|
Chinese have become devotees of "tuan gou" or "team buying."
The first character "tuan" means "a group" -- notice the square border indicating something is done within a certain sphere.
"gou" means "to buy. "On the left part of this character is the pictograph of a cowrie shel, which was the first type of "currency" used in ancient China. The right hand side is phonetic and has the idea of "an exchange" or "bartering."
Team buying is the newest shopping craze in Guangdong. By combining the power of the Internet to compare prices with the ingrained stealth of those with ready cash, team buyers are now driving hard bargains in China's booming southern economy.
Team buying Websites have been set up to foster this trend. But how does it work1ò Buyers who are looking for the same items find each other online, then band together offline to negotiate special deals, particularly on electronic goods, home furnishings, and, as rumor has it, even cars.
Some team buyers approach store managers beforehand; others simply flex their collective muscle. Bargaining is simply a way of life, and the price on a label is just the starting point.
Now, some interesting words. A "devotee" (accent on the third syllable, same sound as "tea") is an enthusiastic supporter of something, from the Latin voveo, "I vow" to do something. ("vow" is also Latin, from votum, a vote).
A "craze" is a temporary enthusiasm for something -- Chinese women and Japanese women (and some men) follow "temporary"' crazes in fashion: e.g., Chinese women seem to like their hair "curly" now. Another word for a craze is a "fad," a word that comes from "fiddle faddle," which is Old English.
To negotiate -- to "confer, to reach an agreement." This is pure Latin: negotium means "business." Like the "team buyers," they mean business.
Editor: Yan
|
