BBC地道英语｜Shrinkflation 缩水式通胀

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Hello, I’m Rob…

大家好，我是罗布……

… and I’m Feifei and this is The English We Speak. Hold on… Rob, are you eating?!

……我是菲菲，欢迎收听地道英语。等一下……罗布，你在吃东西吗？！

I am. Would you like a crisp? They’re cheese and onion flavour.

对呀。你要不要吃薯片？芝士洋葱味的。

Oh go on then – oh, I see you’ve eaten most of them, but I’ll have the last one, shall I?

噢那继续吧，噢我看你已经吃了一大半了，不过我吃最后一片吧，可以吗？

Actually Fefei, there weren’t many crisps to start with – it’s this ’shrinkflation’.

菲菲，其实一开始就没有多少薯片，缩水式通胀嘛。

Shrinkflation – I guess that’s the opposite of ’inflation’?

缩水式通胀，我猜是“通货膨胀”的反义词？

That’s correct –inflation is where prices rise, or the size of things get bigger – they inflate – like a balloon. But with shrinkflation things get smaller – ’but not the physical size of things, it’s the quantity of something.

对，通货膨胀是指价格上涨，或者东西的分量更大了，也就是它们膨胀了，就像气球一样。但缩水式通胀是指一包薯片的外包装虽然没有变化，但里面装的薯片和以往比却少了。“缩水式通胀”描述事物的数量、分量减少。

I see. So the crisp packet is the same size, but the number of crisps inside has been reduced.

我明白了。所以薯片的包装和原来还是一样大小，但里面薯片的量却变少了。

That’s right. Let’s hear some examples of other people using the word ’shrinkflation’…

对。让我们听一些其他人使用“缩水式通胀”这个词的例句吧……

I paid the same price for this chocolate bar as I always have, but when I unwrapped it, it was smaller – I guess that’s shrinkflation!

我买这个巧克力棒时付了跟往常一样的钱，但拆开包装之后，我发现巧克力棒变小了，我猜这就是缩水式通胀吧！

It appears lots of brands are practising shrinkflation these days, probably to cut costs and maximise their profits.

这些天似乎许多牌子都在缩水式通胀，也许是要压缩成本，使利润最大化吧。

I don’t believe it! There used to be 20 biscuits in the packet, but now shrinkflation means there are only 16!

真是不敢相信！以前一包都是有20块饼干的，但是现在缩水式通胀，一包只有16块了！

So shrinkflation is where the quantity of something is reduced. Why does this happen Rob?

所以“缩水式通胀”是用来描述货物数量减少这一经济现象的。这种现象为何会发生呢，罗布？

Well, it’s a marketing trick –it’s so a manufacturer does not put up the price of a product, but just reduces the cost of making it by putting less inside – but we think we’re getting the same amount.

这是一种营销技巧，厂商不提高商品价格，但通过减少里面货物的分量来压缩成本，但我们会觉得我们买到的货物量还是一样的。

Clever! It’s the same these days with chocolate bars, packets of cereals…

太聪明了！这些天巧克力棒和袋装麦片也一样……

… and BBC Learning English programmes.

……还有BBC英语教学频道的节目。

What?

啥？

Yes, even this programme is affected by shrinkflation – there’s less in it – even though our listeners might think they’re getting the same amount. Come on it’s time to go.

是的，就连我们的节目也受到了缩水式通胀的影响，里面的内容变少了，尽管我们的听众可能觉得他们听到内容的量和以前是一样的。快点，该走了。

Really? This programme seems to go on for longer than ever.

真的吗？我觉得这期节目比以往任何一期时间都长。

Bye!

再见！

往期听力