在英文名成為「標配」的現在，堅持不起英文名，是否是在「作死」呢？
看過《上海女子圖鑑》的小夥伴或許還記得，主人公羅海燕剛去公司報導沒多久，就因為沒有英文名，遭遇了大寫的尷尬……
有人覺得，起個英文名可以更好地和老外交流，而且很時髦。
也有人認為，中國人不需要英文名。老外覺得難念？那就讓他們學著念！
以下是GlobalTimes (Metro Shanghai)今天刊登的一篇評論，部分配有中文翻譯。
Why this Chinese is reluctant to give herself an English name
In the popular TV series Women in Shanghai, advertisement company freshman Luo Haiyan was laughed at by her colleagues for having no English name. "What's your English name? You don't have one? Uh-oh," scoffed Luo's coworker Amy, a native Chinese.
在最近流行的電視劇《上海女子圖鑑》裡，廣告公司的小菜鳥羅海燕因為沒有英文名，被同事們笑話了。「你的英文名是什麼啊？你沒有英文名？哦……」 羅海燕的同事Amy嘲笑道。而這位Amy，顯然是個土生土長的中國人。
In today's China, especially in first-tier cities, it is bizarre for young Chinese not to have an English name. When I'm having dinner at Jing'an Temple Central Business District in downtown Shanghai, I often hear office gossip from the next table - usually young Chinese ladies in exquisite clothes talking about their colleagues Linda, Mary, Eric, etc. These English names, mixed in with their Putonghua or Shanghai dialect, sound quite funny.
在當今的中國，尤其是一線城市，年輕人沒有英文名簡直是件怪事。當我每天在上海市中心的靜安寺商圈吃飯時，我總能聽到鄰桌的各種職場八卦——通常是幾個穿著光鮮的小姐姐聊著他們的同事Linda, Mary, Eric……這些英文名時不時從她們的普通話或上海話中蹦出來，聽著挺喜感的。
English names have become a standard feature of China's modern workplace and campuses, and those who don't have one are considered old-fashioned or from the countryside. This is particularly true in foreign enterprises. In Women in Shanghai, Luo finally named herself Harriet after being embarrassed by a foreign client who failed to pronounce her Chinese name.
在中國的現代職場和校園，英文名簡直成了標配，誰沒有誰就土，要不就是鄉下來的。這點在外企尤其明顯。《上海女子圖鑑》裡，羅海燕也是因為一個外國客戶念不對她的名字「海燕」，場面一度十分尷尬，最後終於洗心革面，喜提英文名Harriet.
Hence it may surprise you that I, a Shanghai-based reporter at an English-language newspaper who often deals with expatriates, do not have an English name. I'm personally reluctant to give myself one, nor do I think it is necessary.
所以，作為一個在上海並且從事英文媒體工作的人，一個時常需要和老外打交道的人，我居然沒有英文名，這聽著是不是挺驚訝？但我個人就是不想起英文名，也覺得沒這必要。
My Chinese name Lanlan is easy enough for foreigners to pronounce. Thanks to my parents, the simple name they gave me has yet to be mispronounced. If someone's Chinese name contains "difficult" characters such as yue, l, ruan or ce, he or she might consider an English name. But luckily, I've never had this concern.
畢竟，我的中文名「蘭嵐(lanlan)」實在是太好念了，歪果仁完全木有難度。感謝二老名字起得好，這些年來念錯我名字的中國人要比老外多多了……
如果一個人的中文名裡有那種老外很難念的字，比方說「月」「呂」「阮」「策」之類的，那倒是不妨起個英文名。不過我還挺幸運，沒有這方面的顧慮。
I've grown bored by the English names that most Chinese give themselves, which are repetitive and uncreative. Unlike the millions of available Chinese names, only several dozen English names are available, of which fewer fit the taste of we Chinese.
何況啊，恕我直言，我覺得很多中國人起的英文名重複率高且毫無新意，真是挺無聊的。咱們的中文名倒是成千上萬各有特色，但能用的英文名總共也就那麼幾十個，其中符合中國人審美的就更少了。
I personally know three Penny, four Chloe, five Julia and six David. Compared with their unique, elaborate Chinese names, their English names are ordinary and boring. Conversely, some young people try too hard to give themselves "creative" English names, but many of these are laughably ridiculous.
我已經認識3個Penny，4個Chloe，5個Julia和6個David了。相比起這些人精心起的獨特中文名，他們的英文名真是既普通又無趣。當然咯，還有一些年輕人嘗試起些有「創意」的英文名，結果用力過猛，造成了大量翻車現場……
For example, on Quora there is a post titled "what are some of the 'best' English names Chinese people give themselves but are not generally found outside China," under which netizens from around the world shared lots of weird names such as Satan, Cherry, Rabbit, Vampire, Yale, Harvard, Lolita, Nokia, Easy and Anyway.
比方說哈，在Quora上就有個帖子名為「你們見過哪些中國人自己取的銷魂英文名？不在中國基本看不到的那種！」各國網友們分分留言各種奇葩名字：撒旦、櫻桃、兔子、吸血鬼、耶魯、哈佛、洛麗塔、諾基亞、容易、無論怎樣……
"I knew a pair of programmers whose names were Sh*t and F**k," netizen Paul Denlinger wrote. "Among more acceptable names, my favorite was a network admin named Benjamin Franklin."
「我知道倆程式設計師，他們的名字分別叫『靠』和『操』。」有網友寫道，「至於那些更能接受的名字嘛……我最喜歡的是一個網管的英文名，叫班傑明富蘭克林。」
In most cases, giving yourself an English name is a personal preference. Having an English name can make one look more "fashionable" or communicative, but that's about it. Native Chinese cannot add their self-made English names onto any official documents including ID cards or passports. In other words, an English name is no more than a cute nickname.
通常來說，起不起英文名，這純屬個人喜好。或許有個英文名能讓人看起來更「潮」，或者在老外眼裡更好交流，但也就這樣了。中國人自己起的這些英文名根本上不了任何官方證件，什麼身份證啊護照啊想都別想。換言之，英文名也就是個萌萌噠小名罷了，沒有任何法律效應。
Dispensable English names are to some extent seen as a social status in China, implying that locals with English names are superior to those without. I read in the news that a Chinese mother publicly claimed on her social media that she would never send her children to a kindergarten where kids have no English names. In Beijing, a five-year-old local girl named "Lucy" refused to make friends with a little Chinese boy who had no English name, according to Phoenix Weekly in May 2017.
英文名本是可有可無的。然而某種程度上，它在中國居然成了社會地位的象徵，仿佛有英文名的人就要高人一等似的。我曾看過一篇報導，裡面一個中國麻麻表示，絕不讓自家娃和沒英文名的孩子讀一個幼兒園！
而在北京，一個名叫Lucy的5歲小女孩拒絕和一個同齡小男孩玩耍，就因為他沒有英文名。
Chinese actresses Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, Fan Bingbing and many others do not have English names, and nobody would ever say that they failed to succeed in the foreign marketplace. After all, a name is just a name. But it cannot outshine one's true personality and character. Having an English name could be helpful in a globalized workplace or campus, but it should never be one's weapon to look down on others.
鞏俐章子怡範冰冰，還有很多國際知名的演員也沒有英文名，但誰能說他們在國外市場就是失敗的呢？畢竟啊，名字只是個名字而已，沒法成為你真實特徵品性的美化濾鏡。在國際化的職場或校園裡，英文名或許確有幫助，但有個英文名就很了不起了？就能瞧不起他人了？那也夠無知的了！
原文/ 翻譯：lanlan
圖：Chen Xia、網絡