1 open-collar worker：自由职业者

2 trophy child：模范儿童

3 social terrorism：（社交场合）不速之客/社交炸弹

4 upcycle product：升级改造产品

5 dual-core family ：双核家庭

6 exchanging grass：换草行动/acquaintance blind date：熟人组织的相亲

7 career veneer ：职业虚景

自由职业者成了“开领工人”？

大概每个在职场打拼的人都希望至少捧得一个“铁饭碗”，旱涝保收，安稳长久。不过，在职场竞争如此激烈的今天，什么材质的饭碗都有被砸的可能。所以，不少人开始琢磨给自己打工，做个辛苦却快乐的open-collar worker。

An open-collar worker refers to a person who does jobs at home that once required an office setting.

Open-collar worker（字面意思为“开领工人”）指把家当办公室，在家里上班的人，即“自由职业者”。

家庭创业正在吸引越来越多的人加入。这些“开领工人”的背景各不相同：有资深企业家、家政工人、被裁员工、刚毕业的学生、居家父母、不宜外出的残疾人以及退休人员，等等。不过，他们的目标是一样的：做自己的老板，工作时间灵活，还能花精力做自己喜欢的事情。

模范儿童

“望子成龙，望女成凤”似乎是很多家长的想法，自己年轻时没有实现的理想要让自己的下一代来实现。于是，模范、标兵、优秀…各种各样能在父母脸上贴金的荣誉诞生了。小朋友们则被包装成了trophy child。

Trophy child refers to a child used to impress other people and enhance the status of the parents. The child has to fit into the perfect picture of what the family is supposed to look like. They have to be in the best schools; they always have to look good. Their parents are so narcissistic, they can't see their child as an individual, only a reflection of themselves.

“模范儿童”指父母用来在别人面前夸耀，提升父母在人前地位的好孩子。这些孩子必须在家庭期望中表现得完美无缺。他们要上最好的学校，必须每时每刻都保持良好的形象。这些孩子的父母多半都很自恋，他们并没有把孩子当成单独的个体，而只是看作了他们自身的翻版。

“模范儿童”（trophy child或trophy kid）的这层意思是由心理学家李•豪斯纳在她1990年出版的《天堂的孩子》一书中首创的。在书中，她介绍了一系列trophy用做形容词并且表达“在别人面前夸耀并提升自己地位”之意的短语，trophy child只是其中之一。

“不速之客”

我们有句古语，说“有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？”可是，有朋友到访并不见得任何时候都是让人高兴的。在你有急事要处理或者着急出门的时候，朋友意外到访就有可能是“不亦悲乎”了。

Social terrorism means when someone you know comes to visit unexpectedly and inconveniently, often staying for a long time, and you can't tell them to leave without being rude.

Social terrorism（译为“不速之客”或“社交炸弹”）指有熟人在你不太方便的时候突然到访，而且停留很长时间，你又不能很粗鲁地要求人家离开。

例句:

Yesterday, I was just about to go out, and then the doorbell rang. It was Sally, and she invited herself in and stayed for an hour! It was social terrorism!

昨天，我正要出门的时候，门铃响了。原来是莎莉，她也不客气就进了屋还待了一个小时！简直就是个不速之客！

比recycle更环保的upcycle

“低碳”和“环保”这两个词近几年不断出现在各种新闻报道和公益广告中，人们也开始在日常生活中践行低碳理念，为环境保护贡献自己的力量。我们今天要说的upcycle就是不少人的实践行动之一。

To upcycle something is to take a used object and adapt it in an innovative way to a new function. Unlike recycling, which usually involves breaking down the material an object is made from, before it is made into something else (thereby using more energy), upcycling involves using something in a new way without doing anything to reprocess the material it's made from. As well as being more energy efficient, another major benefit of upcycling is that it makes it possible to reuse items made of materials which couldn't be dealt with by conventional recycling methods. When something is upcycled, nothing, or very little, is discarded, with every component part or material having a potential use.

将某样东西upcycle（即“升级改造”）其实就是用创新的方式将其改造以让其发挥新的功效。循环利用（recycling）通常是将一样东西的全部材料完全拆解，然后将其制作成别的东西（由此消耗了更多能源），与其不同的是，升级改造（upcycling）不会对原材料进行任何再处理，而是换个方式利用它们。除了节能以外，升级改造的另一个优点就是能够让那些传统循环方式无法回收处理的物品再次被利用。某样东西在被升级改造的过程中，很少或几乎没有材料会被废弃，每个部件都有它潜在的用途。

升级改造后的产品通常比改造前的物品或材料有更高的价值，比如：金属拉环做成的胸针或耳环等饰品，低面值的硬币做成的衬衫袖链扣等等。

双核家庭

近几年，随着技术产品的更新换代，大家都用上了有“双核”处理器的电脑。可是，你知道吗？我们身边同时也出现了越来越多的“双核家庭”呢。

Dual-core family refers to a family where both husband and wife are the only child or the single “core” of their own families before they got married. The new family, of course, has two “cores” as neither of the couple knows how to behave not as a “core” in a family.

“双核家庭”指夫妻双方均为独生子女的家庭，双方在婚前都是各自家庭中的“核心”，因此称为“双核家庭”。在两人建立的新家庭中，双方都不知道该如何以“非核心”的方式行为处事，于是，家里就出现了两个“核心”。

例句:

The number of dual-core families has been growing in recent years since more and more post-80s are getting married.

随着越来越多的80后走入婚姻殿堂，双核家庭的数量在近几年不断攀升。

什么是“换草运动”

在假期里，很多回家探亲的单身男女都“被相亲”了。很多人表示无奈。在我们身边，也有一些人选择主动出击，组织熟人相亲会，也就是俗称的“换草运动”。

The term “acquaintance blind date” literally means “exchanging grass”, with grass referring to young men. Such events are usually initiated by “leftover women” — single women who have passed the best age for getting married. These women may bring single male friends, colleagues or relatives to a get-together and expect to find their Mr. Right among their peers’ male friends.

“换草运动”其实就是熟人召集的相亲会，这里的“草”指年轻男子。这种活动多数都是由大龄单身女们组织的，她们会把各自身边的男性朋友、同事或亲戚组织到一起参加聚会，希望能从对方带来的朋友中找到自己的另一半。

“换草运动”是由网络上的一个帖子引发的，发贴人提议，既然大家都不方便发展办公室恋情，那就跟别的单身女交换认识身边的男性朋友或同事。

职业虚景

职业发展前景，听起来是个挺虚的说法，其实还是包含很多有实际意义的因素的。所以，很多招聘单位才会在面试时极力描绘光明的职业前景，好吸引优秀的人才到岗。今天要说的词，就跟职业前景有关。

Career veneer refers to the thin layer of potential for career advancement, increase in pay and future opportunities that an employer paints on your job to convince you that the future holds something more than you are currently experiencing.

“职业虚景”指的是老板为你的工作描绘出的那一层薄薄的发展前景，可能会包括职业升迁、薪水增长以及更多发展机会等，这样描绘的目的是为了让你相信未来会比现在更好。

例句:

I had my first year appraisal at the McDonalds today. They painted a bit of a career veneer over the last year.

我今天刚拿到在麦当劳的第一个年度考评。他们去年就在向我描绘一些职业虚景。

编辑：马文英

来源：中国日报网英语点津