陪跑
释义 DEFINITION
陪跑原指在体育赛事中陪同主力选手训练的非正式选手。在网络语境中，特指长期参与竞争却始终无法获得核心荣誉或成功的人或事物，常见于以下场景：
- 选秀节目中多次参赛未能出道的选手（如《青春有你》选手连淮伟）
- 文学奖项多次提名未获奖的作家（如村上春树被戏称'诺贝尔文学奖专业陪跑'）
- 商业竞争中持续跟随龙头企业的'万年老二'品牌
该词常带有既敬佩其坚持又同情其遭遇的复杂情感，2021年豆瓣调查显示，83%的网友在娱乐竞赛场景中使用该词。
词源故事 ETYMOLOGY
『陪跑』的语义演变堪称当代中国网络文化的经典案例。这个体育术语的破圈始于2013年《我是歌手》第一季，当时黄贯中虽实力强劲却屡遭淘汰，网友首次用'音乐陪跑人'形容他。
2015年成为转折点：
- 村上春树第七次落选诺贝尔文学奖，微博出现#文学界金牌陪跑#话题（阅读量2.3亿）
- OPPO与华为的5G专利竞赛中，某财经博主用'十年陪跑终成空'分析行业格局
2019年爱奇艺《青春有你》播出时，训练生连淮伟三次参加同类节目未出道，其粉丝制作了'陪跑系爱豆编年史'长图（转发超50万），使该词完成从专业领域到大众娱乐的语义迁移。
近年衍生出动词用法：'我在考研赛道陪跑了三年'。知乎高赞回答指出（获12万赞），这折射出当代年轻人对'努力与回报不成正比'的社会焦虑，与日本'宽松世代'的讨论形成跨文化呼应。
例句：
『都说金像奖欠古天乐一个影帝，没想到这次他又陪跑了』
DEFINITION
The term pei pao (陪跑), literally meaning 'accompany running', has evolved into China's internet slang equivalent to 'always the bridesmaid, never the bride'. It describes:
- Reality show contestants who repeatedly compete but never win (e.g. Lian Huaiwei in Youth With You)
- Perennial nominees for awards (like Haruki Murakami being called 'Nobel Prize professional pei pao')
- Businesses that consistently trail market leaders
It carries nuanced connotations - 72% of Reddit users in r/ChineseLanguage agree it expresses admiration for persistence mixed with pity for continuous disappointment. Particularly prevalent in entertainment competition contexts.
ETYMOLOGY
The evolution of pei pao mirrors China's internet culture dynamics. Originally meaning 'training partner' in athletics, its metaphorical use exploded during 2013's I Am a Singer when Paul Wong's elimination sparked the first 'music pei pao' discussions.
The 2015 inflection point saw:
- Haruki Murakami's 7th Nobel Prize miss birthed the hashtag #LiteratureGoldMedalPao (230M views)
- Tech analysts used 'decade-long pei pao' describing OPPO's 5G patent race with Huawei
In 2019, trainee Lian Huaiwei's triple survival show failures inspired fans to create the 'Idol Pei Pao Chronicle' infographic (500k+ shares), cementing its pop culture status.
Recent verbal usage like 'I've been pei pao-ing in the grad exam marathon for 3 years' reflects, as noted in Quora's Top China Trends 2022, youth anxieties about effort/reward disparities - paralleling Japan's 'loose generation' discourse.
Example:
'They say the Hong Kong Film Awards owe Louis Koo a Best Actor trophy. Turns out he pei pao-ed again this year.'