How rich American slang has become. I feel as if I am hanging on for dear life as the language shifts and morphs around me, leaving me at sea in an increasingly unfamiliar vernacular. Such are the wages of the passing years.
       如今，美国的俚语发展得多么丰富多彩啊！随着语言的变迁发展，词汇变得越来越陌生，让我茫然无措，感觉要竭尽全力才能跟上“潮流”。这就是我过去这些年来的体会。
       The latest fragment to arrive on the shores of my ignorance is “swag.” When my 16-year-old son first uttered it, I was caught off guard. Here’s what he said in reference to one of his friends:”Jesse’s got swag.” Now, in my experience, swag has two meanings: It refers to either stolen goods or a collection of goodies, such as the boxes of toiletries that colleges distribute to students at the beginning of the school year. But when I said to my son, “Where did Jesse get it?” he regarded me with a pained expression and asked, incredulously, “What are you talking about?”
       最近一个让我感到茫然的词是swag。当我十六岁的儿子第一次用它时，我懵住了。他在谈到他的一个朋友时说：“Jesse’s got swag”。根据我的经验，swag有两个意思：或是被偷的东西，或是指很多好东西，比如新学期开始时学校发给学生的一箱箱洗漱用品。但是当我问儿子，“杰西从哪里拿到的东西？”他像是被伤到一样看了我一眼，难以置信地问，“你在说什么呢？”
       When I explained what I understood “swag” to mean, Anton laughed-laughed! — at me. Then he shook his head. “OK,” I said. “Then what does ‘swag’ mean?” His answer:”if you had it, you’d know.”
       当我解释完我理解swag是什么意思时，安东居然朝我放声大笑！然后他摇了摇头。“好吧，”我说。“那么swag到底是什么意思？”他答道：“如果你有了它，你就会知道的。”
       There it was: I had to first have swag in order to know what it meant. A perfect Catch-22. So I sought another route to enlightenment – the seventh-grader I mentor in the local middle school. During one of our sessions, as we pored over his Spanish homework, I broached the delicate topic. “Do you know what swag is?” I asked him. “Sure,” he said. “It means that you’re cool.”
       原来是这样：我得先有swag才能知道他是何意。真是棘手了。于是我想到另一条查疑解惑之路——本地中学里我辅导的一个七年级学生。一次辅导时，在我们专心致志地查看他的西班牙语作业后，我提起了这个棘手的话题。“你知道swag是什么吗？”我问他。“当然，”他说。“意思是你很酷。”
       Ah, so simple, but yet so proprietary that my own son couldn’t admit me to cabala of its meaning. Pressing my luck, I swallowed my dignity and quietly asked my mentee, “Do you think I have it?” Without taking his eyes from his work, he shrugged, “Yeah, you’ve got a lot of it.”
       啊，原来这么简单，但我儿子却“私心”太重不肯告诉我其中奥秘。我还不甘心，收起自尊心，悄悄地问我的学生，“那你觉得我酷不酷？”他眼皮都没抬，耸了耸肩，“当然了，你相当酷。”
       Glowing, I communicated this intelligence to Anton at my first opportunity. “Ricky said I have swag,” I announced as he hovered in front of the open fridge. “A lot of it.”
       我兴奋不已，一有机会就把这个消息告诉了安东。“瑞奇说我很酷，”我告诉他，他正在开着门的冰箱前晃悠。“相当酷。”
       Anton shook his head, as if he didn’t know what he was going to do with me. “How old is Ricky?” he asked.
       安东摇了摇头，好像他拿我很没办法的样子。“瑞奇多大了？”他问。
     “Twelve.”
     “十二了。”
       Anton let out a deprecating breath. “Twelve?” he echoed. “What does he know!”
       安东不以为然地吐了口气。“十二？”他重复了一遍。“他懂什么！”
       Hmm… swag was clearly in the eye of the beholder, and seemingly difficult to earn or get credit for. The next day, as I was chatting with my students in the college biology class I teach, I was moved to ask them about this word. They were, of course, familiar with it. Then one of them asked why I wanted to know. I didn’t feel it appropriate to tell them how haunted I was by the realization that I might not posses swag, so I dodged the inquiry and commenced the lesson.
       嗯……算不算酷，见仁见智，这一点似乎很难让他人认同自己，第二天，我和学术闲聊的时候——我教大学生物课，我忍不住问他们这个词的意思。他们当然知道。然后有个学生问我为什么想知道。我觉得告诉他们我因意识到自己可能不酷而感到纠结不太合适，于是回避了这个话题，开始上课。
       Well, no matter, I told myself. I had lived in blissful ignorance of my swa-glessness until now, so I was sure I could continue on intact. But some perceptive, caring soul in my class must have detected my note of despondency in mentioning the elusive quality. The next day, when I came to school, there was a multicolored sticker affixed to my office door: I’VE GOT SWAG.
       好吧，没什么大不了的，我告诉自己。我之前没意识到我不酷的时候，生活得也很快乐，那么我当然也能一成不变地继续生活下去。但是班上有些眼尖心细的学生肯定觉察到我言辞闪烁中的那丝沮丧。第二天，我到学校之后，发现我办公室门上贴了一张彩色便签，上面写着：我很酷。
       Need I mention that when I returned home I lay in anxious wait for Anton? Ashe came through the door, I accosted him with, “Someone put a sticker on my office door. It says, I’VE GOT SWAG.” What I didn’t add by way of emphasis was, “So take that!”
       还用说我回家后是那么焦急地期待安东回来吗？他进门的时候，我走过去跟他说话，“有人在我办公室门上贴了张便签，上面写着我很酷。”接下来的这句话我并没加重语气，“听到了吧！”
     “It doesn’t matter,” said Anton as he headed for the fridge.
     “那不重要，”安东边往冰箱走边说。
     “Doesn’t matter?” I already felt my heart sinking.
     “不重要？”我已经觉得我的心在往下沉。
     “No,” he said offhandedly. “Swag is out. There’s a new word now.”
     “不重要了。”他随意回答说。“swag这个词已经落伍了。现在有个新词。”
     “A new word?” I echoed. “What is it?”
     “新词？”我重复了一遍。“哪个词？”
       Turning to me, Anton’s eyes were once again filled with pity. “You mean you don’t know?”
       安东转向我，他的眼里又一次流露出同情。“你的意思是你不知道？”

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