在取中文名这件事情上，化妆品公司一向做得很棒，比如，春风拂槛“露华浓”，再比如“雅诗兰黛”。麦当劳呢，硬生生抛开洋气又亲切的人设，走向了家具批发市场——“金拱门”。
译成“麦当劳”还是“金拱门”？
译者：伍豪&倪婷
校对：鲁城华
策划：陈怡蓓
Western companies are getting creative with their Chinese names
在取中文名这件事上，西方公司越来越有创意了
本文选自
The Economist
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MCDONALD’S drew ridicule in China when it changed its registered name there toJingongmen, or “Golden Arches”, in October, after it was sold to a Chinese consortium. Some on Weibo, a microblogging site, though it sounded old-fashioned and awkward, others that it had connotations of furniture. The fast-food chain was quick to reassure customers that its restaurants would continue to go by Maidanglao, a rough transliteration that has, over the years, become a recognisable brand name. But for most companies now entering Chinese markets, transliterations are a thing of the past, says Amanda Liu, vice-president of Labbrand, a consultancy based in Shanghai that advises firms on brand names.
今年十月，麦当劳（中国）接受了中国企业的联合收购，并且将公司注册名改为“金拱门”，结果引起人们嘲笑一片。有微博网友认为，这个名字又土又难听。还有些人觉得像是卖家具的。很快，这家快餐连锁企业就出面向消费者保证不会改变“麦当劳”这个称呼——经过多年发展，“麦当劳”这个简单的音译已然成为人们耳熟能详的品牌名。不过，朗标商务咨询公司的副总裁阿曼达·刘女士认为，对于现在想要入华的企业来说，音译的方法已经行不通了。刘女士任职的这家公司位于上海，为企业提供品牌咨询服务。
Companies are instead choosing Chinese names with meanings that capture people’s imagination. That often involves going beyond a direct translation. New
entrants
are taking inspiration from BMW, which is the evocative Baoma, or “treasure horse”, in China, and from Coca-Cola, which is Kekoukele, or “delicious happiness”.
如今，这些公司一般不会将品牌简单直译，而是译成能够引发联想的中文名。 “宝马”与“可口可乐”为中国市场的新
玩家们
提供了灵感——在中文语境中，前者意指“宝贵的马匹”，后者则是“美味又欢乐”。
entrant
/ ˈentrənt; ˋɛntrənt/ n ~ (to sth) person who enters a profession 加入某行业的人: an entrant to the diplomatic service 初入外交界做事的人
The naming process is forcing companies to think harder about the image they want to project in China, saysMsLiu. LinkedIn, a professional-networking site owned by Microsoft, chose the name Lingyin, or “leading elite”, in 2014, signifying more exclusivity than its Western name. Her other corporate customers have included Airbnb, Marvel ComicsandHaribo. Labbrand tests proposals with
focus groups
, ensuring that the name has no negative associations in any of the major Chinese dialects.
刘女士表示，命名的过程让公司不得不深入思考，探究自己要在中国市场打造何种品牌形象。2014年，职业社交网站 LinkedIn （如今为微软所有）将中文名定为“领英”，即“领袖精英”。相比英文名，译名的格调更高。刘女士所服务的客户还包括 Airbnb，Marvel 以及 Haribo。朗标公司还会使用
焦点小组
的方法来检验品牌方案，保证品牌名不会在中国各种主要方言中产生负面的联想与关联。
Focus group
焦点小组 这是质性研究的一种方法。就某一产品、服务、概念、广告和设计，通过询问和面谈的方式采访一个群体，以获取其观点和评价。
A vital part of the process is checking that candidate names have not already been
snapped up
.
The Chinese are energetic
trade markers:
in 2015 there were 2.8m trademark applications in China,
more than treble
those in America and the EU combined. Companies considering entering the Chinese market might often find that their products have already been given
local names
, thanks, for example, to
coverage in the press.
重要环节之一是检查备选名称是否已被
抢先占用
。中国人热衷于注册商标，2015年，中国共有
280万例商标注册申请案，是美国和欧盟加在一起的三倍多。还未进入但打算进入中国市场的公司通常会发现，它们的产品已经有了中文名，可能是出于媒体报道的需要。
snap up
:
If you snap something up, you buy it quickly because it is cheap or is just what you want.
抢购，赶紧买下(便宜或心仪之物)
Some even find that their Chinese name has already been trademarked, say
s
Matthew Dresden
of
Harris Bricken
, a law firm, either by their own
distributors
,
competitors seeking to block its entry,
counterfeiters
hoping to pass as the company, or
squatters
intending to sell the trademark to the highest bidder. Counterfeiters might also take advantage of soundalikes, says Mr Dresden, who advises clients to trademark those, too.
更有甚者，他们发现公司的中文名早已被注册为商标。哈里斯
·
布里肯律所的马修·德累斯顿说，抢注中国名称商标的要么是
经销商
、阻止进入中国市场的竞争对手和冒充正品的
盗版商
，要么是打算把商标卖给出价最高者。德累斯
顿说
盗版者
可能
还会利用发音相同的名字，因此建议客户能够把同音商标也进行注册。
distributor
[dɪ'strɪb.jʊ.tər] noun countable: a person or organization that supplies goods to shops and companies
发行人；分销商；经销商
counterfeit
['kaʊn.tə.fɪt]
ADJ:
made to look like the original of something, usually for dishonest or illegal pu
rposes
伪造的；仿造的；假冒的
squatter
['skwɒt.ər]
noun countable: a person who lives in an empty building without permission
擅自占屋者；偷住者
Such complexities have often
tripped up
foreign brands. Pfizer tried to stop Viaman, a Chinese drugmaker, from using the local name for Viagra—Weige, or “mighty brother”—but was unable to convince the courts that ownership of the trademark should be transferred to it. (Pfizer did manage to stop Viaman and other local companies from mimicking Viagra’s diamond shape, though.) After years of litigation, Michael Jordan won the rights to his name in Chinese—the transliteration Qiaodan — last year from a local sportswear company which had registered the trademark (although the court ruled he had no rights to the Chinese name when it was spelt in the Roman alphabet).
这种复杂的局面曾经使外国品牌
吃过苦头
。
（美国）辉瑞制药公司曾试图阻止一家名为
Viaman的中国制药公司使用 Viagra （美国辉瑞制药公司研制开发的一种口服治疗ED的药物，用于治疗勃起功能障碍等）的中文名字“伟哥”，但却无法通过法院判决将“伟哥”的商标所有权转让给辉瑞（尽管辉瑞确实在努力阻止Viaman和其他中国制药公司模仿伟哥的钻石状外观）。迈克尔·乔丹经过多年的诉讼，于在去年从一家中国体育用品公司手中夺回了注册商标“乔丹”的使用权，但法院同时裁定，迈克尔·乔丹并不拥有“乔丹”的罗马字母拼写的商标权。
