Though the announcement political terms 'Brexit' and 'Trumpism' had been named by Collins English Dictionary as the words of the year may have been entirely¹ expected, it was more surprising to see the term 'hygge' crop up on the list.

柯林斯英语大词典将Brexit（英国脱欧）和Trumpism（特朗普主义）这两个政治名词列入年度热词行列完全在人们的意料之中，但hygge一词的入榜就让人有些意外了。

For those not familiar, 'hygge' refers to the Danish lifestyle craze that's seen something of an international hysteria of late; a concept roughly described as a feeling of comfort and contentment, as well as indulging in all the good things and people in your life.

对不熟悉这个词的人来说，hygge是最近全世界对丹麦生活方式的一种狂热追求，这一概念大致是指舒适和满足的感觉，沉迷于生活中美好的人和事当中。

It's one often connected to the idea that the Danes are the happiest people in the world, and that it's 'hygge' that provides the secret to their success.

它经常让人联想到世界上最幸福的是丹麦人，而丹麦幸福的秘诀就是hygge。

The craze has focused largely on the idea of making the ordinary special, or meaningful, through ritualising everyday activities such as making a cup of coffee or having dinner; that means putting technology to one side, and embracing simple practices such as lighting² candles, purchasing flowers, or brewing³ real tea in china cups.

对这种生活方式的追求很大程度上是将煮咖啡、吃晚餐等日常活动变成一种惯例和仪式，将普通的事变得特殊或有意义。也就是说，把复杂的技艺放在一边，去做些简单的事，比如点蜡烛、买花，或是用瓷杯泡杯正宗的茶。

Of course, Denmark's use of 'hygge' is particularly useful in combating the country's harsh winters; with up to 17 hours of darkness a day potentially having deeply adverse⁴ effects on the mental health of its citizens.

当然，为了对抗严冬，丹麦人的hygge就尤其有用了：冬天，这个国家可是有接近17小时的黑夜，这很可能会对人们的心理健康造成极大的负面影响。

Susanne Nilsson, a Danish lecturer at London's Morley College, explained to the BBC; "We have long, cold winters in Denmark. That influences things. Hygge doesn't have to be a winter-only thing, but the weather isn't that good for much of the year."

伦敦莫利学院的丹麦讲师苏珊娜•尼尔森对BBC记者说：“丹麦的冬天又冷又长，所以对很多事有影响。Hygge不是冬天专有的现象，但是一年的很多时候天气都不怎么好。”

"Hygge could be families and friends getting together for a meal, with the lighting dimmed, or it could be time spent on your own reading a good book," she adds.

“Hygge可以是家人朋友相聚吃饭，灯光微暗，也可以是自己花时间看一本有趣的书。”她补充道。

"It works best when there's not too large an empty space around the person or people."

“如果人们周围的空间不会大得离谱，那就是最好的hygge。”

The word hygge didn't actually originate from the Danish language, but from Norwegian; where the word originally meant something similar to, "well-being⁵".

Hygge的词源并不是丹麦语，而是挪威语，原本的含义与“幸福”很相似。

However, it spread to Denmark in the 18th century and has since become an integral part of the country's culture and self-identity.

但18世纪传入丹麦后，它就成为丹麦文化和身份认同中不可分割的一部分了。

Hygge's international export has seen an explosion of themed cookbooks and lifestyle guides, alongside Scandinavian-themed restaurants, cafes and bars in the UK which boast intimate settings, simple decor, and plenty of comfort food.

Hygge走出国门，走向了世界。主题食谱和生活指南呈爆炸式增长，英国还出现了斯堪的纳维亚主题的餐厅、咖啡馆和酒吧，环境私密，装潢简单，还提供大量令人身心愉悦的食物。