“躺平”这个词成为热度话题，和现在越来越严重的“内卷”现象是分不开的。内卷也是近两年网络流行的热词，本意是指人类社会在一个发展阶段达到某种确定的形式后，停滞不前或无法转化为另一种高级模式的现象。当社会资源无法满足所有人的需求时，人们通过竞争来获取更多资源。内卷英语可以译为involution。那“躺平”应该怎么翻译呢？

　　英国路透社的文章是这样介绍的：

　　New buzzwords capturing young people’s outlook often crop up on social media, including the recent “tang ping”, or “lying down”, which reflects disillusionment with a society beset by “involution”, another catchphrase referring to the state of being stuck in meaningless competition. That came after the rise of “sang” culture, which revels in often-ironic defeatism, and “Buddhist youth”, which refers to young people’s laissez-faire attitude to life.

　　再来看财新网一则新闻标题：Trending in China: Young Chinese Reject Rat Race, Embrace ‘Lying Flat’译：中国流行趋势：年轻人拒绝竞争，拥抱“躺平”。标题里把躺平的翻译成lying flat，与前面的 rat race 形成对比，Rat race 在英文中表示“an exhausting, usually competitive routine”，一种令人疲惫的、竞争性的常态。再通过“reject”（拒绝）和“embrace”（拥抱）两种态度，帮助大家清晰地理解lying flat即“躺平”一词的含义。