很多人日常会用到一种小纸条,叫做“便利贴”(英文叫Post-it Notes)。
Many people use a kind of small paper note in their daily lives, called “Post-it Notes” (in English called Post-it Notes).
但是,你知道便利贴是如何发明的吗?
But, do you know how Post-it Notes were invented?
其实,这个故事既意外又有趣。
Actually, this story is both unexpected and interesting.
1968年,在美国有一家名叫3M的公司。
In 1968, there was a company named 3M in the United States.
公司里有一位科学家,名叫斯宾塞·西尔弗。
There was a scientist in the company named Spencer Silver.
一天,他试图研发一种超强胶水,但实验失败了。
One day, he tried to develop a super strong glue, but the experiment failed.
他研制出来的胶水粘性很弱,很容易脱落。
The glue he developed had very weak stickiness, and was very easy to come off.
用这种胶水粘贴东西,轻轻一碰就会掉下来。
Using this glue to stick things, it would fall off with a gentle touch.
他当时觉得这东西没什么用,就暂时搁置了。
He thought at the time that this thing was of no use, so he temporarily set it aside.
几年后的1974年,同一家公司有另一位科学家,名叫亚瑟·弗莱。
A few years later in 1974, the same company had another scientist named Arthur Fry.
他经常参加教堂的唱诗班。
He often participated in the church choir.
做礼拜时习惯用小纸条当书签夹在歌本里
During worship, he was accustomed to using small paper notes as bookmarks clipped in the hymnbook.
但纸条总是滑落。
But the paper notes always slipped out.
一天,在翻歌本时,他忽然想起了斯宾塞·西尔弗之前研制的那种“弱粘性”胶水。
One day, while flipping through the hymnbook, he suddenly remembered the “weak adhesive” glue that Spencer had developed earlier.
他灵光一闪:“如果用这种胶水来做书签,不是很方便吗?”
He had a flash of inspiration: “If we use this glue to make bookmarks, wouldn't it be very convenient?”
亚瑟立即找到斯宾塞,用他的胶水试制了一些小纸条。
Arthur immediately found Spencer and used his glue to prototype some small paper notes.
结果,这种纸条出乎意料地好用!
The result was that these paper notes were unexpectedly good to use!
它们可以轻松地粘贴在各种地方。
They can be easily stuck to various places.
又能随时干净地移除,几乎不会留下任何痕迹。
And they can be cleanly removed at any time, almost without leaving any traces.
两人很快意识到,这种小纸条用途广泛,远不止于当书签。
The two quickly realized that these small paper notes had wide uses, far beyond just being bookmarks.
后来,他们将这种纸条命名为便利贴。
Later, they named this paper note “Post-it Notes”.
1980年,便利贴正式上市推广,迅速风靡全球。
In 1980, Post-it Notes were officially launched and promoted, quickly becoming popular globally.
如今,便利贴几乎遍布世界各地的办公室和家庭。
Nowadays, Post-it Notes are almost everywhere in offices and homes around the world.
所以,下次当你使用便利贴时,请记住:
So, next time when you use Post-it Notes, please remember:
它的诞生,源于一种“失败的”胶水和一位渴望解决书签烦恼的人。
Its birth originated from a kind of “failed” glue and a person eager to solve the bookmark troubles.
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 很多 | hěn duō | Many; a lot |
| 人 | rén | person; people |
| 日常 | rì cháng | daily; everyday |
| 会 | huì | can; to know how to; meeting |
| 用到 | yòng dào | to use; to come in handy |
| 一 | yī | one |
| 种 | zhǒng | kind; type |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; little |
| 纸条 | zhǐ tiáo | slip of paper |
| 叫做 | jiào zuò | to be called; to be known as |
| 便利贴 | biàn lì tiē | sticky note |
| 英文 | yīng wén | English (language) |
| 叫 | jiào | to call; to be called |
| 但是 | dàn shì | but; however |
| 你 | nǐ | you |
| 知道 | zhī dào | to know; to be aware |
| 是 | shì | to be; correct |
| 如何 | rú hé | how; in what way |
| 发明 | fā míng | to invent; invention |
| 的 | de | possessive particle |
| 吗 | ma | (question particle) |
| 其实 | qí shí | actually |
| 这个 | zhè ge | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this |
| 故事 | gù shì | narrative; story; tale |
| 既 | jì | both … and …; since |
| 意外 | yì wài | unexpected; accident; mishap |
| 又 | yòu | again; also |
| 有趣 | yǒu qù | interesting; amusing |
| 年 | nián | year |
| 在 | zài | to be (located); at; in |
| 美国 | měi guó | United States; USA; US |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is, there are |
| 家 | jiā | home; family |
| 名叫 | míng jiào | called; named |
| 公司 | gōng sī | company; firm; corporation |
| 里 | lǐ | inside; interior; within |
| 位 | wèi | position; (honorific) classifier for people |
| 科学家 | kē xué jiā | scientist |
| 斯宾塞·西尔弗 | sī bīn sài · xī ěr fú | Spencer Silver (inventor) |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky |
| 他 | tā | he; him |
| 试图 | shì tú | to attempt; to try |
| 研发 | yán fā | research and development; to develop |
| 超强 | chāo qiáng | extremely strong; super |
| 胶水 | jiāo shuǐ | glue |
| 但 | dàn | but; however |
| 实验 | shí yàn | experiment; test |
| 失败 | shī bài | to fail; failure; to be defeated |
| 了 | le | (particle indicating completed action or change of state) |
| 研制 | yán zhì | to research and develop; to manufacture through research |
| 出来 | chū lái | to come out |
| 粘性 | zhān xìng | viscosity; consistency; stickiness |
| 很 | hěn | very |
| 弱 | ruò | weak; feeble |
| 容易 | róng yì | easy; not difficult |
| 脱落 | tuō luò | to drop off; to come off; to lose (hair etc); to omit (a character when writing) |
| 用 | yòng | to use |
| 这种 | zhè zhǒng | this kind of |
| 粘贴 | zhān tiē | to stick; to affix; to adhere; to paste (as in "copy and paste"); also written 黏贴 |
| 东西 | dōng xī | east and west |
| 轻轻 | qīng qīng | lightly; softly |
| 碰 | pèng | to bump into; to touch |
| 就 | jiù | then; just; precisely |
| 掉 | diào | to fall; to drop |
| 下来 | xià lái | to come down |
| 当时 | dāng shí | at that time; then |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think; to feel |
| 这 | zhè | this |
| 没什么 | méi shén me | it's nothing; never mind |
| 暂时 | zàn shí | temporary; for the time being; provisional |
| 搁置 | gē zhì | to shelve; to set aside |
| 几 | jǐ | how many; several; a few |
| 后 | hòu | behind; after |
| 同 | tóng | same; together; with |
| 另 | lìng | other; another |
| 亚瑟·弗莱 | yà sè · fú lái | Arthur Fry (inventor) |
| 经常 | jīng cháng | often; frequently; regularly |
| 参加 | cān jiā | to participate; to join |
| 教堂 | jiào táng | church; chapel |
| 唱诗班 | chàng shī bān | choir |
| 做 | zuò | to do; to make |
| 礼拜 | lǐ bài | week; (colloquially) Sunday |
| 时 | shí | time; hour; period |
| 习惯 | xí guàn | habit; to be used to |
| 当 | dāng | to serve as; to act as |
| 书签 | shū qiān | bookmark; measure word: 张/張 (zhāng) |
| 夹 | jiá | variant of 夹/夾 (jiá) |
| 歌本 | gē běn | song book |
| 总是 | zǒng shì | always |
| 滑落 | huá luò | to slide; to roll |
| 翻 | fān | to turn over; to flip |
| 忽然 | hū rán | suddenly; all of a sudden |
| 想起 | xiǎng qǐ | to recall; to remember |
| 之前 | zhī qián | before; previously |
| 那种 | nà zhǒng | that kind of |
| 弱粘性 | ruò zhān xìng | weak viscosity; low stickiness |
| 灵光一闪 | líng guāng yī shǎn | sudden inspiration; bright idea |
| 如果 | rú guǒ | if; in case |
| 来 | lái | to come; to arrive |
| 不是 | bú shì | no; is not; not |
| 方便 | fāng biàn | convenient; to facilitate |
| 亚瑟 | yà sè | Arthur (name) |
| 立即 | lì jí | immediately |
| 找到 | zhǎo dào | to find |
| 斯宾塞 | sī bīn sài | Spencer or Spence (name) |
| 试制 | shì zhì | to try out a new product (or manufacturing process); prototype; trial product |
| 一些 | yī xiē | some |
| 结果 | jié guǒ | result; outcome; consequence |
| 出乎意料 | chū hū yì liào | (idiom) unexpected |
| 地 | de | -ly (adverb particle) |
| 好用 | hǎo yòng | easy to use; useful |
| 它们 | tā men | they (for inanimate objects) |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; allowed |
| 轻松 | qīng sōng | relaxed; easy; effortless |
| 各种 | gè zhǒng | various; all kinds of |
| 地方 | dì fāng | place |
| 能 | néng | can; to be able to |
| 随时 | suí shí | at any time; whenever |
| 干净 | gān jìng | clean |
| 移除 | yí chú | to remove |
| 几乎 | jī hū | almost; nearly; practically |
| 不 | bù | no; not |
| 留下 | liú xià | to leave behind; to keep |
| 任何 | rèn hé | any; whichever |
| 痕迹 | hén jì | trace; mark |
| 两 | liǎng | two; both |
| 很快 | hěn kuài | Very fast; quickly |
| 意识到 | yì shí dào | to be aware of; to realize |
| 用途 | yòng tú | use; application |
| 广泛 | guǎng fàn | extensive; having a wide range |
| 远 | yuǎn | far |
| 不止 | bù zhǐ | not only; more than |
| 于 | yú | surname Yu; used as a preposition meaning in, at, on, from, by, or than |
| 后来 | hòu lái | afterwards; later |
| 他们 | tā men | they |
| 将 | jiāng | will; shall (auxiliary verb) |
| 命名 | mìng míng | to name; to designate |
| 为 | wéi | as (in the capacity of); to take sth as; to act as; to serve as; to behave as; t |
| 正式 | zhèng shì | formal; official |
| 上市 | shàng shì | to go public; to be listed (on the stock market) |
| 推广 | tuī guǎng | to popularize; to promote |
| 迅速 | xùn sù | rapid; speedy; fast |
| 风靡 | fēng mǐ | fashionable; popular |
| 全球 | quán qiú | global; worldwide |
| 如今 | rú jīn | nowadays; now |
| 遍布 | biàn bù | to cover an area; to be found throughout |
| 世界 | shì jiè | world |
| 各地 | gè dì | in all parts; various regions |
| 办公室 | bàn gōng shì | office |
| 和 | hé | and; with |
| 家庭 | jiā tíng | family; household |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore; so |
| 下次 | xià cì | next time |
| 使用 | shǐ yòng | to use; to employ |
| 请 | qǐng | please; to invite |
| 记住 | jì zhù | to remember; to keep in mind; to learn by heart |
| 它 | tā | it |
| 诞生 | dàn shēng | to be born; to originate |
| 源于 | yuán yú | has its origins in |
| 渴望 | kě wàng | to long for; to yearn for |
| 解决 | jiě jué | to solve; to resolve |
| 烦恼 | fán nǎo | to be worried; worries |