Thanks to a mix of different cultures and advancing technology, American slang has been rapidly evolving over the past years, with new expressions popping up and fading out regularly. The ease of communication in our digital age has allowed local coinages to spread more quickly than ever before. Many slang expressions are also developed on college campuses, which attract students from across the country – and indeed around the world – and therefore are not tied to a single geographic region.

多虧了獨(dú)特的多元文化和飛速發(fā)展的科技，過(guò)去幾年，美國(guó)的俚語(yǔ)也光速進(jìn)化著。各種新式表達(dá)和詞語(yǔ)層出不窮，此起彼伏。信息時(shí)代交流的便捷讓一些本地新詞得以快速傳播，還有許多俚語(yǔ)是在大學(xué)校園里被造出來(lái)的，大學(xué)里匯集著全美乃至世界各地的學(xué)生，因此其使用也并不限于某個(gè)地區(qū)。

But even with this unprecedented ability to cross boundaries, there are still some expressions that are more common in certain parts of the country, and unknown in others. Below are five bits of East Coast slang that just aren’t as popular on the West Coast, traditionally seen as almost two different countries within the nation of America:

但是即便跨邊界的交流前所未有地便利，仍然有一些表達(dá)在美國(guó)的某些區(qū)域更為常見(jiàn)，在其他地方則鮮少聽(tīng)聞。下面就是五個(gè)風(fēng)靡東海岸，卻是西海岸人鮮少聽(tīng)聞的俚語(yǔ)!讓東西海岸看起來(lái)簡(jiǎn)直就像是美國(guó)內(nèi)部的兩個(gè)國(guó)家!

1) “WICKED”

Conventionally, of course, this adjective might be attached to someone dastardly (witches, especially) – but not any more. This New England expression of approval for something that is “cool” or “awesome” is something West Coasters might understand, but would never use. It would make you stand out a mile.

按照以往的慣例，這個(gè)詞是用來(lái)形容某些邪惡之人的(尤其是女巫)，但如今再也不是了。在新英格蘭地區(qū)，它用來(lái)表達(dá)認(rèn)同某件事很酷或者很贊。西海岸的人或許可以理解，但絕對(duì)不會(huì)這么使用它。一說(shuō)出這個(gè)詞，大家絕對(duì)能明白你來(lái)自東海岸!

2) “WORD”

Another familiar friend in everyone’s vocabulary that has taken on a whole new meaning in the 21st century. This expression of approval – tantamount to saying “I agree”, albeit less formally – has infiltrated somewhat into West Coast lingo, but is certainly not as popular as out East.

這也是一個(gè)人人都很熟悉的常用詞匯，在21世紀(jì)被賦予了新的含義。它可以用來(lái)表示贊同，意思等于“我同意”，不過(guò)不那么正式。西海岸也偶爾會(huì)見(jiàn)到這一用法，但肯定沒(méi)有在我們東海岸這么流行!

3) “JANKY”

Nobody is quite sure where this adjective – used to describe something that is “untrustworthy” or of “poor quality” – originated, but one possible candidate is the ghettos of New Jersey. Thanks to high internet exposure, it can be heard anywhere across the country, and even the West Coast – but only in certain pockets, and usually with very heavy irony. One to avoid if you are out in California.

這個(gè)形容詞的意思是“不值得信任的”或“質(zhì)量很差的”。沒(méi)人能說(shuō)出它的確切來(lái)源，不過(guò)很可能起源于新澤西的貧民窟。多虧了在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上的高曝光率，現(xiàn)在全美國(guó)到處都有人用這個(gè)詞了，甚至包括遙遠(yuǎn)的西海岸，不過(guò)也僅限于一些特定場(chǎng)合，并且?guī)в袧鉂獾某爸S意味。如果去到加州可要小心慎用喲!

【編輯語(yǔ)：如果你想抱怨自己的工作電腦，那可以說(shuō)I have a dinky screen and a janky keyboard~啦啦啦啦】

4) “BRUH”

Originally a means of greeting among men – like “Wassup bruh” – this word seems to have derived from “brother”, as a casual way of greeting close friends. It recently gained internet fame with the #BruhMovement, launched by a series of humorous clips on short video sharing site Vine. Nonetheless, its usage has mostly been confined to the Southeast, and would be another example of an awkward addition to West Coast speak.

最初是男人之間打招呼的一種方式，類似于“嘿咋了哥們(Wassup bruh)”。這個(gè)詞語(yǔ)似乎來(lái)源于“brother”，被用來(lái)和親近的朋友隨意地打招呼。最近，由視頻分享網(wǎng)站Vine上一系列幽默短片引發(fā)的#BruhMovement話題讓它開(kāi)始在網(wǎng)上流行起來(lái)。不過(guò)，這個(gè)詞的使用目前也僅限于美國(guó)東南部，要強(qiáng)加進(jìn)西海岸的詞典里似乎不太可能。

5) “DAWG”

Another form of greeting among friends, this word seems pretty obviously to have come from “dog”, which has also evolved as a way of addressing familiar faces: “Wuddup dawg”. It has been in usage for long enough that most people will recognize it, especially on the East Coast – but be prepared to encounter blank faces if you use it to much out West.#p#分頁(yè)標(biāo)題#e#

這個(gè)詞是朋友之間打招呼的另一種方式。很明顯，它來(lái)源于“dog”，并逐漸進(jìn)化成了對(duì)親近朋友的稱謂：“咋了兄弟(Wuddup dawg)”。“Dawg”一詞已經(jīng)被使用了太久，大多數(shù)美國(guó)人都能明白它的意思，尤其是在東海岸。不過(guò)如果你在西海岸用這個(gè)詞，對(duì)方還是有可能會(huì)一臉茫然，不知所云!