Bubble wrap is one of those strangely alluring objects kids would sooner use as toys. The long journey from its creation to its current reputation, however, is a twisting and curious one.
氣泡膜是孩子們更願意將其用作玩具的那些奇怪而誘人的物品之一。然而，從它的誕生到如今的聲譽，漫長的旅程是一段曲折而好奇的旅程。What do you imagine the inventors of bubble wrap intended it to be used for? Kids might see it as an amusement nowadays, but it actually had a very ambitious – and mundane – intent for adults.
您認為氣泡包裝紙的發明者打算將其用於什麼用途？如今，孩子們可能會將其視為一種娛樂，但它實際上對成年人來說有著非常雄心勃勃且平凡的意圖。
In 1957, Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes were designing a lining with air pockets that would be put atop a second layer of plastic. They thought that it would be good to sell them as special '3D wallpaper' – customers, they envisioned, would 'Wow' their guests with walls full of interesting shapes.
1957 年，阿爾弗雷德·菲爾丁 (Alfred Fielding) 和馬克·查瓦尼斯 (Marc Chavannes) 設計了一種帶有氣袋的襯裡，將其放置在第二層塑料上。他們認為將它們作為特殊的「3D 壁紙」出售會很好——他們設想，顧客會因牆壁上充滿有趣的形狀而「驚嘆」他們的客人。
Of course, as we can see just looking at a wall today, 3D wallpaper never took off as an idea. But with their rolls of air bubbles, it did not take a great leap for the two businessmen to realise that their 'wallpaper' would also make excellent protective wrappings for objects.
當然，正如我們今天看到的牆壁所看到的那樣，3D 壁紙從未作為一個想法流行起來。但憑藉一捲捲的氣泡，兩位商人很快就意識到他們的「壁紙」也可以成為物體的極佳的保護包裝。
That is not even the end of the story, as bubble wrap, besides its function as protection, also has gained a reputation of being stress-relief aid and practically a toy for people who become caught up trying to pop all the bubbles. Pop Its and other toys even help imitate bubble wrap in a reusable, compact way. The action of popping bubble wrap is so famous that the last day of January is 'Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day', after a radio station in the US spent a day live broadcasting the sound of popping bubbles.
這甚至還不是故事的結局，因為氣泡膜除了具有保護功能外，還贏得了緩解壓力的幫助的聲譽，並且實際上是那些陷入試圖戳破所有氣泡的人們的玩具。 Pop It 和其他玩具甚至可以以可重複使用、緊湊的方式幫助模仿氣泡包裝。爆破氣泡紙的動作如此出名，以至於一月份的最後一天被定為“氣泡紙欣賞日”，美國一家廣播電台花了一天時間現場直播氣泡紙爆裂的聲音。
The shift in perception took a while, though, knowing that bubble wrap began life as an idea for decorative wallpaper, it is quite amusing to know how it is known for a completely different thing, even past its nominal purpose as, well, wrapping.
不過，觀念的轉變花了一段時間，因為知道氣泡包裝紙最初是作為裝飾壁紙的一種想法而誕生的，知道它如何以完全不同的東西而聞名，甚至超出了其名義上的用途（嗯，包裝），這是非常有趣的。
Vocabulary
mundane (adj) 世俗的
lining (adj) 裡襯
envision (v) 預見
protective (adj) 防護的
stress-relief (n) 緩解壓力
imitate (v) 模仿
新聞來源: https://student.thestandard.com.hk/text/juniorstandard/article/stories/827
中文翻譯:晚晚有魚兒
