“内卷”和“躺平”“Neijuan” and “Lying Ping” are words that Chinese post-90s and even post-00s often talk about. One refers to “excessive competition” and the other stands for “exit competition.” These two diametrically opposed terms reflect the frustration of the younger generation against the fierce competition in society.“内卷”和“躺平”是中国90后甚至00后经常谈论的词。
一种指过度竞争，另一种则指退出竞争。
这两个截然相反的词反映了年轻一代对社会激烈竞争的无奈。
01内卷Nei juanOriginally an anthropological term, "involution", or "neijuan" in Chinese - literally translated to an inward curling - refers to a social concept where population growth does not result in productivity or improved innovation.“内卷”原本是一个人类学的学术用语，指的是一种社会概念，即人口增长不能带来生产力或改进的创新。
Today, the term is broadly used to express a feeling of burn out.今天，这个词被广泛用来表达筋疲力尽的感觉。
The trend started from the most elite university campuses in the country when pictures of students taking hard work to the extreme went viral on the internet last year. In one of the photos, one student from Tsinghua University was operating on his laptop while riding a bike. The student was crowned as "Tsinghua's Involuted King", and the idea of involution began trending across China's young generation.这一流行始于去年中国最顶尖的大学校园，当时学生们努力学习到极致的照片在网上疯传。
在其中一张照片中，一名清华大学的学生一边骑自行车一边使用笔记本电脑学习。
这名学生被誉为清华大学的“内卷王”，于是“内卷”的概念开始在中国的年轻一代中流行起来。
从这段话中我们可以看出来，“内卷”这个词是有正经的英文对应的。
involution/ɪnvə'l(j)uːʃ(ə)n/n. 卷绕,回旋这个词怎么和内卷联系上呢?in表示“向内”，volution是“卷”。
除此之外还有一个习语，在意思上比较接近“内卷”02躺平Tang ping英文媒体Sixth tone将“躺平”按照字面直译为“Lie Down”。
Tired of Running in Place(原地跑步，比喻辛苦劳作却没有成长Young Chinese ‘Lie Down’译：厌倦原地跑，中国年轻人“躺平”。
译：中国流行趋势：年轻人拒绝竞争，拥抱“躺平”。
lying flat就是字面的意思“平躺”，和前面的“Rat Race”形成鲜明对比。
“Lying flat”, a trend among young Chinese to opt out of stressful jobs.中国年轻人选择放弃压力很大的工作的一种趋势，叫作“躺平”。
最后，今天的英语小知识总结：躺平：lie down/lying flat内卷：involution、rat race今天的内容都学会了么?欢迎评论交流心得~