What words do you use to describe that feeling of enjoying a warm, delicious home-cooked dinner with your loved ones on a cold, snowy winter night? Besides “cozy”, “relaxed”, “*snug” and “pleasant”, there is a new word on offer –“hygge”.
寒冷的雪夜，和自己心爱的人共进温暖美味的家庭晚餐，这种感觉你会用哪些词语来形容呢?除了“安逸的”、“放松的”、“舒适的”以及“愉悦的”，你还可以用这个新词 —— “hygge”。
The UK’s Guardian newspaper recently reported that Britain has been invaded by the concept of “hygge”. The Danish word, pronounced “hoo-gah”, has no exact English *counterpart but can be *loosely translated as “coziness”, and is said to be the secret weapon that makes Denmark the happiest nation in the world. It is now the subject of dozens of books and hundreds of newspaper features. It’s also become the latest lifestyle trend and has been used in recipes, gift ideas, and home decoration tips for the holiday season.
据英国《卫报》近日报道，”hygge”这一概念已经席卷英国。该丹麦语单词的发音为 ‘hoo-gah’，英文中并没有一个确切的单词能与之对应，但它可被粗略地译为“舒适”。据说， 正是“hygge”这个秘密武器让丹麦成为全球最幸福的国家。如今已有数十本书和几百篇新闻对它进行报道，它是最新的生活潮流，还被广泛应用于假日季的食谱、礼品创意以及家居装饰小妙招中。
The word is shortlisted by both the Collins and the Oxford Dictionaries as the word of year for 2016, and the BBC reported that the Morley College in London has even started a course teaching its students how to achieve hygge.
该词同时入选了柯林斯和牛津词典2016年年度词汇的名单。据BBC报道，伦敦莫利学院甚至开设了一门课，教学生如何达到hygge的境界。
According to The Guardian, the word means “a feeling of calm togetherness and the enjoyment of simple pleasures”. The Independent says the concept of hygge describes “a feeling of comfort and *contentment, as well as *indulging in all the good things and people in your life”. A BBC article lists a few “hyggelig” (adjective form of the word) activities: “Sitting by the fire on a cold night, wearing a woolly jumper, while drinking *mulled wine and stroking a dog –probably surrounded by candles”. “Eating home-made *cinnamon *pastries. Watching TV under a *duvet. Tea served in a china set. Family get-togethers at Christmas” –these are all hygge too.
《卫报》的报道将其解释为“感到平静而和睦，享受单纯的幸福“。《独立报》称 hygge这一概念形容了“一种舒适又满足的感觉，享受着生命中美好的人和事。”BBC的一篇文章则列出了一系列 “hyggelig’(hygge一词的形容词形式)的活动：“寒夜中，身穿羊毛毛衣，坐在火边取暖，一边喝着热红酒，一边轻抚着小狗 —— 或许周围还有烛光相伴”。“吃着家里自制的肉桂糕点。裹在羽绒被里看电视。用陶瓷茶具沏杯茶。圣诞节时的家庭团圆”—— 这些也都是 hygge。
For the Danes, “hygge” is how they deal with the harsh climate –the Nordic country is plunged into around 17 hours of darkness a day in winter. Susanne Nilsson, a Danish lecturer at Morley College in London, explains to the BBC: “We have long, cold winters in Denmark. That influences things. Hygge doesn’t have to be a winter-only thing, but the weather isn’t that good for much of the year.
对于丹麦人而言， “hygge”是他们面对严寒天气的一种心态 —— 在冬天，这个北欧国家每天要经历17个小时的黑暗。伦敦莫利学院的丹麦讲师苏珊娜•尼尔森向BBC解释道：“我们丹麦的冬天漫长而又寒冷，对事物产生了一些影响。Hygge 并非冬季的专利，但在一年的大部分时间中，天气都不怎么好。”
“Hygge could be families and friends getting together for a meal, with the lighting dimmed, or it could be time spent on your own reading a good book,” she adds. The essence of hygge, it seems, is all about letting your hair down and forgetting about life’s worries.
“Hygge 可以是亲友集聚一堂，在朦胧的灯光下一起用餐，它也可以是读一本好书的独处时光，”她补充道。看起来，hygge的精髓就在于彻底放松，遗忘生活中的烦恼。
The Danish people proudly see hygge as an important aspect of their national characteristic. According to Denmark’s official tourism website VisitDenmark.com, “Hygge is as Danish as pork roast and it goes far in illuminating the Danish soul.”
丹麦人很自豪地将hygge视作他们国民特性重要的一部分。丹麦的官方旅游网站 VisitDenmark.com称“Hygge和烤猪肉一样充满丹麦风情，它很大程度上照亮了丹麦的灵魂。”
Hygge may have provided the answer for those pursuing happiness. “The rest of the world seems to be slowly waking up to what Danes have been wise to for generations - that having a relaxed, cozy time with friends and family, often with coffee, cake or beer, can be good for the soul,” says Helen Russell, UK-based author of The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country (2015). “Hygge seems to me to be about being kind to yourself –indulging, having a nice time, not punishing or denying yourself anything. All very useful come January when in the UK everyone’s on diets or *manically exercising or *abstaining from alcohol.”
Hygge或许为那些追求幸福的人提供了答案。“世界其他地方似乎渐渐开始领悟到丹麦人代代相传的智慧 —— 和亲友共度一段休闲、舒适的时光，一起来点咖啡、蛋糕或者啤酒，这对灵魂大有裨益，”现居于英国、《丹麦化生活的一年：揭开全球最幸福国度的秘密》(2015)一书的作者海伦•拉塞尔说道。“对我而言，hygge似乎就是善待自己 —— 享受美好时光，不自我惩罚，不自我否定。所有这一切对每到一月就节食减肥、疯狂锻炼、戒除酒精的英国人而言，十分有用。”
