China's 'Useless Edison' combine

His fans call him "The Useless Edison." But inventor Geng Shuai doesn't mind. In fact, he kind of likes it.

他的粉丝叫他“无用的爱迪生”。发明家耿帅却毫不介意。说实话，他还有点儿喜欢这个称号。

"People say my inventions are useless, but I think there are two dimensions to usefulness: practicality and amusement," said the 30-year-old former welder, who left his job last year to focus full time on making his questionable contraptions, such as a motorbike with its own toilet. "I like doing this. So it's useful."

“大家都说我的发明没有用，但我觉得有用性是分两个方面的，也就是实用性和趣味性。”30 岁的他这样说道。他之前是一名焊工，去年他辞了职，把全部时间用来发明他那些不靠谱的新奇小玩意儿，比如一辆配有马桶的摩托车。“我就喜欢捣鼓这个。所以它就有用。”

Every country has its toolshed inventors. But China—which gave the world movable type printing, gunpowder and the compass—has spawned a population of tinkerers who display the kind of outsize ambition that has helped the country become a global economic giant.

每个国家都有它专属的草根发明家。但是中国——这个曾经为世界贡献了活字印刷术、火药和指南针的国家——激励了一批喜欢捣鼓小发明的人，这些人展现出的勃勃雄心也已帮助中国成为了一个全球经济大国。

Geng may now be the best-known among them—a new kind of social media star whose calling card is his quirkiness.

现在，耿帅也许是中国捣鼓小发明的人中最出名的那个——他是一个新型社交媒体红人，搞怪就是他的名片。

He makes a living through inadvertently hilarious videos—filmed with the Chinese beauty filters that make everyone look like an airbrushed star—in which he shows how he makes his inventions and then hams it up for the camera as he demonstrates how to use them.

他的谋生之道就是令人不经意间发笑的视频，这些视频用中国的美颜滤镜拍摄，这类滤镜让每个人都看起来像用美颜过的明星。在视频当中，他会向大家展示自己是如何做出这些发明的，然后在摄影机前举止夸张地展示，应该如何使用他的发明。

He now has almost 2 million followers on the video site Kwai, and they give him mobile phone "tips" for his performances—the internet equivalent of a busker getting cash dropped in a hat. His biggest tippers get their names on plaques on the wall in his workshop, which is often the set for his videos. The bigger the tip, the bigger the plaque.

如今，他在视频网站“快手”上大概拥有 200 万粉丝，他的粉丝会在手机上“打赏”他的表演——这相当于一个网络版本的“把钱放到街头艺人的帽子里”。打赏他最多的人的名字会出现在他工作间墙上的牌匾上，这是他视频里的常用布景。打赏得越多，牌匾越大。

Now, his fans are encouraging him to push the boundaries. Some threaten to stop following him if he dares make anything that is actually practical.

现在，他的粉丝在鼓励他突破界限。有些粉丝甚至威胁说，如果他敢发明任何有用的东西，就取关。

—————  文章来源 / 华盛顿邮报

hilarious/hɪˈleriəs/
adj. 引人捧腹大笑的；滑稽的；极有趣的
e.g.
a hilarious joke
dimension/daɪˈmenʃn/
n. 方面；部分；维度
welder/ˈweldər/
n. 焊工
contraption/kənˈtræpʃn/
n. 奇妙装置；新奇玩意儿
toolshed/'tulˌʃed/
n. 工具房，工具室
spawn/spɔːn/
v. 产生；促成；催生
e.g.
The new economic freedom has spawned hundreds of new small businesses.
tinkerer/'tɪŋkərər/
n. 喜欢捣鼓小器具、小发明的人
outsize/ˈaʊtsaɪz/
adj. 超大号的；加大码的；极大的
e.g.
outsize clothes
quirkiness/k'wɜkɪnəs/
n. 离奇；古怪；搞怪
inadvertently/ˌɪnədˈvɜːrtəntli/
adv. 无意地；不经意地
e.g.
I deleted the file inadvertently.
airbrush/ˈerbrʌʃ/
v. （用喷枪、气笔）修饰，美化
ham it up
有意夸张表情（或动作）；表演过火
e.g.
Dad puts on his Santa suit and hams it up for the kids.
busker/ˈbʌskər/
n. 街头艺人
plaque/plæk/
n. （纪念性的）牌匾；饰板
push the boundaries
突破界限