滚动

• Pinyin: gǔn dòng
• Hanzi breakdown: 滚 = 氵 (water) + 衮 (phonetic component) — to roll or tumble; 动 = 云 + 力 (force in motion)

Meaning

To roll; to rotate while moving forward; to scroll on a screen. Also describes a continuously revolving or cyclically repeating motion or process.

Used for physical rolling (a ball, wheel, rock), financial rolling (滚动贷款 — revolving credit), and digital scrolling (页面滚动 — page scroll). 滚动播出 (rolling broadcast) and 滚动计划 (rolling plan) are common administrative and media terms.

Examples

1. 屏幕下方的新闻字幕不断滚动，及时传递着最新消息。 The news ticker at the bottom of the screen keeps scrolling, delivering the latest updates in real time.
2. 山洪暴发后，巨大的岩石随着水流滚动而下，十分危险。 After the flash flood, huge boulders rolled downstream with the current—it was extremely dangerous.
3. 该基金采用滚动投资策略，将每期收益再次投入市场。 The fund uses a rolling investment strategy, reinvesting each period’s returns back into the market.

Usage Guide

Context: physics, finance, technology, media

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 新闻频道在屏幕底部滚动显示重要资讯，方便观众随时获取动态。(The news channel rolls important information across the bottom of the screen, allowing viewers to stay updated at any time.)
• 这笔资金将按照滚动方式循环使用，以最大化资本使用效率。(These funds will be deployed on a rolling basis to maximise capital efficiency.)

Don't Say

• 他的想法在我脑海里滚动 — for thoughts circling in one's mind, use 他的话在我脑海中反复回荡 or 我脑子里一直转着他说的那句话

Origin & History

滚 (roll/tumble) + 动 (move). Together: to roll and move — the continuous rotational movement of an object or the cyclic progression of a system.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal