KAT在北京学汉语，她的中国朋友要是遇到了不知道用美语怎么说的词，就会来请教她。今天是吴琼要问的：团购。

WQ: KAT, 我这里有一些螃蟹和大虾，你想要么？

KAT: Of course! I love sea food!

WQ: 去我家拿吧！ 全给你，不要钱！

KAT: Wow...Wuqiong, that’s really nice of you! Are you sure you don’t want them?

WQ: 你不知道，这些都是我团购买来的，太多了，吃不了！ 我还有餐券，电影票，健身卡，都是团购来的，好多都快到期了，我又没时间去。对了，“团购”在美语里怎么说呢？

“团购”是一种“营销噱头”

KAT: It’s called "group buying." It is a very popular marketing gimmick now. A lot of my friends back in the US are just as obsessed with group buying as you are!

WQ: 呵呵，我的确是个“团购控”！ 不过你刚才说 Group buying is a marketing gimmick, 什么是gimmick？

KAT: Gimmick, g-i-m-m-i-c-k, gimmick, 是花招，噱头。I call group buying a gimmick because it’s used by retailers to attract more people to buy products of mediocre quality and popularity.

WQ: 你说得有道理。团购是个促销的花招，一般推出团购的都是小店、新店，团购的东西也不是什么名牌抢手货。I don’t think I can ever get a discount on LV purses through group buying.

KAT: That’s right. In that sense, group buying is just another form of price war.

WQ: Price war? 价格战？

KAT: 对。People use group buying because they want the discount. They want to buy things at a lower price.

WQ: 对，其实这和返券、打折差不多，都是商家在打价格战。不过，我也不傻，等他们把价格升上去了，我就不买了，就去找新的团购货！

KAT: Haha, that’s exactly how you became a group buying maniac! 好了，说说你今天都学了什么吧！

WQ: 第一：团购是group buying;

第二：花招，噱头是gimmick;

第三：价格战是price war。