张超

Do you know what “couch potato” means？ Well， the phrase “couch potato” is now often used in the USA. The“couch potato” has even become maybe even a part of the American tradition！Robert Armstrong， an artist from California， developed the term “couch potato” in 1976.

你知道“沙发土豆”是什么意思吗？事实上，在美国，这个称谓是经常用到的。“沙发土豆”甚至已经成了美国传统的一部分！来自加利福尼亚州的演员罗伯特·阿姆斯特朗于1976年推广了“沙发土豆”这个词汇。

You see， in America， many people often spend their time sitting on a couch watching TV. As there are many channels1 to choose from， the TV can be quite interesting and very addictive2. Some people will sit and watch TV for hours and hours without a break. These people who do nothing except watch TV all day are called “couch potato”.

你瞧，在美國，很多人就是坐在沙发上看电视来打发时间的。因为有很多频道可以供选择，电视节目也非常有趣，而且很容易上瘾。有些人会一连几个小时坐在那里看电视也不休息一下。这些整天除了看电视，什么都不做的人被称为“沙发土豆”。

While watching TV， most of these people look so frozen that they almost look dead！ Everyone is sitting still with their eyes looking right at the same black box. Also， because these people are addictive to TV， they do not take any exercise and usually get very fat. So in many ways， these people look like real potatoes！ Well， because they look so still and fat， and watch TV sitting on a couch， they are called “couch potatoes”. Now you know what “couch potato” means. The next time if you see someone watching TV too long， just say， “What a couch potato！”

看电视的时候，这些人大多数几乎都是僵直不动的，看上去就跟死人差不多！每个人都是静静地坐着，目不转盯地盯着同一个黑盒子。而且，由于这些人对电视成瘾，他们不锻炼身体，因而通常身体会变得很胖。所以从很多方面来讲，这些人看起来就像真的土豆！哦，就是因为他们一动不动地坐在沙发上看电视而且很胖，才被称为“沙发土豆”。现在你知道“沙发土豆”的意思了吧。下次如果你看到有谁看电视时间特别长，你就说：“真是个沙发土豆！”endprint