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Gap day? 一起来个city walk吧~造新词是灵感迸发还是满足虚荣？
Unitrans世联
文章转载自 21英语微商城 21世纪英文报
Have you taken a “gap day” before?
——你尝试过“gap day”吗？
“Gap day”、“city walk”……这些新词，你都听说过吗？ 对于这些年轻人“造出来的新词”，很多人表示质疑：这不就是“休假一天”、“逛街”的意思吗？换一种表达难不成意思还不同了？ 也有人认为，这些新新词汇能更好地传达人们的内心想法。对此，你怎么看？ The concept of “gap days” has appeared on a variety of social media platforms recently. Unlike a gap year, a gap day means an extremely brief period of relaxation and escape from everyday routine. After resting, people will continue to immerse (沉浸) themselves in the busy pace of normal life.
最近社交媒体上大火的新词 “gap days”你注意到了么？与 “gap year”不同，“ gap day”指一段用来放松休息、逃离日常活动的时间。休息过后，人们还将继续沉浸在忙碌的日常生活中。（所以有人把它翻译成“摆烂日”，你觉得这么翻译准确不？）
Apart from gap days, other similar expressions have made a hit on the internet, like “city walk”, “dazi (activity partner)” and so on. This growing trend of creating new phrases or euphemisms (委婉语) for something otherwise ordinary and common has caused heated discussion.
除了 “gap days”，“city walk”, “dazi (搭子)”等表达也引发了不少网友热议。
Some people think that these kinds of new phrases better cater to people’s mindsets, showcasing their positivity. “For example, the common expression ‘taking a walk’ is neutral (中性的). Now ‘city walk’ is the positive version of it, meaning ‘to explore the city with a curious mind’,” Zhou Yaokai, an 18-year-old from China West Normal University, said. “It’s the same with ‘gap day’. Instead of ‘lying flat’, people are actively trying to balance their stress and life, which is a good approach.”
有人认为这些新短语更好地迎合了人们的思维模式，展示了他们的积极性。西华师范大学18岁学生周耀凯说：“举个例子，普通的‘taking a walk’（散步）是一个中性短语，而‘city walk’则包含了一种积极的心态，指‘带着好奇心去探索这座城市’。‘Gap day’也一样，人们不是简单的‘躺平’，而是积极地寻求压力与生活的平衡。这是一种非常好的方式。”
Others disagree, however, and think that it’s simply just a kind of “sugaring up”, satisfying one’s need for vanity (虚荣) and showing off. For example, “city walk” is the same as “taking a walk” in essence. But by calling it a “city walk”, people feel like they are doing something fancier than it actually is, said Wu Ruilin, an 18-year-old from Chengdu Jincheng College. He is concerned that the promotion of such fancy phrases may cover the risks behind it, such as security.
然而，也有人持不同观点。他们认为这只是一些人用来满足自己虚荣心的粉饰。来自成都锦城学院的18岁学生吴瑞林表示，“city walk”和“taking a walk”本质上没有差别，但如果说“city walk”，人们就会觉得这件事比实际上更加“高级”。他很担心这种流行语的推广会让人们忽视其背后的风险，比如安全问题。
For example, as the term dazi becomes more prevalent (流行的) on social media, some young people are questing for dazi in different life aspects that are normally enjoyed alone or with close friends, like traveling and games.
例如，随着“dazi（搭子）”这个词在网上越来越流行，一些年轻人干啥都想找个“搭子”，而有些事（譬如旅行和游戏）通常更适合自己或和好友一起。
“They may have forgotten and neglected that most dazi are just strangers who share similar interests ... That may bring problems for us,” said Wu.
吴瑞林说：“他们可能忘记甚至忽视了，大多数‘搭子’只是兴趣相投的陌生人...这可能会带来问题。”
But no matter what we think of these phrases, they have already taken root in our daily lives. So what we need to do is keep a level head (保持理智) and not make them out to be bigger than they actually are.
不过，无论我们对这些短语看法如何，它们已经深入到了我们的日常生活之中。我们应当保持理智，不要过分夸大它们的意义。
