Why is 'Are You Dead Yet?' trending in China?
Host: The big fear of the famous fictional singleton Bridget Jones was dying alone with no one discovering her body for weeks. And it seems she's far from being the only one to worry about this.
A new bleak sounding app called Are You Dead Yet? is proving highly popular with young people in China, millions of whom live on their own far from their families.
The concept is simple. Users check in every two days, clicking a large button to confirm that they're still alive. If they don't, it gets in touch with their emergency contact to warn them that something might be amiss. Our China correspondent Stephen McDonald told us more about the app.
Stephen: It was released last year without much fanfare. And for some reason, in recent weeks, it's really taken off to the extent that it's the number one app being downloaded in the country.
It's designed especially for people who are living by themselves, especially young people. Maybe they've had to move away from home for study, for work, or what have you.
It's playing into this idea that, well, people are afraid of, sounds a bit bleak, but dying alone, that they're in this rented place living by themselves. They might die and that nobody would realise it.
But like I say, it's absolutely exploded. And that's despite the fact that some are saying it is a pretty grim idea, isn't it? I mean, let's face it. Some people have suggested possibly a more uplifting title like I'm Still Here or I'm Alive or something like that, focusing on the positive rather than Are You Dead?
But the reason they've chosen this is because of how it sounds in Chinese, and it's a play on words. There is this very popular app here, a food delivery app called "Elema". "Elema" means in Chinese, "Are you hungry?" Well, "Silema" means "Are you dead?". And so "Silema" sounds like "Elema", and that's why they've done it as a sort of catchy thing.
And it's part of the reason that it's taken off. And so the people who've set this up, they have received these complaints or suggestions and said that we might consider it.
词汇表
trending [ˈtrendɪŋ] adj. 热门的，流行的，火爆的
fictional [ˈfɪkʃənl] adj. 虚构的，小说中的
singleton [ˈsɪŋɡltən] n. 单身人士，独身之人
Bridget Jones [ˈbrɪdʒɪt dʒəʊnz] 布里奇特・琼斯（英国小说及电影《BJ 单身日记》中的女主角）
bleak [bliːk] adj. 阴郁的，凄凉的，无望的
emergency contact [iˈmɜːdʒənsi ˈkɒntækt] 紧急联系人
amiss [əˈmɪs] adj. 不对劲的，出差错的，不正常的
fanfare [ˈfænfeə(r)] n. 大张旗鼓的宣传，热议
take off 突然成功，迅速流行，开始走红
play into 迎合，顺应，利用（观点或说法）
rented place [ˈrentɪd] 出租屋，租房
grim [ɡrɪm] adj. 令人沮丧的，阴森的，忧愁的
uplifting [ʌpˈlɪftɪŋ] adj. 令人振奋的，积极向上的，鼓舞人心的
play on words 双关语，谐音梗，文字游戏
catchy [ˈkætʃi] adj. （曲调、名字等）朗朗上口的，容易记住的
complaint [kəmˈpleɪnt] n. 投诉，抱怨
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