日本人提出向中国收二维码使用费？

今天，一则“日本人提出向中国收二维码使用费”的消息一直占据微博热搜位置，然而，这似乎是个假消息。

二维码于1994年由日本DENSO WAVE公司发明，据官方给出的介绍：

假消息归假消息，我们先来了解下二维码的那些事儿。

二维码怎么说？QR code，全称Quick Response Code.

条形码/条码呢？Barcode.

QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) first designed in 1994 for the automotive industry in Japan.（Wikipedia）

学过高等数学的应该对这个词比较熟悉，表示“（数学的）矩阵”，英文解释为“an arrangement of numbers, letters, or signs in rows and column s that you consider to be one amount, and that you use in solving mathematical problems”；

当然，它还有另外一个意思，表示“（人或社会的）发源地，摇篮”，英文解释为“a situation from which a person or society can grow and develop”，如：the cultural matrix 文化发源地。

2017年经济学人「The Economist explains」专栏一篇讲述二维码越来越普遍的文章，是这么介绍什么是二维码的：

THE rectangles of a two-dimensional (2D) barcode are Mondrian-esque. The black-and-white codes represent data in grid form, which only a computer can decipher. They represent a hyperlink or piece of text, which can be read by scanning the code—for example with a mobile phone. No internet connection is needed.

Mondrian-esque什么意思？

-esque表示“...特色的，...风格的，...式的”，英文解释为“in the manner or style of a particular person, group, or place”，如：Kafkaesque (= in the style of the writer Franz Kafka ) 卡夫卡式的（指具有小说家卡夫卡的风格）；

而Mondrian（彼埃·蒙德里安）是一位荷兰画家，几何抽象画派的先驱。他的画作通常以几何图形为绘画的基本元素。

他的风格是什么样的呢？其实今天的封面图片就是哦。在Google Image搜搜Mondrian-esque，返回了这样的结果：

看了这下面这图你是不是就明白了开头说的The rectangles of a two-dimensional (2D) barcode are Mondrian-esque.这句话是什么意思了。

decipher /dɪˈsaɪfə/ 表示“解译，破译；辨认，解释”，英文解释为“To change a message written in a code into ordinary language so that you can read it; To find the meaning of something that is difficult to read or understand”举个🌰：

I'm still no closer to deciphering the code.

破译这个密码我还是没有进展。

形容词：indecipherable

表示“难以辨认的；难以理解的”（impossible to read or understand），如：an indecipherable signature 难以辨认的签名。

同义词：decode，可以表示“解码，解读，解译”英文解释：if a computer decodes data , it receives it and changes it into a form that can be used by the computer or understood by a person.

These encodings, often seen in the Quick Response (QR) format, are widely used in Japan and China, where (by one estimate) they enabled $1.65trn of mobile payments in 2016. But they are less familiar in North America and Europe, despite their appearance on airline boarding passes and shipping labels, and in apps used by the likes of Starbucks and Walmart. A Tumblr site founded in 2012 called “Pictures of People Scanning QR codes” has no entries—an intentional gag. Why are 2D codes employed so widely in some places and not in others?

boarding card/boarding pass，英文解释为“an official card that you have to show before you get onto a plane”。

表示“故意的，蓄意的”，英文解释为“done deliberately and usually intended to cause harm”举个🌰：

I did trip him, but it wasn't intentional.

我的确把他绊倒了，但不是故意的。

同义词：deliberate，同样表示“故意的，有意的，蓄意的”（intended or planned），举个🌰：

Witnesses say the firing was deliberate and sustained.

目击者说这次射击是蓄意的，而且还持续了一段时间。

trip作动词，熟词僻义，表示“绊；绊倒”，英文解释为“To hit something with your foot by accident so that you fall or almost fall; To make someone fall by putting your foot in front of them when they are moving”举个🌰：

He tripped and fell.

他绊了一下，摔倒了。

trip作动词也可以指“触动（开关）”（to switch on a piece of electrical equipment by accident），如：trip the alarm 触动了警报器。

表示“笑话，恶作剧”，英文解释为“A gag is a joke. A gag is a humorous trick that you play on someone.”举个🌰：

The running gag is that the band never gets to play.

那个流传的笑话说那支乐队从未演奏过。

https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?width=500&height=375&auto=0&vid=u1354tkbk00

这一段的倒数第二句：A Tumblr site founded in 2012 called “Pictures of People Scanning QR codes” has no entries—an intentional gag. 什么意思呢？不知道“背景”的话肯定很懵。

Tumblr是个社交媒体网站，不了解的可以看下之前的推送：「BBC」评Tumblr将全面永久禁止黄色内容。有个用户在2012年时注册了一个Tumblr账号，并给主页起名叫“Pictures of People Scanning QR codes”，人们扫二维码的图片，却什么也没发（文中用的是no entries，而主页上用的则是no posts），这显然是个“intentional gag”。

http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/

而有意思的是，至今竟然有748人给他/她点赞（someone liked this）和转发（someone reblogged this）。

Scannable codes became popular in Japan in 2002, when mobile internet access was still poor. Advertisers, publishers and handset-makers teamed up to popularise QR codes as a way to share information with customers. Japan led the field until recently, when the use of 2D codes in China boomed. Two Chinese digital-payment platforms, Tencent's WeChat Pay and Alibaba's Alipay, allow people to make contactless payments by scanning codes. A customer can either scan a merchant's QR code, or the merchant can scan the customer's account code.

表示“合作，（与某人）结成一队”，英文解释为“to join with someone in order to work on something”举个🌰：

You can team up with one other class member if you want.

如果你愿意的话，可以找一个同学组成一组。

表示“在该领域/群体中/世界上领先，处于领头地位”，英文解释为“to be better than all other people or things”举个🌰：

Their scientists lead the world in nutrition research.

他们的科学家在营养研究方面居世界前列。

表示“非接触式支付的，感应支付的（利用无线技术通过信用卡、借记卡以及手机支付）”，英文解释为“relating to the use of wireless technology to make a payment using a credit card or debit card, or a mobile phone”，如：contactless cards 感应式银行卡 ，contactless payment 非接触式支付，举个🌰：

Our debit cards are now contactless and will work at contactless readers throughout the UK.

我们的借记卡现在具有感应式支付功能，可以在全英任何非接触式读卡器上使用。

This allows mobile phones without near-field communication, which is built into modern Apple and Android phones, to make contactless payments. While Apple Pay and Android Pay are flourishing in America and Europe, the technology needed to support them is too expensive for many shops in poorer countries.

什么是near field communication？缩写NFC你可以会在新闻上见到，意思是“近距离无线通信，近距离通信，近场通信”，就是让两个设备在较近的距离（如几厘米）内实现通信。英文介绍：the ability of electronic devices, magnetic strips, etc. to send and receive information over short distances, for example two or three centimetres”。

- END -

今天扯七扯八的有点多，就先到这里啦，完整原文见另一个公众号「英语学习社」：「经济学人」二维码为什么越来越受到青睐？

最后，今天说了这么多二维码、二维码，下面这个你不扫一下看看么？