遥控

• Pinyin: yáo kòng
• Hanzi breakdown: 遥 = 辶 (movement/distance) + 䍃 (far away — distant); 控 = 扌(hand) + 空 (empty/space — exerting control across a void or distance)

Meaning

Remote control; to control something from a distance, either by a handheld device or electronically over a network.

Literal: 遥控器 (remote control device), 遥控飞机 (remote-controlled aircraft), 遥控炸弹 (remote-controlled bomb). Figurative: 遥控指挥 (to direct/command remotely, often implying covert or arms-length control), 幕后遥控 (to pull strings from behind the scenes). Common in both tech and political/business discourse.

Examples

1. 他拿起遥控器换了几个频道，找到一档正在直播的足球赛事后，便躺在沙发上准备舒舒服服地看上一个下午。 He picked up the remote and flipped through a few channels. After finding a soccer match being broadcast live, he stretched out on the couch, ready to watch comfortably all afternoon.
2. 调查显示，这场金融骗局背后有一名隐藏极深的幕后操控者，他在境外遥控指挥整个犯罪网络的运作已长达数年。 Investigators found that behind this financial scam was a deeply hidden mastermind who had been remotely directing the entire criminal network from overseas for years.
3. 新型无人机采用了先进的卫星遥控技术，操控人员可在数千公里之外对其进行精准操控，执行复杂的侦察与目标识别任务。 A new type of drone uses advanced satellite remote-control technology, allowing operators thousands of miles away to control it with precision and carry out complex reconnaissance and target-identification missions.

Usage Guide

Context: technology, politics, military, everyday

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 现代工厂利用工业物联网技术实现了对生产线上关键设备的实时遥控和监控，大幅提升了生产效率，同时降低了因人工操作失误带来的安全风险。(Modern factories use industrial IoT technology to achieve real-time remote control and monitoring of key equipment on production lines, significantly improving production efficiency while reducing the safety risks arising from human operational errors.)
• 情报机构掌握的证据显示，这个在多国境内活跃的极端组织是由境外某势力在幕后遥控运作的，其资金来源和指挥体系均指向同一境外网络。(Evidence obtained by intelligence agencies indicates that this extremist organisation active in multiple countries is being covertly directed from behind the scenes by a foreign power; both its funding sources and command structure point to the same overseas network.)

Don't Say

• 遥控我的感情 — 遥控 applies to devices, organisations, or operations, not personal emotions; for someone manipulating your feelings say 操控我的情感 or 影响我的感受; 遥控感情 is not a natural collocaiton

Origin & History

遥 = 辶 (movement) + 䍃 (far — originally depicting something far away, at a distance) + 控 = 扌(hand) + 空 (empty/void — originally to press down on emptiness; to control through the air/space)

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal