托福阅读材料之时尚大师的单数名词

Why do fashion gurus singularise plurals: a pant, a trouser, a jean, and – worst of all – a tight? Who uses one pant?

为什么时尚大师们喜欢把复数名词都说成单数？裤子，牛仔裤，紧身裤袜这些，不都是两条裤管吗？谁会穿只有一条裤管的裤子？

Fashion people do. They also like "to work" a shoe, a sleeve, even a spectacle (but not "a sunglass". That would be just silly). This is known as the Fashion Singular. How did this fashion singular come into existence?

时尚界人士会“穿一条裤管的裤子”。他们甚至会说要“设计”一只鞋，一条袖子，甚至一个（不是一副）眼镜（但是他们不会说“一个太阳镜”，这听起来就太蠢了）。这就是时尚界的单数理论。为什么有这种说法呢？

American fashion stylists all talk like Californian teenagers. They started using the fashion singular on notes given out at fashion shows. Fashion journalists noticed this and perceived it as a form of Botox for the voice as it freezes one into a permanently teenage state.

美国时尚设计师们的谈吐就像加州的小青年。最开始是在时装秀中，他们传递小纸条时使用这种单数名词。后来记者们注意到了，认为这就像注射肉毒杆菌从而消除皱纹一样，这种拙劣的语法让人始终有身为少年人的感觉。

To demonstrate your true mastery of this lingo, deploy it only in positive circumstances, eg, "Ooh, I do love a kitten heel." But when you're being negative, it's: "I'm so not feeling wedges any more." You see? The difference issubtle but crucial, like fashion itself.

如果你真正掌握了这种行话，就应该知道，这只能用于肯定句，如：“哇，我好喜欢这个矮跟设计（这里是单数）。”在否定句中，就应该说成：“我再也不想穿坡跟鞋了（这里是复数）。”明白了？区别相当微妙，就像时尚本身一样。