Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

Chat attack

plagiarize

抄袭

(chāoxí)

A: That writer has a poor reputation because he plagiarized someone during his early years. He also clearly lost a case in court and still didn't apologize.

那个作家早年因为抄袭名声很不好,而且明明都败诉了还坚决不道歉。

(nàɡè zuòjiā zǎonián yīnwéi chāoxí mínɡshēnɡ hěn bùhǎo, érqiě mínɡmínɡ dōu bàisù le hái jiānjué bú dàoqiàn.)

B: He currently has a lot of fans. But his commercial success still can't wash away his past mistakes. 

他现在有很多粉丝。可商业上的成功并不能洗白他犯过的错。

(tā xiànzài yǒu hěnduō fěnsī. kě shānɡyè shànɡ de chénɡɡōnɡ bìnɡ bùnénɡ xǐbái tā fànɡuò de cuò.)

A: That's the scary part. He's made so much money that he has become a role model to others. Now there are going to be people who believe that plagiarism is a shortcut to success. This is really unfair to those people who work hard to create original works.

这就是可怕之处。他赚了很多钱反而成了励志典型,就会有更多人认为抄袭是走向成功的捷径。这对那些认真创作的人来说太不公平了。

(zhè jiùshì kěpà zhīchǔ. tā zuànle hěnduō qián fǎnér chénɡle lìzhì diǎnxínɡ, jiù huì yǒu ɡènɡduō rén rènwéi chāoxí shì zǒuxiànɡ chénɡɡōnɡ de jiéjìnɡ. zhè duì nàxiē rènzhēn chuànɡzuò de rén láishuō tài bù ɡōnɡpínɡ le.)