2021年度流行色出炉：迎接隧道尽头的亮光
去年这个时候，权威色彩研究机构潘通（Pantone）公布2020年度流行色为：Classic Blue 经典蓝。
今天，2021年度流行色来了。今年潘通选出了两个颜色，分别是：Ultimate Gray 极致灰和Illuminating 亮丽黄，什么含义呢？用直白的话说就是：隧道尽头的亮光。
无注释原文：
Pantone Picks Two Colors of the Year for 2021
The New York Times
There is general agreement on very little in this world, save, perhaps, for one thing: This year has been a mess, and the next one cannot come fast enough.
So it should be a surprise to no one that the prognosticators at Pantone — those trend forecasters who scour the globe for months noting developments in clothing, cars, kitchens, coffee (the stuff that surrounds us) and translate it into a color they claim will be the dominant shade of the coming year — have chosen, as the color of the year for 2021 … two colors!
Which does not represent indecisiveness, but a metaphor. Get ready for Ultimate Gray and Illuminating. Or, in normal-speak: the light at the end of the tunnel.
After Living Coral in 2019 and Classic Blue in 2020, this may not be what anyone expected (that might have been “grim black”), but it might be what everyone needs.
“No one color could get across the meaning of the moment,” Laurie Pressman, the vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, said on a call. “We all realized we cannot do this alone. We all have a deeper understanding of how we need each other and emotional support and hope.”
Hence, said Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, the decision to select “two independent colors really coming together.”
No one ever pretended color theory was subtle. Besides, the choice does represent a step forward, of sorts.
This is only the second time in the 22 years that Pantone has been choosing a color of the year that two colors have been selected. The first time was in 2015, when Rose Quartz and Serenity were chosen (which is to say, pink and blue for 2016). That year, the two shades were meant to blend into each other, reflecting the recognition of gender fluidity and social progress. But this year, the two shades are meant to stand on their own, as complementary tones, supporting each other.
It is also the first time that a gray has earned the honor, and only the second time for a yellow. As it happens, both shades were added to the Pantone color wheel earlier this year, along with Period Red. Imagine if that one had won out.
Both Ms. Eiseman and Ms. Pressman said they did not start the process with a two-color result in mind, but they realized early on that the stakes around the choice of color for 2021 were very high and might demand a new approach.
Not just because choosing a single anything to represent what’s next after a year of historic crisis could seem a fool’s errand. (Who knows what’s next?!) But because the question of consumption, which is intrinsically linked to Pantone’s choice, and its status as a marketing stunt, is itself fraught. Also because no one could move around as they had in the past to sleuth out what was happening in the color universe. Ms. Eiseman, for example, said she had not been on a plane since February.
Still, between the internet and the Pantone teams in almost 30 countries, the direction things were going was fairly certain by midsummer.
The prognosticators began by acknowledging the shades of gray in which we have all been immersed. Indeed, of all the grays in the palette, Ultimate Gray is a determinedly neutral kind of gray. It is not the dark gray of gathering storm clouds or the dour gray of institutional sameness or the dim gray of skulking in the shadows or the soft, luxurious dove gray of Dior, but a more solid, granite-like gray. The kind of gray of wisdom (gray beards!) and intelligence (gray matter!) and construction.
“It’s a dependable gray,” Ms. Eiseman said.
One person’s dependable is another person’s depressing, however, which is where Illuminating comes in. It’s not the egg yolk-like yellow of Mimosa, the color of the year of 2009, nor an acidic or highlighter yellow, nor the “go into the light” yellow of the afterlife, or sci-fi adventure, but more of a sunshine, or smiley face, yellow.
Together, Ms. Eiseman said, “the color combination presses us forward.” It has been popping up everywhere, from Nike to the Marks & Spencer Pornstar Martini cans.
It would be easy to think that the whole “working together” aspect of the messaging includes a quasi-political subtext, as we come out of an administration marked by party standoffs, rather than compromise, but Ms. Pressman said that was not the point.
“It’s about our minds resetting to what’s really important,” she said.
The choice is also, of course, about selling. Get ready for the “Get the color of the year look!” emails that inevitably ensue.
Still, news of the coronavirus vaccine has reinforced Pantone’s selection. Even in the gray sameness of our current days, the future does look a whole lot brighter. Illuminated, even.
- ◆ -
注：中文文本为纽约时报官方译文，仅供参考
含注释全文：
Pantone Picks Two Colors of the Year for 2021
2021年度色彩：迎接隧道尽头的亮光
The New York Times
There is general agreement on very little in this world, save, perhaps, for one thing: This year has been a mess, and the next one cannot come fast enough.
在这个世界上，很少有事情能获得大家的一致同意，可能除了一件事：今年一团糟，等不及要进入下一年了。
save
熟词僻义，表示“除了；除…外”，英文解释为“except sth”举个🌰：
They knew nothing about her save her name.
除名字外，他们对她一无所知。
📍去年，英国货车藏39尸惨案文中，纽约时报（The New York Times）就提到：The passengers, all of whom save one teenager appeared to be adults, were declared dead at the scene. 这些乘客除一名十来岁的少年，看起来都是成年人，他们被当场宣布死亡。
So it should be a surprise to no one that the prognosticators at Pantone — those trend forecasters who scour the globe for months noting developments in clothing, cars, kitchens, coffee (the stuff that surrounds us) and translate it into a color they claim will be the dominant shade of the coming year — have chosen, as the color of the year for 2021 … two colors!
所以潘通（Pantone）的预测师将两种颜色选为2021年度颜色，也就不足为奇了。这些趋势预测员会在全球搜寻好几个月，关注服装、汽车、厨房、咖啡（等等我们身边的东西），将其转化为某种据称将是明年色彩主宰的颜色。
prognosticator
prognosticator /prɑːɡˈnɑːstɪkeɪtər/ 表示“预言者，预测者”，英文解释为“someone who makes predictions of the future (usually on the basis of special knowledge)”。
📍动词prognosticate，表示“（尤指针对特定情形的）预言，预测”，英文解释为“to give a judgment about what is likely to happen in the future, especially in connection with a particular situation”。举个🌰：
He is in a good position to prognosticate on the future of commerce.
在他的位置上，可以对商业的未来做很好的预测。
scour
1）表示“搜寻，翻找，搜查”，英文解释为“to search very carefully and thoroughly through an area, a document etc”举个🌰：
Her family began to scour the countryside for a suitable house.
她的家人开始在乡下寻找合适的房子。
2）表示“冲刷成；冲刷出”，英文解释为“to make a passage, hole, or mark in the ground, rocks, etc. as the result of movement, especially over a long period”举个🌰：
The water had raced down the slope and scoured out the bed of a stream.
水顺着山坡流下来，冲刷出一条小河道。
📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述巴菲特入股日本贸易公司的文章中提到：From the 1950s to the 1980s they acted as go-betweens, scouring the world for energy, metals and minerals, helping to underpin Japan’s economic miracle. 上世纪50年代到80年代，它们充当中间人，在世界各地搜寻能源、金属和矿产，帮助撑起了日本的经济奇迹。
translate
除了表示“翻译”，也可以指“转变，变为；转化（尤指将计划变为现实）”，英文解释为“to change something into a new form, especially to turn a plan into something real”举个🌰：
So how does this theory translate into practical policy?
那么如何将这个理论应用于制定现实可行的政策呢？
dominant
1）表示“首要的；占支配地位的；占优势的；显著的”，英文解释为“more important, powerful or noticeable than other things”举个🌰：
The firm has achieved a dominant position in the world market.
这家公司在国际市场上占有举足轻重的地位。
2）表示“（基因）显性的，优势的”，英文解释为“a dominant gene causes a person to have a particular physical characteristic, for example brown eyes, even if only one of their parents has passed on this gene”。
🎬电影《王牌特工：特工学院》（Kingsman: The Secret Service）中的台词提到：but a Kingsman wears it on which ever hand happens to be dominant. 但王牌特工都戴在惯用手上。
shade
熟词僻义，通常用法a xx shade (of sth)，表示“浓淡深浅；色度；色调”，英文解释为“a particular form of a colour, that is, how dark or light it is”如：an unusual shade of yellow/an unusual yellow shade 少见的黄色，a delicate/pale shade of red 淡/浅的红色，a rich/soft shade of red 艳/柔和的红色。
Which does not represent indecisiveness, but a metaphor. Get ready for Ultimate Gray and Illuminating. Or, in normal-speak: the light at the end of the tunnel.
这一决定并不意味着这些预测师举棋不定，而是一种隐喻。准备好迎接极致灰（Ultimate Gray）和亮丽黄（Illuminating）。用直白的话说就是：隧道尽头的亮光。
indecisiveness
等同于indecision，表示“优柔寡断，无决断力”，英文解释为“the state of being unable to make a choice”举个🌰：
There is a great deal of indecision about/over how to tackle the problem.
在如何处理这个问题上迟迟不能决断。
metaphor
metaphor /ˈmɛtəfə/ 表示“暗喻；隐喻”，英文解释为“a word or phrase used to describe sb/sth else, in a way that is different from its normal use, in order to show that the two things have the same qualities and to make the description more powerful, for example She has a heart of stone ; the use of such words and phrases”如：a game of football used as a metaphor for the competitive struggle of life 用来喻指生活中的激烈斗争的一场足球比赛。
After Living Coral in 2019 and Classic Blue in 2020, this may not be what anyone expected (that might have been “grim black”), but it might be what everyone needs.
在2019年的珊瑚橙和2020年的经典蓝（Classic Blue）之后，这可能不是大家所期待的（期待的可能是“黯淡黑”），但这可能正是大家所需要的。
grim
1）表示“严酷的；令人沮丧的”，英文解释为“A situation or piece of information that is grim is unpleasant, depressing, and difficult to accept.”举个🌰：
There was further grim news yesterday.
昨天有更令人沮丧的新闻。
2）表示“（地方）阴沉的”，英文解释为“A place that is grim is unattractive and depressing in appearance.”举个🌰：
The city might be grim at first, but there is a vibrancy and excitement.
这个城市也许一开始沉闷，但它有一种活力和激情。
“No one color could get across the meaning of the moment,” Laurie Pressman, the vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, said on a call. “We all realized we cannot do this alone. We all have a deeper understanding of how we need each other and emotional support and hope.”
“没有一种颜色能传达这一时刻的意义，”潘通色彩研究所（Pantone Color Institute）副所长劳里·普莱斯曼（Laurie Pressman）在电话采访中说。“我们都意识到是，这一点是无法独立实现的。对于我们如何需要彼此，需要精神支持和希望，我们都有了更为深刻的理解。”
get sth across
表示“使被理解；使被传达；把…说清楚”，英文解释为“to manage to make someone understand or believe something”举个🌰：
This is the message that we want to get across to the public.
这就是我们想传达给公众的信息。
Hence, said Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, the decision to select “two independent colors really coming together.”
潘通色彩研究所执行董事执行董事莱亚特丽斯·艾斯曼(Leatrice Eiseman)说，因此，选择“两个独立颜色的”决定“就是这样形成的”。
No one ever pretended color theory was subtle. Besides, the choice does represent a step forward, of sorts.
没有人会假装颜色理论很隐晦。另外，这一选择确实代表了某种进步。
subtle
表示“难以察觉，难以理解的；微妙的，细微的”，英文解释为“not easy to notice or understand unless you pay careful attention”举个🌰：
The pictures are similar, but there are subtle differences between them.
这些图片很相似，但它们之间有细微的差别。
📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述企业发现AI难以实施的文章中提到：A more subtle problem is that of deciding what to use AI for. 一个更微妙的问题是决定AI派上什么用场。
This is only the second time in the 22 years that Pantone has been choosing a color of the year that two colors have been selected. The first time was in 2015, when Rose Quartz and Serenity were chosen (which is to say, pink and blue for 2016). That year, the two shades were meant to blend into each other, reflecting the recognition of gender fluidity and social progress. But this year, the two shades are meant to stand on their own, as complementary tones, supporting each other.
这是22年来第二次潘通在选择年度颜色时选中两种颜色。第一次是在2015年，当时被选中的是蔷薇石英粉（Rose Quartz）和宁静蓝（Serenity），也就是说2016年度颜色是粉色和蓝色。那一年，这两种颜色意在融入彼此，体现出对性别流动性和社会进步的认可。但今年，这两种颜色是要代表自己，作为互补，衬托彼此。
blend in/into sth
表示“融入；混入”，英文解释为“to look or seem the same as surrounding people or things and therefore not be easily noticeable”举个🌰：
We tried to blend into the crowd.
我们试图混入人群。
complementary
表示“补充的；互补的；补足的”，英文解释为“useful or attractive together”如：complementary colours/flavours/skills 互补色/风味/技能。
tone
熟词僻义，表示“色调”，英文解释为“a form or degree of a colour”，如：warm tones of brown and yellow 棕色和黄色这种暖色调。
此外，也有“风格；基调，格调；气氛”的含义（the general mood or main qualities of something）。
It is also the first time that a gray has earned the honor, and only the second time for a yellow. As it happens, both shades were added to the Pantone color wheel earlier this year, along with Period Red.
这也是灰色首次获此殊荣，而黄色是第二次被选中。巧的是，两种颜色都是今年初和月经红（Period Red）一起被加入潘通色卡的。
Both Ms. Eiseman and Ms. Pressman said they did not start the process with a two-color result in mind, but they realized early on that the stakes around the choice of color for 2021 were very high and might demand a new approach.
艾斯曼和普莱斯曼都说，在开始选择年度颜色时，一开始并没有要最终选两个颜色，但他们在初期就意识到关于2021年度颜色的选择意义重大，可能需要一个新方式。
Not just because choosing a single anything to represent what's next after a year of historic crisis could seem a fool's errand. (Who knows what’s next?!) But because the question of consumption, which is intrinsically linked to Pantone's choice, and its status as a marketing stunt, is itself fraught. Also because no one could move around as they had in the past to sleuth out what was happening in the color universe. Ms. Eiseman, for example, said she had not been on a plane since February.
这不只是因为在历史性灾难的一年过后，选择任何一个事物来代表来年都可能都会是徒劳。（谁知道之后会发生什么？！）也因为与潘通的选择息息相关的是消费，以及其作为一个营销事件的本身就是个问题。此外，没有人能像过去一样四处奔波，侦查颜色世界里的各种动态也是一个原因。比如，艾斯曼说她从2月开始就没有搭乘过飞机了。
fool's errand
表示“徒劳无功的努力”，英文解释为“an effort that is unlikely to be successful”举个🌰：
It's a fool's errand trying to see my pictures.
想看我的照片根本就是徒劳。
📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述美国对抗华为的文章中提到：This is a fool’s errand in a hyper-connected world in which technology and talent can flow freely. 在一个技术和人才可以自由流动的高度连接的世界里，这只会徒劳无功。
intrinsically
表示“本质地；内在地；固有地”，英文解释为“in a way that is an extremely important and basic characteristic of a person or thing”。
stunt
1）作名词，表示“引人注目的噱头”，英文解释为“A stunt is something interesting that is done in order to attract attention and get publicity for the person or company responsible for it.”如：如：a stunt pilot 特技飞行员，a publicity stunt 宣传噱头，an advertising stunt 广告噱头，a marketing stunt 营销噱头。举个🌰：
In a bold promotional stunt for the movie, he smashed his car into a passing truck.
在那部影片大胆的宣传噱头中，他把自己的汽车撞向一辆过路的卡车。
2）作名词，表示“（电影中的）特技动作”，英文解释为“A stunt is a dangerous and exciting piece of action in a movie.”举个🌰：
He insisted on living dangerously for his new film by performing his own stunts.
他坚持通过为他的新影片表演他自己的特技动作而冒险。
3）作动词，表示“阻碍”，英文解释为“If something stunts the growth or development of a person or thing, it prevents it from growing or developing as much as it should.”举个🌰：
The heart condition had stunted his growth a bit.
心脏病已经有点儿阻碍他的发育。
📍 此前在俄网红庆生往浴池倒约30公斤干冰文中提到，许多人在那一出闹剧中受伤时，就出现过这一表达，Several people were injured during the stunt.
📍 而沙特石油公司让印度员工装扮成洗手液一文中也称这事为stunt, 原文：The oil giant explained that the stunt was an attempt to "emphasise the importance of sterilisation" in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
fraught
表示“令人极度忧虑的，十分担心的；令人担忧的”，英文解释为“If you say that a situation or action is fraught, you mean that it is worrisome or difficult. ”举个🌰：
It has been a somewhat fraught day.
这是令人颇为担忧的一天。
sleuth
sleuth /sluːθ/ 作名词，表示“侦探”，英文解释为“someone who tries to find out information about a crime”，如：an amateur sleuth 业余侦探。
📍此处作动词，指的就是做侦探；侦查，调查（carry out a careful investigation into a crime or mystery）。
Still, between the internet and the Pantone teams in almost 30 countries, the direction things were going was fairly certain by midsummer.
但在互联网和在大约30个国家的潘通团队的合作下，到了仲夏，年度颜色的选择便有了一个比较肯定的方向了。
The prognosticators began by acknowledging the shades of gray in which we have all been immersed. Indeed, of all the grays in the palette, Ultimate Gray is a determinedly neutral kind of gray. It is not the dark gray of gathering storm clouds or the dour gray of institutional sameness or the dim gray of skulking in the shadows or the soft, luxurious dove gray of Dior, but a more solid, granite-like gray. The kind of gray of wisdom (gray beards!) and intelligence (gray matter!) and construction.
预测师开始认可我们都沉浸其中的灰调。确实，在色卡上的所有灰色里，极致灰是一种明确的中性灰。它不是乌云滚滚的深灰，并非人们习以为常、千篇一律的单调灰，也不是隐匿在阴影里的黯淡灰，或是迪奥（Dior）的那种柔软、奢华的鸽子灰，而是一种更为坚实、花岗岩一般的灰色。是一种智慧之灰（灰色胡须！）和智力之灰（脑灰质！），还有建筑之灰。
immerse
表示“（使）深陷于，沉浸在”，英文解释为“to become or make sb completely involved in sth”举个🌰：
She immersed herself in her work.
她埋头工作。
palette /ˈpælɪt/
1）表示“调色板”，英文解释为“a thin board with curved edges and a hole for your thumb, used by artists to mix their paints on while they are painting”；
2）表示“主要色彩，主色调；用色风格”，英文解释为“the colours used by a particular artist”。
dour
dour /dʊə, ˈdaʊə/ 表示“（通常指人的外表或行为）冷峻的，阴沉的，不苟言笑的”，英文解释为“(usually of a person's appearance or manner) unfriendly, unhappy, and very serious”，另一种含义是“令人不快的；无生气的”（not pleasant; with no features that make it lively or interesting）。
skulk
表示“隐匿，潜伏”，英文解释为“to hide or move around as if trying not to be seen, usually with bad intentions”举个🌰：
I thought I saw someone skulking in the bushes.
我好像看见有人藏在灌木丛里。
“It's a dependable gray,” Ms. Eiseman said.
“这是一种可靠之灰，”艾斯曼说。
One person's dependable is another person's depressing, however, which is where Illuminating comes in. It's not the egg yolk-like yellow of Mimosa, the color of the year of 2009, nor an acidic or highlighter yellow, nor the “go into the light” yellow of the afterlife, or sci-fi adventure, but more of a sunshine, or smiley face, yellow.
然而，对某人来说的可靠之灰，对另一个人来说可能是抑郁之灰，这时候就需要亮丽黄了。它不像是2009年度颜色含羞草黄（Mimosa）那样是蛋黄色，也不是酸性黄或是荧光黄，也不是来世或科幻冒险里的那种“走向那束光”的黄色，而是一种阳光、笑脸黄。
afterlife
表示“死后（灵魂）的生活”，英文解释为“the life, for example in heaven, that some people believe begins after death”举个🌰：
They'll be reunited in the afterlife.
他们将在另一个世界重聚。
Together, Ms. Eiseman said, “the color combination presses us forward.” It has been popping up everywhere, from Nike to the Marks & Spencer Pornstar Martini cans.
艾斯曼说，这两个颜色“组合在一起让我们前行”。从耐克（Nike）到玛莎百货（Marks and Spencer）的艳星马提尼酒罐子，它在各个地方都已经出现。
pop up
表示“（尤指突然地）出现，发生”，英文解释为“to appear or happen, especially suddenly or unexpectedly”举个🌰：
She's one of those movie stars who pops up everywhere, on TV, in magazines, on Broadway.
她是那种四处露脸的影星，在电视上、杂志上、百老汇，到处可见她的身影。
It would be easy to think that the whole “working together” aspect of the messaging includes a quasi-political subtext, as we come out of an administration marked by party standoffs, rather than compromise, but Ms. Pressman said that was not the point.
在我们即将结束一个充满政党对峙而非妥协的政府之时，人们很容易会认为该信息“齐心协力”的方面包括了某种准政治（quasi-political）潜台词。但普莱斯曼说他们的意图并非如此。
quasi-
表示“类似，准”，英文解释为“used to show that something is almost, but not completely, the thing described”举个🌰：
The school uniform is quasi-military in style.
这种校服在式样上类似军装。
subtext
表示“潜在含义，潜台词；弦外之音”，英文解释为“a hidden or less obvious meaning”。
“It's about our minds resetting to what's really important,” she said.
“它关乎于让我们的注意力回归真正重要的事物，”她说。
The choice is also, of course, about selling. Get ready for the “Get the color of the year look!” emails that inevitably ensue.
当然，这一选择也关乎于销售。准备好迎接肯定会接着来的“打造年度颜色造型吧！”的邮件吧。
Still, news of the coronavirus vaccine has reinforced Pantone's selection. Even in the gray sameness of our current days, the future does look a whole lot brighter. Illuminated, even.
但新冠疫苗的新闻为潘通的选择提供了支持。即便是在我们目前千篇一律灰色的生活里，未来确实看起来要光明得多，甚至是亮丽的。
谢谢你看到这里呀
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