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

HSK 6

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.

HSK 7-9

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