经济学人525:个性化汽车贴纸

　　Personalised car stickers
个性化汽车贴纸
Family portraits on wheels
轮胎上的全家福
Windscreens are the new Facebook
挡风玻璃变成了新的脸书网
IN THE Middle Ages, heraldry allowed knights¹ to show off family histories in amazing detail, lugging² shields or banners into battle that explained their ancestry³, whether they had married an heiress and their status as a first or younger son. Eight centuries later American drivers are catching⁴ up, thanks to personalised “family stickers”: tiny stick-figure depictions of an entire household (most typically displayed in one corner of a minivan's rear-windscreen). Though the trend's origins are obscure, there is a consensus⁶ that it began in Mexico several years ago and at first involved generic⁷ outline figures, revealing ony the number of children in a family.
在中世纪，骑士们可以使用非常精细的纹章来炫耀自己家族历史，在战场上带着有家族纹章的盾牌或旗帜可以阐明他们的血统—和一位女继承人结婚，或者身为家中长子或幼子。八百年后，汽车司机也开始这样做了，而他们使用的是个性化“家庭贴纸”：一副小小的全家简笔画描绘。尽管这股潮流的起源已经不甚明了，但几年前在墨西哥兴起了一种默认观点，首先就是在车上贴通用类数字图，表明了家中孩子的数量。
汽车贴纸.jpg
Now the stickers are well established north of the border. And, thanks to a combination of American individualism and advances in custom-manufacturing, they are morphing into ever-more-detailed family chronicles.
如今贴纸在边境线北部也开始流行起来。由于美国个人主义和先进的定制加工业，它们变成了更加精细的家族编年史。
Chroma Graphics⁸ of Tennessee, a supplier to such firms as Walmart, recently designed its first kits⁹ to celebrate households headed by same-sex couples. The pick-and-mix kits—designed at the request of a large retail¹⁰ customer, but not yet on sale—include two father-figures, two mother-figures and an assortment¹¹ of children and pets, says Brenda Sellers, the firm's president. The packaging is in rainbow colours, bearing intertwined pairs of two male and two female astrological symbols as a final clue.
田纳西州的彩色图案是一些公司如沃尔玛之类的供应商，他最近计划推出首套庆祝同性恋人担任户主系列贴纸。该公司总裁布伦达·塞勒斯表示，这套组合贴纸是应一个大型零售商客户要求推出的，但尚未对外出售。它包括两个父亲形象，两个母亲形象，各种各样的孩子和宠物。包装是彩虹色的，上面有两对互相交错的同性男女占星符号，作为一个最终暗示。
In Idaho a sign-maker, Woodland Manufacturing, has pioneered hyper-personalised stickers. Visitors towww.familystickers.com, its online retail arm, can combine thousands of different heads, bodies and accessories to depict⁵, say, a bearded, balding x-ray technician, married to a bee-keeping mother (in hat with veil) whose kids enjoy ballet and baseball, and who own guinea pigs.
在爱达荷州有家标牌制造商，名叫林地制造，他提倡超个性化贴纸。访问他家在线零售网站www.familystickers.com的访客可以将上千种头部、身体和附属部件结合描绘，一个秃顶但胡子浓密的放射线技术员称。该技术员与一名勤劳的妇女（戴着有面纱的帽子）结了婚，他们的孩子喜欢芭蕾舞和棒球，还养着荷兰猪。
Most are bought by women, says the firm's marketing¹² boss, Aaron Ellsworth. The number-one seller is dog stickers: “For a lot of people, their pet is their family,” says Mr Ellsworth. Candour is a trend, with customers asking for large Xs to place over divorced spouses¹³, or tiny halos to place over a family member who has died. Some lovelorn folk leave gaps in family line-ups, labelled: “Position Open” (see picture). Coloured stickers are big just now, and also zombies.
该公司的销售经理亚伦·埃尔斯沃斯称大多数贴纸的购买者都是女性。卖得最火的是犬类贴纸，“对于大部分人来说，他们的宠物就是家人。”埃尔斯沃斯说。坦率是一种趋势，顾客会购买大型X符号来代表离婚夫妻，或者小小的光圈来代表去世的家人。一些失恋的人在家庭的一行贴纸中留出空位，贴上标签“空窗期”（见图）。如今彩色的贴纸和僵尸贴纸也卖得很火。
Two powerful forces are at work, suggests Mr Ellsworth. The internet now allows consumers to order customised products directly from a factory. And in a fast-changing world, “all of us want to feel unique”. Those medieval knights would have understood.
埃尔斯沃斯称有两种强大的力量在起作用。如今的网络可以使顾客按照自己要求直接从加工厂订购产品。而且在如今这个瞬息万变的世界，“每个人都想使自己显得与众不同”。那些中世纪骑士会理解这种心情的。

1 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

2 lugging   

超载运转能力

参考例句：

• I would smile when I saw him lugging his golf bags into the office. 看到他把高尔夫球袋拖进办公室，我就笑一笑。 来自辞典例句
• As a general guide, S＄1 should be adequate for baggage-lugging service. 一般的准则是，如有人帮你搬运行李，给一新元就够了。 来自互联网

3 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

4 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

5 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

6 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

7 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

8 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。

9 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。

10 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

11 assortment   

n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集

参考例句：

• This shop has a good assortment of goods to choose from.该店各色货物俱全，任君选择。
• She was wearing an odd assortment of clothes.她穿着奇装异服。

12 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。

13 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句