導讀
在疫情期間，丹麥總理梅特·弗雷德裡克森重新啟用了一個源於二戰時期的詞彙，「samfundssind」，並以此激活了丹麥民眾的社會責任感，讓大家在危難關頭團結一心。這個詞是什麼意思？它何以具有如此廣泛的影響力？
How a long-forgotten word rallied a nation
一個被遺忘的詞如何團結了一國民眾
By Mark Johanson
A word buried in the history books helped Danes mobilise during the pandemic, flattening the curve and lifting community spirit.
一個埋藏於歷史書中的單詞讓丹麥人在疫情期間集結了起來，抑制了新增病例，並提升了整個社會的士氣。
By 19 March, Danish chef Rasmus Munk had pivoted from serving 2,900kr ($450) worth of molecular gastronomy for 48 nightly guests to whipping up 600 daily portions of down-to-earth staples for Copenhagen’s homeless and socially vulnerable residents.
今年3月19日，丹麥大廚拉斯姆斯·蒙克做了一次轉型：原先，他每晚為48位顧客提供2900克朗（450美元）一餐的分子料理；在這之後，他每天都為哥本哈根的流浪漢和弱勢社會群體快速製作600份接地氣的主食。
「We all could have been at home relaxing, but I think we felt like we were obligated to do something that was beyond our own needs,」 he says. 「Of course, it was not just us. Denmark really came together, and I think samfundssind was a big part of it.」
他說：「我們原本可以都待在家裡放鬆，但我覺得，我們感受到自己似乎有義務去做一些超出自己需求範圍的事兒。當然，有這種感覺的不只是我們。整個丹麥都團結起來了，而我覺得samfundssind這個思想在其中起了很大的作用。」
There’s no direct English translation of samfundssind. You can think of it as putting the good of the greater society above your own personal interests.
「samfundssind」這個詞並沒有直接對應的英語翻譯。你可以把它的意思理解為「把更廣泛的社會利益置於個人利益之上」。
Samfundssind worked because the prime minister introduced it as a new norm, and the society, which trusted her, embraced it voluntarily. It’s a model the rest of the world may seek to replicate, albeit one that’s less easily adaptable in nations as politically polarised as the US or UK, where polls show little public confidence in leadership’s handling of the pandemic.
這個詞之所以起了作用，是因為丹麥首相把它當作了一種新常規來推行，而丹麥社會則出於對她的信任而主動擁抱了這個概念。這也許是世界其他國家會效仿的模式，但在英國和美國這樣政治分化嚴重的國家，類似的操作很可能水土不服，而民意調查也顯示，這些國家的民眾對於其領導人處理疫情的能力幾乎沒有什麼信心。
拓展：
1. 新聞寫作典型的寫法：
在正文第一段將標題進行擴寫，交代文章的主要內容。和標題一樣，設置懸念（suspense），吸引讀者繼續往下讀。
懸念的設置，是寫作中的一把利器。在常規的記敘文六要素之外加上懸念，可以使得原本比較平鋪直敘的故事，變得更加引人入勝。
2. 在丹麥語中，有和Samfundssind意思相近的詞，寫作：solidaritet，和英文中的solidarity是對等的，意思是「團結一致」。
生詞好句
1.long-forgotten adj. 被長久遺忘的（has been forgotten for a long time）
2.rally a nation 團結整個國家的力量（to tie the whole nation together）
rally vt. 召集，集結，聯合（get together, tie together）
3.bury 英 [ˈberi] 美 [ˈberi] vt. 被長期遺忘，很久未用；埋葬
Following up to make sure this email didn't get buried.
追加郵件，確保這封郵件沒有被淹沒。
4.mobilise 英 [ˈməʊbɪlaɪz] 美 [ˈmoʊbəlaɪz] vt. 動員，集結
美式寫法：mobilize
5.flatten the curve 壓平曲線
內容拓展：
曲線指代新冠確診人數；壓平曲線就是指控制住疫情，使得每日新增確診人數不再逐日上升。
6.lift community spirit 提升社會的士氣
lift vt. 抬高
community n. 社會，社區
spirit n. 精神，士氣
7.pivot 英 [ˈpɪvət] 美 [ˈpɪvət] vt. （本文指）公司/產品的關鍵轉型；繞著支點轉動，繞軸轉動方向 n. 轉軸，支點，樞紐
拓展:
pivotal adj. 關鍵的，核心的
pivot from A to B 從A到B的關鍵轉折
8.kr 丹麥貨幣單位krone的縮寫
9.molecular gastronomy 分子料理
10.whip sth. Up （非正式）製作速成食物（to make food or a meal very quickly and easily）；煽動情緒
11.down-to-earth adj. 實際的，現實的（practical and realistic）
12.staple 英 [ˈsteɪpəl] 美 [ˈsteɪpəl] n. 主食
13.could have done sth. 原本可以做某事，但沒有做
拓展:
should have done sth. 原本應該做某事，但沒有做
14.be obligated to do sth. 有義務要做某事
拓展:
obligated adj. 有義務的
obligation n. 義務，責任
15.come together 團結
近義表達：mobilize, rally, get together, gather together
16.samfundssind 丹麥語，大致意思為：社會利益置於個人自身利益之上
在英文裡，與之意思相近的有：
civic duty 公民責任
civic sense 公民意識
17.think of A as B 將A看作/理解成B（regard A as B，consider A B）
18.the good of the greater society 大社會的福祉/利益（the greater good）
19.personal interests 個人利益
20.work 英 [wɜːk] 美 [wɜːrk] vi. 成功（succeed）
sth. worked 某事成功了
21.a new norm 新常態
normal adj. 正常的
norm n. 常態
an old norm 舊常態
22.embrace 英 [ɪmˈbreɪs] 美 [ɪmˈbreɪs] vt. 擁抱（accept or support a belief, theory, or change willingly and enthusiastically）
23.replicate 英 [ˈreplɪkeɪt] 美 [ˈreplɪkeɪt] vt. 複製（copy, duplicate）
24.albeit 英 [ɔːlˈbiːɪt] 美 [ɑːlˈbiːɪt] conj. （正式用語）雖然，儘管（although）
albeit做為連接詞時，重點強調前半句話，例如：
He tried, albeit without success. 雖然沒有成功，可他努力了。
The evening was very pleasant, albeit a little quiet. 儘管有點冷清，那個夜晚還是過得非常愉快。
25.polarized 英 [ˈpəʊləraɪzd] 美 [ˈpoʊləraɪzd] adj. 兩極分化的
26.poll 英 [pəʊl] 美 [poʊl] n. 民意調查
27.confidence in sth./doing sth. 對某事的信心
英文原文
How a long-forgotten word rallied a nation
By Mark Johanson
Danish chef Rasmus Munk shocked the culinary world last year with the opening of his audacious Copenhagen restaurant Alchemist, which offers a multisensory food and entertainment experience across 50 courses and five acts. More surprising, still, was what the Michelin-starred chef did next when the pandemic brought his marathon meals to an abrupt halt on 15 March.
By 19 March, Munk had pivoted from serving 2,900kr ($450) worth of molecular gastronomy (think wood ants preserved in candy 'amber' and cherry-infused lamb brains) for 48 nightly guests to whipping up 600 daily portions of down-to-earth staples (such as pasta carbonara and chicken puff pie) for Copenhagen's homeless and socially vulnerable residents.
"I put out a call for help on Instagram, and the next day I had nearly 1,000 emails from fellow chefs and everyday people who offered to drive the food out to the 14 shelters we now work with," he explains. Hotels and restaurants also got in touch to donate food that would have otherwise gone to waste. Soon, Alchemist's four kitchens were buzzing with masked volunteers, and the nascent social responsibility project JunkFood, which Munk had started as an experiment before the pandemic, took root.
"We all could have been at home relaxing, but I think we felt like we were obligated to do something that was beyond our own needs," he says. "Of course, it was not just us. Denmark really came together, and I think samfundssind was a big part of it."
Hygge – which roughly translates to 'a quality of cosiness' – may be the most appropriated Danish word of the past decade, but it's samfundssind that's really come to define the nation in the era of Covid-19. If hygge is something you practice with people you know, samfundssind is more of a behaviour towards those you might not know. Rarely used until just a few months ago, it's now entered the Danish vernacular in an explosive way.
Like hygge, there's no direct English translation of samfundssind. Marianne Rathje, senior researcher at the Danish Language Council, says you can think of it as putting the good of the greater society above your own personal interests. Danes believe this word has played a key role in the country's successful response to the pandemic, and it may just offer clues for how the rest of the world can follow suit.
Society in mind
Rathje says samfundssind is a compound noun of 'samfund' (society) and 'sind' (mind). It dates back to 1936, and made an historical cameo in a call for solidarity by then prime minister Thorvald Stauning at the outbreak of World War II. Thereafter, it lay in relative dormancy until Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen revived the word at a press conference on 11 March of this year announcing the first major measures to shut down the country. She presented samfundssind to Danes as having two main pillars: collective responsibility and community spirit.
"As Danes, we usually seek community by being close together," she said. "Now, we must stand together by keeping apart. We need samfundssind."
According to Rathje, usage of samfundssind in the Danish media soared from 23 mentions in February to 2,855 in March. In the first six months of 2019, samfundssind appeared 611 times in Danish newspapers and magazines, compared to 9,299 times in the same period this year.
"All Danes watched the prime minister's press conferences, and that gave us the same vocabulary," explains Rathje. "The word reminded us to look at corona as a joint situation where it was important not to think of your own needs, but to think about yourself as part of a bigger cause."
The word was well chosen, she adds, when compared to the nearby synonym solidaritet (solidarity), which has connotations of the working class or of left-wing ideologies. "Samfundssind has been so relatively rarely used that it doesn't have any connotations yet, except for corona[virus]."
Once the word was re-introduced, hash-tagged and diffused on social media, researchers such as Kristian Kongshøj, of the Institute of Political Science at Aalborg University, were curious to find out how widely it would be adopted. Would younger generations really practice as much samfundssind as their parents and grandparents?
Youth in action
As it turns out, they did. In a survey of 1,020 citizens conducted in late March, Kongshøj found no notable differences in behaviour across generations. Men were slightly less vigilant in their social distancing and personal hygiene than their female counterparts, however the survey found that Danes, as a whole, stood broadly together to make samfundssind a form of patriotism.
Posts tagged #samfundssind showed big and small acts of kindness, including the work of community volunteers, and call-outs for people to support local businesses – and also pointed out those who didn't exhibit the spirit. "You could really see it in social media that there was this collective shaming of people who hoarded goods or didn't practice samfundssind," says Kongshøj. He believes that the word played a crucial role in Denmark flattening the curve.
"Suddenly, you need everyone to behave the same way, and how do you do that? Well, you need to develop new norms extremely rapidly so that those who deviate from these norms become ashamed," he explains. "What helps in Denmark, and what we found, is that there is quite a lot of trust in politicians, but they can only do so much."
Samfundssind worked, he adds, because the prime minister introduced it as a new norm, and the society, which trusted her, embraced it voluntarily. It's a model the rest of the world may seek to replicate, albeit one that's less easily adaptable in nations as politically polarised as the US or UK, where polls show little public confidence in leadership's handling of the pandemic.
Rathje says she doesn't see samfundssind tip-toeing back into linguistic obscurity any time soon. Rather, the idea of putting aside individuality for the benefit of the community has become an even stronger pillar of Danish identity. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen documented more than 250 new volunteer groups on Facebook for community aid projects between March and April, while spacious Copenhagen landmarks, including the theme park Tivoli and the Copenhagen Zoo, pivoted into temporary kindergarten and day-care centres during the worst of the outbreak to help home-bound workers cope.
As for Munk, his JunkFood project will continue indefinitely, albeit out of a separate kitchen now that Alchemist has reopened its doors to the public. He may be back in action crafting sorbet lollipops shaped like seahorses, but his commitment to samfundssind, like the rest of his fellow Danes, is still going strong.
2020 BBC.