kent - 10:47 pm on Jun 21, 2004 (gmt 0)

every chinese phrase can be translated into different versions of english, according to different contexts it's in. "YiSou" is just a two-characters phrase, which is almost impossible to guess a correct meaning only by looking at these two characters without anything else.

there is an 5-character idiom at the right corner of Yisou homepage "一搜天下小" and it's saying:

"one search (covers/includes) everything under the sun (after which you found the world is so small)"

for chinese, the sound of this idiom is very similar to something straight out of a martial arts fiction -- and most chinese online users are big fans of chinese martial arts fiction games (which are almost unkown by the west). Yahoo made this idiom up to target at this unique chinese online users' subculture and adopted the first 2 characters -- it also has the similar sound to "easy to search". "Yi"(one) doesnt just mean a number in chinese, it also has the various meanings of "very, begin, all" which conveys the message that yahoo was the very first search engine in the chinese market after all (and now the king is back!).

it wont be surprising if you look at yahoo china's online auction website - it's named "YiPai" (one bid), which also comes from the first 2 characters of the idiom yahoo uses to conduct promotion "一拍即合" (chime in easily). yahoo translates the idiom into "one bid (auction) immediately succeeds".

they all come in paires and i think they are good names.