从“知青”(educate dyouth)、“铁饭碗”(iron ricebowl)到“包二奶”(keeping amistre)，再到今天我们常说的“囧”，60年来的风风雨雨尽数包含在这些流行词汇中。在建国60周年到来之际，让我们一起来盘点60年来国内流行的口头语，一起回顾伟大祖国过去60年来的点点滴滴…
过去的60年里，中国那些年轻人可以说是路漫漫其修远兮。
OVER the last 60 years, Chinese youngpe ople have come a long way。
20世纪50年代，他们被称为“祖国的花朵”。因为他们是新中国培养起来的第一批年轻人。到了70年代，这些年轻人有了一个新的名字--“知青”，他们走进农村向农民学习。80年代，那些文艺青年开始引导中国走向更富创造性的经济。
In the 1950s, they were calledthe "flowers of the motherl and" because they were the first young generati on to make their way through the new China. In the1970s, young peoplebecameknown as the "educate d youth", havingl earned from peasant s in the country side.Duringthe 1980s, "literary and artisti c" youth began usherin g China toward a more creativ e economy。
在下面的文章中，我们将重点介绍过去60年来的几个重要表达。这些词汇记录了中国从强调政治挂帅到保护文化、发展经济的巨大转变。它们让我们回想起中国经历了怎样翻天覆地的变化。它们让我们可以更好地将中国的故事讲给那些对中国感兴趣的外国友人们听。
In the followi ng paragra phs, we will highlig ht veral key expressi on_r_rs from the last six decades. The words and phras documen t China`s shift from emphasi zing politic s to prerv i ng culture and growing the economy.They remindus about how far we have come as a country. And they can help us better tell China`s story to foreigners interested in knowing more about our country。
20世纪50年代1950s
巴金的原名
好好学习，天天向上study hard and move forward every day
1951年，苏州市一名8岁小学生陈永康帮助警察捉住了一名特务。事后，毛泽东主席为他题词“好好学习，天天向上”作为奖励。毛主席希望每个孩子都能好好学习，将来为祖国贡献自己的力量。写着这
句标语的横幅几乎挂满中国的每间教室。
Mao Zedongwrote to honor an 8-year-old boy, Chen Y ongkan g, who helpedpolicecatch a spy in Suzhou, in 1951. Mao asked all kids to study hard to do a betterj ob for the country. Banners with this slogancould be en in almost every classro om。
年轻人经常戏谑地说Good good study, day dayup。它和"Long time noe"(好久不见)一样逐渐成为部
分老外能明白的中式英语。但这样的直译只是博君一笑的特例。
九年级全一册英语
粮票food coupon
计划经济体制下，粮票是人们购买某些粮食的必备凭证。较低的农业产出导致了食物供给的短缺和定额分配制度，而粮票恰恰解决了这一分配问题。这种定额分配制度一直持续到90年代早期。如今，它们已经成了收藏者们的挚爱。
This allowed peopleto getcert ain food supplie s under the planned economy. Low agricul tural producti on meant in suffici ent food supplie s and a quota systemandthecoupons were a means of distrib ution. The quota systeml astedto the early `90s. The tickets are now the stuff of collect ors。那时是国家统一定价(uniform pricing system)，后来经济发展了，市场上出现了国家供应粮之外的市场定价粮，通常高于国家牌价，叫做"议价粮"。可以解释为fo od that`soutsid e the quota system, which has a higherpri ce。
20世纪60年代1960s
毛主席语录quotati ons from Chairma n Mao
几乎所有人都听说过《红宝书》。1964年至1976年，人们从毛泽东的演讲和著作中摘选部分内容制成
语录并出版发行。人们被要求背诵其中的语句，并以此来指导他们的思想。西方人根据该书红色的书皮和口袋书的大小将其命名为"LittleRed Book"。
Practic ally everyon e has heard of the LittleRed Book. This collect i on of quotati ons from Mao Zedong's
speeche s and writing s was publish ed from 1964 until about `76.Peoplehad to remembe r lines and u them to guide their thought s.The title LittleRed Book was coinedby Western ers because of the red cover and pocket-booksiz e。
当年为了翻译《毛主席语录》，国家动用了强大的专家力量，因此据说英文版"红宝书"是学习翻译的好教材。
红卫兵Red Guard管理部门
在文化大革命时期，几乎所有的中学生和大学生都是革命的“红卫兵”。在小学，小红卫兵替代了
少先队员。“四人帮”利用红卫兵来挑战权威。他们是导致社会动乱的主要原因。1978年，“四人帮”终于被彻底粉碎，红卫兵也不复存在。
Basical ly middle-school and college student s duringthe "Cultural Revoluti on" that Chairma n Mao allowed to act as revoluti onari es. In primary schools, LittleRed Guardsreplace d the Y oung Pioneers. The "Gang of Four"ud Red Guardsto challen ge authori ty. They were a key cau ofsocia l disorde r, but their reign ended in 1978.红卫兵的主要手段是贴“大字报”(wall posters using large Chinese charact ers as ameansof protest or propaga nda)，以及全国“大串联”(red guardstook publictranspo rtatio n for free acrossthe country to exchange revoluti onary ideas)。春秋战国故事
20世纪70年代1970s
知青educate d youth
60年代中期到70年代末，约1700万城市中学毕业生响应毛主席的号召来到农村。他们被告诫要尊敬农民，向农民学习。到了1979年，大多数知青返回城市。但是他们很难适应新的社会。
雪绒花英文版From the mid-`60s to the late-`70s, about 17 million urban middleschool grads answere d Mao`s call and flocked to the country side. They were encoura ged to pay respect to and learn from the peasant s. By 1979, most educate d youth were heading back to the citiesbut they hada hard time adaptin g to the changed world. 当代的“新知青”-村官，翻译为stud entvil lage officia l s。
走后门pull string
“走后门”可直译为"enterin g through the backdoo r"。该词源自计划经济下人们利用自己的关系从国营商店的后门获取商品这一行为。这种现象在70年代末知青绞尽脑汁返回城市时达到了高潮。
Literal ly, "enterin g through the back door". It origina ted under the planned economy when peopleu d connections to get goods from the back door of a state-owned shop. This string-pulling reached a sort of climaxi n the late `70swhen the "educate d youth" tried everyth i ng possibl e to get back to the cities。
pull strings来源于木偶戏，引申为幕后操纵，或利用关系进行幕后操纵。相关表达"拉关系"可翻译成mak esocia l connecti ons to gain favors。
老外laowai
“老外”直译就是"old foreign er"。“老外”这一新词出现在70年代末，改革开放后，大批外国人涌入中国。起初，该词含有一种戏弄的口气。如今，该词多用为一种友好的昵称。
Literal ly "old foreign er",the term was coinedi n the late 1970s as many foreigners came to China after the country`s reformand opening up. At first it carried a teasing tone. But now it`s more of a friendl y nicknam e。
像大山这种在中国居住、工作或学习时间较久，精通中国文化的外国人常被称作an old China hand中国通。
20世纪80年代1980s
铁饭碗iron rice bowl
“铁饭碗”指由政府提供的有保证的终生制工作。因此，这些人永远不愁失去工作。然而，到了80年代，在新的市场经济体制下，就业竞争机制出现。存在了30多年之后，备受人们喜爱的“铁饭碗”退出了历史舞台。
A cure, lifetim e job assigne d by the governm ent. Where was no fear of losingthe job. Bythe `80s, with the
new market economy, there was a competi tive model of employm ent. And the cherish ed iron rice bowl was gone after more than 30 years。英语中，表示一份工作稳定通常用sa fe, stable或者relia bl e来形容。
三好学生all-round good student
“三好学生”直译为"thrice-good"，指在德、智、体三方面都很优秀的学生。该词最早在50年代由毛主席提出，旨在鼓励年轻人强身健体、努力学习、勤奋工作。
Literal ly, "thrice-good",given to student s who were virtuou s, talente d, and good at PE;first ud in the `50s by Mao to encoura ge young peopleto keepfit, study well, and work hard. “三好”指的是德、智、体三方面，而英语中的straigh t Astuden t指的是每门功课都得A的学生。所以两者并不完全对等。“三好学生”也不能翻成three-goodsst udent，因为goody-goody是指那种在老师面前挣表现的“好”学生。
倒爷profite ering小甜沫
在1979年的市场经济体制下，价格双轨制开始实行。那时，某些特定商品的价格是固定的，这些商品不对外出售而是采取分配的方式。若生产量超出配额，工厂可以高价卖出这些剩余商品。如此一来，那些政府、工厂领导的"关系户"就能以低价买进这些商品，然后再高价卖出。到了1987年，这种倒买倒卖的行为才被禁止。
For the market e conomy, a dual-pricing system was tried in 1979. The price of certain goods was fixed and they were distrib uted instead of sold.If a factory exceede d its quota, it could ll the surplus at ahigher price. Peopleclo to governm ent or factory officia l s gott he low-pricedgoods an
d sold them at a higherp rice. This profite ering was out lawed in 1987.官倒，是指官员利用职权进行倒买倒卖谋利，可译为offi c ial profite eri ng。
待业青年youth waiting for job
80年代，政府停止为中学毕业生提供国企及政府机关的工作机会，致使社会上出现大批待业青年。其中，一部分人能从退休父母那里继承工作；另一部分人则只能选择小型企业。
The unemplo yed young peopleof the `80s, after the governm ent stopped assigni ng jobs to middl eschoolgrads, at State-owned enterpri s or governm ent offices.Some unemplo yed youth could "inherit" a post from a retired parent.Otherst ried small business. 待业只是失业的好听说法，英语叫betw eenjob s。现在有些年轻人毕业后tak e a gap year，四处旅游或学习更多技能后再来找工作。
20世纪90年代1990s
炒股specula te in stock
90年代，上海、深圳交易所创立后，股票市场投资大行其道。根据其不稳定的特征，中国人用烹饪中的“炒”(翻炒)来形容炒股交易，该词还包含了保持股票不断买卖交易、维持股票热度的含义。
Investi ng in the stock market was the order of the day in the late `90s after the Shanghai and Shenzhe n exchang es opened. Chinese ud a word from cooking, "chao"(stir-fry)，to describ e the unstabl e natureof the trading, which involved keeping the sharesmoving(buyingand lling) to keep ithot. “炒”后来被广泛用于口语，炒房、炒楼都可以用s pecula te。
包二奶keeping a mistre
“包二奶”一词源自广东话，指一个已婚男人的长期婚外恋行为。通常，他要为对方提供金钱、车
子甚至别墅。到了90年代，人们的收入足以负担这些花费后，“包二奶”现象更加普遍。
Originally, Cantone for a married man with a long-term extrama rital affair, where he kept a woman by givingher money, a car, or a flat. This becamemore commoni n the late `90s when peoplegot rich enoughto afford such costs. 包二奶的男人叫sugar daddy，"傍大款"就是find a sugar daddy。"包养"：pay for amistre ss 。"被包养"：financi ally dependent on a man who`s havinganaffai r with her。
2000年2000s
小康well-off
所谓小康，是指一种相对舒适的生活标准。该词源自孔子，80年代末邓小平在改革开放时期重申该词。小康社会不仅要解决温饱问题，还要将人们的生活标准提升到一个较高的水平，在文化和教育方面都血氧浓度正常值
有所提升。
This refersto a standard of livingthat`s conside red relativ ely comfort able. It`s originally from Confuci us and was ud by Deng for the reforms by the end of the `80s. A well-off society would not only solve the clothin g and food problem s, but would also push the standard of livingto a higherl evel, cultura l ly and intelle ctuall y。
well-off是指具备充足的物质条件，可以过上惬意舒适的生活。按照该定义，如果说一个人w elloff，他就应该有自己的房子和汽车，衣食住行游，样样不用愁。但从我国总体情况来看，我们所说的"小康"依然够不上这样的标准。
囧sunk秋风生渭水
“囧”是个不常见的词。在传统意义上，其意思是“光明”。2008年，网友将其作为最佳在线聊天的表情符号，该词再度被广泛运用。由于该字看起来很像一个失望的表情，它还被赋予一个新含义：尴尬和
困窘。此外，在口语中它还能用作形容词。有时，它还和"orz"一起用作"囧rz"，表示一个人跪在地上，象征绝望、失败的样子。
This uncommo n charact er means "brightn ess" in its classic al n. Around2008,netizen s brought it back to life as a perfect emotico n for onlinechattin g. It has a look of disappoi ntmen t, so it`s gained a new meani ng: embarra ssment or awkward ness. It is also ud in spokenl anguag e as an adjecti ve. Sometim e s it`s ud in conjunction with"orz", as "囧rz", to represe nt a personon hands and knees, a symbolo f despair or failure. 英文当中有一些常用的词组或用法，可以表达"囧"，比如turn red in theface，从字面意思就可看出是因为尴尬，害羞而脸红；或I just died，意思是I was so embarra sd Ireally wantedto"die"。
