Jeans.

牛仔裤。

When my great-grandparents were growing up, jeans were only worn by poor people and labourers. It was cheap and highly valued as work wear because of its durability¹. The term “jeans” has been in use since the early 1600s, where it was used as a catch-all term to describe the “rough clothing worn by working men”.

我的曾祖父母长大的那个年代，只有穷人和体力劳动者才穿牛仔裤。牛仔裤很廉价，作为劳动服，因为耐穿所以备受称赞。“牛仔裤”一词可以追溯到17世纪早期，这个词很准确地描述了“劳工穿的粗糙衣服”。

The average farmer or labourer would thus wear something like this.

普通农民或劳工就穿成这样。

People from the middle class and upper echelons² of society would never be caught wearing jeans. They wore suits often made of materials such as linens³. Your average middle class man would look something like this.

你永远不会看见中产阶级和上层社会的人穿牛仔裤，他们穿的套装通常是亚麻布料。普通中产阶级男士穿成这样。

So when did jeans become trendy?

那么牛仔裤什么时候开始流行的呢？

Well according to one website, it was a group of factors.

一个网站给出了几点原因。

1. The expiration⁴ of a patent held by Levi’s in 1908 led to an influx⁵ of imitation jeans flooding the market.

1. 1908年李维斯专利到期导致高仿牛仔裤大量涌入市场。

2. The romanticization of the “cowboy lifestyle” made jeans popular.

2.“牛仔生活方式”的浪漫化使牛仔裤流行起来。

3. A third thing that helped denim⁶ jeans become popular, particularly overseas, was their popularity with servicemen in the 1940s and 1950s, who often liked to wear them when they were off duty.

3. 牛仔裤流行起来（尤其是在海外）的第三个原因，就是20世纪四五十年代牛仔裤在技工中广受欢迎，他们不上班时也经常喜欢穿。

4. And finally, the fourth thing that made jeans popular with the younger generation was the release of films like Rebel Without a Cause and The Wild One, in which the protagonists⁷ wore jeans as a way of rebelling against societal expectations. In the 1980s, interest in jeans went nuclear with the release of a series of sexually charged, strong armed ads.

4. 最后，第四个原因，牛仔裤受到年轻人欢迎的原因，是电影《无因的叛逆》和《飞车党》的上映，影片的主角都穿牛仔裤，以显示对社会期望的反抗。到了80年代，随着一系列充斥着色情和暴力的广告的播出，人们穿牛仔裤的热情空前高涨。

Busyness.

忙碌。

Or rather, lack of leisure.

更准确地说，缺少闲暇时间。

Leisure in the past was, in a way, a symbol of status. Only the well-to-do could afford to loiter about, and not be busy all the time.

从某种意义上说，在过去，闲暇是地位的象征，只有富裕人家才有资格消磨时间，而且从来不忙。

But now, being busy is what’s classy.

但现在忙碌才是正道。

From an online story on Why you feel busy all the time (when you’re actually not):

下面是网上的一则故事，讲的是为什么根本不忙的时候你还是总感觉自己很忙：

Historically, the ultimate symbol of wealth, achievement and social superiority was the freedom not to work: the true badge of honour … was leisure. Now, it’s busyness that has become the indicator⁸ of high status. “The best-off in our society are often very busy, and have to be,” says Gershuny. “You ask me, am I busy, and I tell you: ‘Yes, of course I’m busy – because I’m an important person!’”

从历史的角度来说，财富、成就和社会优越感的终极象征就是不用工作的自由：荣誉的真正象征是…闲暇。现在繁忙却变成了社会地位高的标杆。Gershuny说：“社会上最优越的人通常很忙，而且必须得忙。你要是问我忙不忙，我会告诉你‘对，我当然忙，因为我是重要人物！’”

Being busy is cool. A busier person is assumed to be more important.

忙很好，越忙说明你越重要。

In one study on why busyness is considered impressive published in Harvard Business Review, the authors deduce the change in perception to be due to changes in economy.

哈佛商业评论》发表了一项关于“忙碌为什么令人钦佩”的研究，研究者得出了一个结论：人们看法的变化源于经济的发展。

So, ya even though we complain about it most of the time, being busy has become classy.

所以，年轻人，即使我们经常抱怨，但忙碌确实备受推崇。