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秒杀

/miǎo shā/
释义 DEFINITION

『秒杀』原为游戏术语,字面意思是「瞬间击杀」。在现代互联网语境中主要发展出两种含义:

  1. 电商领域:特指限时超低价抢购活动,商品通常在几秒钟内被抢购一空(如:双十一的1元秒杀)
  2. 竞技场景:形容以压倒性优势快速击败对手(如:电竞比赛中5秒团灭对方)

当前使用频率最高的是电商场景,据统计2022年淘宝「秒杀」关键词搜索量同比增加237%。部分用户也会用其夸张表达日常快速完成某事(如:秒杀数学作业)。

词源故事 ETYMOLOGY

『秒杀』的语义演变堪称互联网时代的语言化石:

2005年左右,随着《魔兽世界》等MMORPG游戏流行,「秒杀」作为战斗术语进入大众视野。玩家用其形容强力技能瞬间消灭敌人的爽快感,此时词性偏中性。

转折发生在2009年淘宝推出「限时秒杀」频道。平台通过心理学设计——鲜红的倒计时、不断减少的库存数字、成功抢购的弹窗动画——将单纯的促销活动变成数字时代的集体狩猎仪式。2012年双十一期间,某品牌手机创下「8秒售罄5000台」的记录,媒体标题集体使用「秒杀神话」助推词汇破圈。

2020年后出现语义泛化现象,大学生用「早八秒杀我的灵魂」吐槽早起,打工人自嘲「又被KPI秒杀」。这种解构式用法使词汇脱离商业属性,成为当代年轻人表达「被快速击溃」的通用隐喻。

例句:
「刚点进去就显示已售罄,这就是拼手速的秒杀吗?」
「这个数学题直接把我秒杀了,连挣扎的机会都没有」

synonym: Flash Sale

DEFINITION

The term miǎo shā (秒杀), literally meaning "instant kill", has evolved into two main usages:

  1. E-commerce: Refers to time-limited flash sales where products sell out within seconds (e.g. $0.15 deals during China's 11.11 Shopping Festival)
  2. Competitive scenarios: Describes overwhelmingly quick victories (e.g. defeating a gaming opponent in 5 seconds)

Cultural context: The e-commerce usage reflects China's hyper-competitive online shopping culture, where platforms like Taobao create artificial scarcity through countdown timers and limited stock alerts.

ETYMOLOGY

The evolution of miǎo shā mirrors China's digital transformation:

Originating from MMORPGs like World of Warcraft around 2005, the term initially described instant kills in gaming battles. Its neutral usage shifted dramatically when Taobao launched its "Limited-time Flash Sale" channel in 2009.

Chinese e-commerce platforms engineered digital dopamine triggers—blinking countdown timers, real-time stock updates, congratulatory pop-ups—that turned shopping into a virtual gladiatorial arena. A milestone came in 2012 when 5,000 smartphones sold out in 8 seconds during Singles' Day, with media headlines proclaiming "The Myth of Miao Sha."

Post-2020, the term underwent semantic expansion. University students joke about "8am classes instantly killing my soul," while office workers lament "getting wrecked by KPIs." This self-deprecating usage transforms the commercial term into a generational metaphor for sudden defeat.

Examples:
"It showed 'sold out' the moment I clicked - this is the real speed battle!"
"That math problem straight-up deleted me without warning."

SAME PRONUNCIATION