又中又英 | Come down to earth | 褚簡寧

　　Some people like to fantasize about retiring young with millions of dollars in their bank accounts so they can travel, buy designer clothes, and dine in expensive restaurants. But they come down to earth after fantasizing for a while. To fantasize means to daydream about something very pleasant that is unlikely to happen. To come down to earth means to start dealing with the realities and problems of life after daydreaming or fantasizing about something. It is far easier in today’s world of high tech and AI for some people to make enough money to retire young.

　　But most people skilled in high tech and AI, such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, choose to continue making more money rather than retiring. I read a recent Wall Street Journal article about Elon Musk’s wealth that made my eyes pop out. If something makes your eyes pop out, it means it astonishes you. The paper calculated that Musk, who is 54 and runs high tech companies including Tesla and SpaceX, now has about US$970 billion in stocks and other assets. It said an American family earning the median income of US$83,730 yearly would have to work more than 11 million years to make what Musk has.

　　The paper calculated that for Musk to accumulate US$970 billion over his career meant he earned about US$ 3.6 million an hour or US$85.7 million a day! The initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX on June 12 could make Musk the world's first trillionaire. A headline in the New York Times said Wall Street is going gaga for the SpaceX IPO. To go gaga means to be very excited or enthusiastic.

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　　有些人喜歡幻想（fantasize）自己年紀輕輕便得以退休，銀行戶口有數以百萬計的存款，讓他們可以環遊世界，買名設計師的時裝，在貴價的餐廳裏進膳。然而他們幻想（fantasizing）一會過後，便得返回現實世界（come down to earth）。To fantasize意即發白日夢，奢想一些不大可能會發生的美夢。To come down to earth意即發過白日夢（fantasizing）過後，開始回歸現實，面對生活中的瑣事與困難。在今天高科技與人工智能的世界，有些人要賺到足夠的錢在年輕的時候退休，確實容易得多。

　　然而，許多精於高科技與人工智能的人，例如伊隆．馬斯克以及馬克．朱克伯格，卻選擇繼續賺更多的錢而非退休。我讀到最近《華爾街日報》的一篇報道，當中談及馬斯克的財富made my eyes pop out。若某事makes your eyes pop out，意即它令你極為驚奇，眼睛瞪得快掉出來了。報章計算現在54歲，經營特斯拉和太空探索技術公司SpaceX等高科技公司的馬斯克，現在有大概9700億美元的股票和其他資產。報道又指，一個美國家庭的年收入中位數為83730美元，得另外工作逾1100萬年，才能達到馬斯克的財富。

　　報章又計算，馬斯克在其事業上累積9700億身家，意味着他每小時賺約360萬美元，又或一天8570萬美元！而SpaceX於6月12日的首次公開招股（IPO），很有可能會令馬斯克成為世界首位萬億富翁。《紐約時報》的一則頭條說，華爾街將會為SpaceX的首次公開招股欣喜若狂（going gaga）。To go gaga就是極為興奮、為之狂熱癡迷。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻