時尚雙語:80後流行十年經典玩意兒
【英文原文】
本文摘自《新東方英語·中學生》(2009年3月號)
摘要：每個年代都吹着那個年代的風，每一代人都愛着那個年代的狂熱。即使我們已經長大，時間將歲月改變，即使當時的熱潮已然褪去，但每每憶及那些曾經的最愛，都會牽起許多單純的過往，和那些念念不忘的美好時光。
The 1990's were a big decade for fads. Some of them you might have felt were unimportant, annoying, or really cool. But whatever you thought, you most likely followed one of them at some time. I mean, come on, a decade is a long time to go without going with the flow. So, let’s see a list of some of those old fads in order to refresh your thoughts on them。
Tamagotchi's and Virtual Pets
Tamagotchi's were handheld virtual pets that you would feed, play with, bathe, etc., so it could grow into a larger version of the original creature you started out with. It seemed like you had to spend every other second pressing some buttons just to keep this little virtual creature alive. They came in different colors and designs. Soon other companies started to make their own virtual pets that featured cats, dogs, and other more common creatures than the alien-like tamagotchi。
Pokemon
This fad all began with the TV show featuring a kid who encountered these strange creatures and started collecting them. There turned out to be hundreds of these creatures, which started a big fad. Then, the Pokemon trading cards started appearing and every other kid seemed to be battling with these cards. Soon, Pokemon were everywhere from stuffed animals, to toys, to movies, and more. It was a worldwide craze. However, like all fads, it started to die down as the kids who were introduced to it grew up, and grew out of this Pokemon fanatic phase。
Push Pops
Push Pops are lollipops that come in something which resembles a lipstick tube, but you can put your finger in it to push the lollipop up. They range in all different flavors. They're pretty convenient, still widely available, and still taste fairly good, but the fad itself has died down。
Boy Bands
Whether it was the Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, O-town, 98 Degrees or any others, millions of girls all over the world went crazy over them. Who could ignore the groups of good-looking guys with good voices, though? All the fans led to many boy bands having platinum albums and raking in millions of dollars. After 2000, the boy bands started to split up for a while and members focused on their own solo careers, such as Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys and Justin Timblerlake of N’Sync. Others went into the acting business while others settled down. Some of the bands say that they are going to come back, but who knows if they'll still be as popular as they were in the 1990's。
Grunge
On the opposite side of the pop/boy band music scene came the grunge scene. Grunge even became a way of fashion including worn out, ripped jeans and flannel shirts. Grunge brought a more rebellious state to the world。
Yo-Yos
Although yo-yos are toys that have been around for many years, more advanced versions of the popular toy started coming about in the 1990's. These fancy yo-yos had special abilities to stay down longer than the usual yo-yo which made performing certain tricks with them far easier. Everyone learned different tricks from yo-yo books, videos, and friends. Aside from the people that made yo-yoing a hobby, this fad pretty much faded away。
"Waaasssuuuppp"
Thanks to the memorable Budweiser commercial, the famous "Waaasssuuuppp" phrase was introduced. It seemed like you couldn't make it through one day without hearing someone say this phrase. People would answer their phones with the saying or use it in E-mails and instant messages. They even found ways to sell the phrase, just by printing it on a bumper sticker and various other products. Ever since the 1990's though, the "Waaasssuuuppp" has seemed to turn into a simple, "What's up?"
Teletubbies
Anyone who was a student during the 1990's knows who tinkywinky, Dipsy, Lala and Po are. Otherwise known as The Teletubbies. This TV show was aimed at young children but generated mass appeal around the world. The Teletubbies did not speak English but instead spoke in a gurgling baby language similar to its target audience. Like many of the popular TV shows during the 1990's there was a lot of merchandise released off the back of the show。
Beanie Babies
Who could resist those cute, bean-filled animals? Beanie Babies were lots of fun; they came with their own tags containing their name, birthday, and a poem. The TY company was the most popular for beanie babies which originated in 1993. Then, other companies started to make their own and become part of this Beanie Baby craze. Even McDonalds and TY partnered up in order to provide mini beanie babies as the prize in Happy Meals. They're still around today, but they aren't as popular。
Although there are plenty of other fads from the 1990's, this list was made with the purpose to show some of the more popular ones. It's fun to look back at some of the fads and being able to make new opinions about them in present day. Some we may look at as a great fad. Others we look at as a waste of time, but whatever way you look at them, you know that they were a part of your life. After a decade, you can keep all of your favorite things from those past ten years and look back on them in the next ten years. They bring back plenty of memories that, unlike fads, will never go away。
【中文譯文】
對於流行時尚來說，20世紀90年代都是其非常重要的十年。你或許會覺得其中有些流行風潮根本微不足道，有些令人厭煩，而另一些則酷到極點。但不管你想法如何，在當時的某一些時候，你肯定也追隨過其中之一。我是說，拜託，要是不趕時髦的話，十年的時間是多麼漫長啊。所以，讓我們一起看看那些舊時的潮流清單，喚醒你對它們的記憶。
電子雞和虛擬寵物
電子寵物雞是一種掌上虛擬寵物，你可以給它餵食，跟它玩遊戲，給它洗澡等等，然後它就會長得比你最初餵養它們的時候形態更大一些。貌似每隔幾秒你就得按幾個按鈕，這樣才能維持這個虛擬小東西的生命。這些電子寵物雞顏色各異，設計多樣。很快，其他一些公司也開始生產電子寵物，外形有小貓、小狗，以及其他更爲常見的一些生物，來代替看起來酷似外星生物的電子雞了。
寵物小精靈(神奇寶貝)
這股潮流最開始是源於一個電視節目，故事講述的是有個小孩遇見了這些奇怪的小生物，而後開始收集他們。結果，這些小動物足有成百上千種，從而掀起了一大潮流。之後，寵物小精靈集換卡開始出現了，每兩個小孩中就有一個在拿這些卡片遊戲。緊接着，寵物小精靈變得到處都是，它們被製成絨毛動物、玩具、電影和其他產品，在全世界引發了一股狂潮。然而，就像所有流行潮流一樣，最初熟悉它的孩子們漸漸長大，走出了這個狂熱期，寵物小精靈也就隨之消失了。
口紅棒糖果
口紅棒糖果是一種裝在類似於口紅管中的棒棒糖，但你可以將手指伸進去把棒棒糖從底下推出來。這種口紅棒糖果有很多不同的口味。它們吃起來十分方便，時至今日，這種糖果還在被廣泛出售，仍然非常好吃，但是這股風潮本身卻已經過時了。
男孩樂團
無論是后街男孩、超級男孩、歐城男孩、98度或者其他的男孩組合，世界各地都有無數的少女爲他們瘋狂。畢竟，誰又能對一羣長相俊美、嗓音動聽的帥哥熟視無睹呢?拜這些粉絲們所賜，很多男孩樂團贏得了白金唱片和大把的鈔票。2000年之後，這些男孩樂團開始暫時解散，很多成員單飛，專注於自己的獨立事業發展，比如后街男孩的尼克·卡特和超級男孩的賈斯汀·汀布萊克。其他人有的向影視圈發展，有的則退出了娛樂圈，過着安定的生活。一些組合宣稱他們將來會復出，但誰知道他們還會不會像20世紀90年代時這麼受歡迎呢。
垃圾搖滾
在流行組合/男孩樂團大爲風行的同時，另一方面，垃圾搖滾也開始在音樂舞臺上嶄露頭角。垃圾風格甚至成爲了一種時尚潮流，包括穿着破爛的乞丐裝牛仔褲和法蘭絨襯衫。垃圾搖滾將世界帶進了一個更爲叛逆的時期。
溜溜球
儘管溜溜球這種玩具多年來一直都有，但是這種流行的玩意兒在20世紀90年代開始出現了更爲先進的版本。這些神奇的溜溜球其特別之處在於，它比一般的溜溜球在下端停留的時間更長，這就使得用它來玩出一些花樣就容易得多了。每個人都從溜溜球的書籍、錄像還有朋友那裏學習不同的花式玩法。如今，除了有些人還將它當作一種興趣愛好以外，溜溜球已經和我們的生活漸行漸遠了。
“最近混得怎麼樣？”
多虧有了讓人記憶深刻的百威啤酒廣告，這句現如今流傳甚廣的“最近混得怎麼樣”開始爲人所知。似乎每一天你都能聽見有人使用這句話。人們接電話的時候說，寫電子郵件的時候寫，發短信的時候也用。甚至有人找到了用這句話來賺錢的方法，把這句話印刷在汽車貼紙或者其他各種各樣的商品上。然而，從20世紀90年代開始，“最近混得怎麼樣”這句話似乎變得更爲簡化了，只需說“怎麼樣啊?”
天線寶寶
任何在20世紀90年代當過學生的人都知道丁丁、迪西、拉拉和小波是誰。他們也被稱爲天線寶寶。這個電視節目原本是打算給小孩子們看的，但卻引發了全世界觀衆的興趣。天線寶寶說的不是英語，而是“咿咿呀呀”的嬰兒語言，與這個節目原本的目標觀衆使用的語言相似。就像很多在20世紀90年代廣受歡迎的電視節目一樣，很多周邊產品也隨之涌現。
比尼寶寶(豆豆娃)
誰能拒絕那些乖巧可愛、用豆豆填充的小動物呢?豆豆娃十分有趣;他們每一個的標籤上都印有自己的名字、生日和一首詩歌。1993年誕生的豆豆娃最爲著名的生產廠家是TY玩具公司。而後，其他公司也開始生產豆豆娃，加入到了這股豆豆娃的風潮之中。麥當勞甚至還跟TY公司合作，將迷你豆豆娃作爲歡樂套餐的贈品。如今，市面上依然能夠看到豆豆娃的身影，但卻不再那麼受歡迎了。
其實自20世紀90年代以來還流行過很多其他的東西，這個清單隻列出了其中比較受歡迎的幾種。回過頭去看看這些過去的時尚，在如今的時代重新認識它們也是一件很有意思的事。有一些潮流我們認爲很不錯，另一些我們會覺得是浪費時間，但無論你如何看待它們，你都知道那曾是你生活的一部分。十年之後，你仍可以保留這十年來你喜歡的東西，然後在下一個十年後再看看它們。它們可以喚回很多回憶，而回憶和時尚不同，它永遠不會消失。
