句：

• This time the concierge was surprised to the point of bewilderment.这时候看门人惊奇到了困惑不解的地步。
• As I went into the dining-room the concierge brought me a police bulletin to fill out.我走进餐厅的时候，看门人拿来一张警察局发的表格要我填。

9 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 skit   

n.滑稽短剧；一群

参考例句：

• The comic skIt sent up the foolishness of young men in love.那幅画把沉溺于热恋中的青年男子的痴态勾勒得滑稽可笑。
• They performed a skit to amuse the crowd.他们表演了一个幽默小品来娱乐观众。

11 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 lecherous   

adj.好色的；淫邪的

参考例句：

• Her husband was described in court as a lecherous scoundrel.她的丈夫在法庭上被描绘成一个好色的无赖。
• Men enjoy all the beautiful bones,but do not mistake him lecherous.男人骨子里全都喜欢美女，但千万别误以为他好色。

13 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

14 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

15 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。