顺风车

順風車

shùnfēngchē

noun

Measure Word

一趟顺风车 tàng

Meanings

1 ride-sharing (non-commercial carpooling along the driver's existing route)
2 ride on someone's coattails (figurative)

Characters

along / with (the flow)

Examples

春节我搭顺风车从上海回老家。

Chūnjié wǒ dā shùnfēngchē cóng Shànghǎi huí lǎojiā.

For Spring Festival I took a ride-share from Shanghai to my hometown.

公司业绩搭上了AI的顺风车。

Gōngsī yèjì dā shàng le AI de shùnfēngchē.

The company's performance rode on the coattails of the AI boom.

Tips

usage

Originally literal ('tailwind vehicle' — a favorable lift). The ride-share sense was popularized by 滴滴顺风车 and 嘀嗒出行. Distinct from 网约车 (commercial ride-hail) and 拼车 (splitting a cab). The figurative sense uses 搭 — 搭上...的顺风车 = 'ride on the wave of ...'.

Stroke Order

顺 shùn

风 fēng

车 chē