又中又英——The ton

　　There is an unusual drama series on Netflix called Bridgerton. It is about the London wealthy class in 1813 during the reign of Queen Charlotte. The drama series is named after a wealthy upper class family whose family name is Bridgerton. I watched all eight episodes of the first season last week. The first season of Bridgerton, an American-produced drama series, had a viewership of 82 million households, making it the most-watched Netflix series. The word "season" can be used in several ways. It usually describes the four seasons – spring, summer, autumn (fall in American English), and winter. But used this way it means one of several series of TV shows with the same name and same characters.
　　Bridgerton is about the season when debutantes 
are presented to Queen Charlotte for her approval. The word "season" used this way means the time of year between late January and early July when the upper class had dinner parties, balls, and charity events. It is the season when debutantes make their first appearance in high-society social events. A debutante means a rich young woman, especially in Britain’s past, who went to social events to meet other rich young people and to attract future husbands. If you decide to watch Bridgerton, you will often hear the words "the ton" being used.
　　The word "ton" normally means a measure of weight equal to about 1,000 kilograms. But used in Bridgerton the French expression "the ton" means Britain's high society during the 1800s. It has a French pronunciation and is pronounced differently from "ton", which means a measure of weight. You can hear the different pronunciations by listening to my audio on the online version of this column in Popnews. Bridgerton is unusual because Netflix used some black actors and actresses to play the parts of high society people, including the queen, even though London's high society during that time had no black people. Some people criticized Netflix for changing history but Netflix said it wanted the best actors and actresses regardless of race.
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　　在Netflix上有一套与众不同的剧集，名为《柏捷顿家族：名门韵事》。它是关於伦敦一八一三年，夏洛特王后在位期间的富裕阶层。这套剧集是以一个富裕上流社会的柏捷顿家族命名。上星期，我看毕第一季（season）全部八集。这出美国人制作的剧集《柏捷顿家族》的第一季（season），已有八千二百万户观看，令它成为Netflix最多人收看的剧集。Season一字可以有几个用法，通常用来形容四个季节（season）：春、夏、秋、冬；但在这里，它则是指电视节目同一系列、同样角色的不同季度。
  《柏捷顿家族》是关于一群初进社交界的上流社会年轻女子（debutantes），在社交季节（season）时给呈现于夏洛特皇后面前，以取得她的认可。在此，season一字是指每年的一月尾至七月初，上流社会有晚宴、舞会和慈善活动的季节；这也是debutantes首次于上流社会社交场合中亮相的季节（season）。A debutante特别是指过往在英国社会，富裕的年轻名媛出席社交场合，以结识其他有钱年轻的公子哥儿，并吸引未来的夫婿。若你决定了要看《柏捷顿家族》，你会不时听到他们用到“the ton”一语。
　　“Ton”通常是指重量的单位吨，等于一千公斤；但在《柏捷顿家族》里，法语“the ton”是指十九世纪时期的上流社会。它有着法语的发音，跟平常英文指公吨“ton”的发音不尽相同。你可以在《头条 Popnews》这个专栏的网上版，从我所读的语音档中听到不同的发音。《柏捷顿家族》与众不同，是因为Netflix起用了一些黑人男女演员，去演绎上流社会人士，包括皇后，即使当时伦敦的上流社会并无黑人。一些人批评Netflix篡改历史，但Netflix就说，不管是何肤色种族，只想起用最优秀的演员。
[email protected] 中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁