沙发: the first comment on a post

US President Barack Obama must have raised a quizzical eyebrow upon seeing his microblog posts "occupied" by a flood of Chinese-language posts, after he registered a real-name account on the social network Google Plus. But the "invasion" was stealthy, instantly overwhelming and timed with pinpoint precision. Chinese netizens accidently discovered that they could log on to the once-blocked site and post comments on the president's homepage.

美国总统奥巴马在注册了Google Plus实名账户之后，看到他的微博评论区都被中文评论潮涌般地“占领”时，肯定是满腹狐疑、眉头紧锁。然而，这一“侵占”悄无声息，瞬间势不可挡、定时精准。中国网友偶然发现他们可以进入曾经被封闭的网站、还可以在总统的首页发布评论。

The discovery has proved unfortunate for Obama. Whenever he publishes a new post (even when it is midnight in China), it is immediately pounced upon by hundreds of Chinese respondents, who leave comments in simplified Chinese such as "Sofa" (沙发), "Bench" (板凳), and "Ad space for rent" (广告位招租). Obama himself may even have paused to reach for a dictionary and look up the terms, only to find they all mean nothing more than "hello".

但是，中国网友们的这一发现对奥巴马来说却很不幸。他无论何时发新贴（即使北京时间已是午夜）、帖子下面都会冒出上百条简短的中文评论，例如“沙发”、“板凳”及“广告位招租”等。看到这些词语，奥巴马可能会亲自去查字典，但是却发现这些词语没有任何意思，只不过是“打招呼”。

One Chinese microblogger playfully suggested that everyone should post comments in different Chinese dialects to increase the employment opportunities for Chinese dialect translation jobs in the US, while an English-speaking poster named Ali Utlu seemed baffled (if not annoyed) at the overwhelming splurge of Chinese characters: "My Chinese friends, can you please post in English?"

有一位中国博主戏称每个人都应该用不同的中国方言发布评论，这样在美国中国人的翻译工作机会就多了。然而，一位叫做Ali Utlu的英国博主看到那大量的汉字很困惑（如果不是恼怒的话），说：“中国朋友们，你们可以用英文发布评论吗？”

While the onslaught may seem harmless, there is a catch. Every Google Plus post is limited to a maximum of 500 replies. So once Chinese netizens "occupy" the space, there is no room left for Americans to comment. A BBC report commented that the Chinese netizens' enthusiasm "has prompted one poster to suggest that if China ever abandoned its internet restrictions, the United States would have to protect its social media with a Great Firewall of its own."

虽然大量的汉语评论无伤大雅，但是这里面却隐含着一个难题。每条Google Plus的帖子最多只允许500条回复，因此，一旦中国网民“占领”了评论区域，美国人就不能发布评论了。有一篇BBC报道称中国网友的热情“已经迫使某一博主建议，如果中国不限制其网络，美国则需要采用自己的防火墙来保护这些社交媒体了”。

Below we list some popular phrases used to "build a highrise" (盖楼, meaning to add comments below a post, with one response referring to one story of the building).

以下是一些关于“盖楼”（在帖子下面写评论，一条评论代表一层楼）的网络流行语。

Internet jargon for being first to post in response:

第一个回帖的人：

Sofa (沙发 shāfā)

To observe a debate:

围观评论：

Bench (板凳 bǎndèng)

Watching as a bystander (强势围观 qiángshì wéiguān)

To mark one's name under a post:

在帖子下留名：

Scrambling for a standing ticket (抢站票 qiǎng zhànpiào)

Occupying a seat (占座 zhàn zuò)

Leaving my name here before it gets popular (火前留名 huǒ qián liúmíng)

An ad space for rent (广告位招租 guǎnggàowèi zhāozū)

Selling snacks and soft drinks in the front row (前排兜售瓜子汽水 qiánpái dōushòu guāzǐ qìshuǐ)

Translated from: theworldofchinese