Ping-Pong or Table Tennis: Which Is Correct?Ping-Pong和Table Tennis哪個對？

Perhaps a look at the history of table tennis/ping-pong will give us a clue as to what we should be calling our favorite sport.

該如何稱呼這項備受喜愛的運動——table tennis還是ping-pong？或許，追溯其歷史淵源能夠為我們提供一些啟示。

According to the ITTF website， the first use of the name “Table Tennis” appeared on a board and dice game made by J. H. Singer of New York in 1887， showing that the phrase “table tennis” had been around at least since then.

國際乒聯(lián)網(wǎng)站的資料顯示，table tennis這一名稱最早見于1887年，當(dāng)時紐約的J. H. 辛格公司在其設(shè)計的棋盤和骰子游戲中首次使用了這一詞語。這表明table tennis這一名稱至少從那時起就已存在。

In 1901， John Jacques registered “Ping-Pong” as a trade name in England， and the American rights were sold to Parker Brothers. On the 12th of December 1901， “The Table Tennis Association” was formed in England and four days later， “The Ping-Pong Association” was also formed in England. These two associations would later merge in 1903 to become “The United Table Tennis and Ping-Pong Association”， and then would eventually change back to “The Table Tennis Association” before dying out in 1904.

1901年，約翰·雅克在英國將Ping-Pong注冊為商標(biāo)，而美國的商標(biāo)使用權(quán)則轉(zhuǎn)售給了帕克兄弟。同年12月12日，The Table Tennis Association在英國成立。僅四天后，The Ping-Pong Association也在英國成立。這兩個協(xié)會于1903年合并為The United Table Tennis and Ping-Pong Association，后又改回The Table Tennis Association，直至1904年解散。

This seems to suggest that the names ping-pong and table tennis were fairly interchangeable at the origin of the sport. And as Parker Brothers were apparently very aggressive in protecting their rights to the trade name “Ping-Pong” in America， it is perhaps understandable that when the game began to revive in England and Europe in the 1920’s， the name table tennis was preferred to ping-pong to avoid trademark disputes. It would also explain why the governing body of the sport is the International Table Tennis.

這段歷史說明，在這項運動興起初期，ping-pong和table tennis這兩個名稱是可以互換使用的。由于帕克兄弟在美國極力維護(hù)其對Ping-Pong這個商標(biāo)的使用權(quán)，在1920年代，當(dāng)這項運動在英國和歐洲其他國家復(fù)興時，人們更傾向于使用table tennis而非ping-pong來避免商標(biāo)糾紛。這也是這項運動的管理機(jī)構(gòu)國際乒乓球聯(lián)合會（International Table Tennis Foundation，ITTF）的名稱中用table tennis的原因。

So as far as history is concerned， the names ping-pong and table tennis were equally valid when referring to the sport.

在歷史上，ping-pong和table tennis這兩個名稱都可以用來指代這項運動。

In modern times， it seems that our sport has split into two camps—the recreational players who tend to use the phrase ping-pong and table tennis interchangeably and treat it as a game or past-time， and the serious players who call it table tennis almost exclusively and view it as a sport. （This distinction stands with the possible exception of China， where apparently the phrase ping-pong is still popular for the sport and past-time.）

如今似乎已經(jīng)分化成兩個陣營——業(yè)余球員將這項運動視為一種游戲或消遣活動，隨意地在ping-pong和table tennis兩個名稱之間切換；而專業(yè)球員則將其看作一項真正的競技運動，幾乎只使用table tennis一詞。（當(dāng)然也存在例外，在中國，ping-pong［乒乓］一直廣泛用于指代這項運動及消遣活動。）

While most recreational players don’t really care what the sport is called （as they are too busy having fun）， some serious players take offense at the sport being called ping-pong， associating the phrase with basement level play. They believe that the name table tennis should be used exclusively， since they feel that this is more appropriate for the image of the sport.

大多數(shù)業(yè)余球員并不太在意這項運動的確切命名（因為他們更忙于享受其中的樂趣）。然而，一些專業(yè)球員卻對ping-pong這一叫法頗有微詞，他們認(rèn)為這個名稱容易讓人聯(lián)想到低層次的消遣而已。因此，他們主張僅使用table tennis，這樣更符合這項運動的形象。

Nowadays I really don’t care whether the general public or other players call the sport ping-pong or table tennis as long as they are talking about it！ Although I must admit， in my own conversation I will always use table tennis， since I’ve been using that name for so long it just feels natural. And if someone else calls the sport ping-pong， I tend to think that person is a beginner.

如今我真的不在乎大眾或是其他球員如何命名這項運動。只要是在談?wù)撨@項運動，無論是ping-pong還是table tennis都可以！可我必須承認(rèn)，我私下里會一直稱其為table tennis，這是由于多年來我已經(jīng)習(xí)慣如此了，這種叫法感覺更加自然。如果有人稱其為ping-pong，我會傾向于認(rèn)為他/她是一個初學(xué)者。

Perhaps we should call the serious sport table tennis， and the fun basement version ping-pong？ While both phrases are technically1 correct， I’d certainly recommend that new players who are visiting a table tennis club or playing in their first tournament stick to using table tennis instead of ping-pong. That way you’ll always be correct， and you won’t risk offending any serious players who might not like the sport being called ping-pong—although I personally think the sport faces more important challenges at present than whether people call it ping-pong or table tennis.

我們不妨用table tennis指代嚴(yán)肅的體育項目，而用ping-pong指代低層次的娛樂活動。雖然事實上這兩個詞語都正確，但我還是建議初學(xué)者在初入俱樂部或參加比賽首秀時使用table tennis而不是ping-pong。如此一來就能確保一直不會叫錯，也不會冒犯到反對將這一運動稱為ping-pong的專業(yè)球員。不過我個人認(rèn)為，這項運動目前面臨的其他挑戰(zhàn)遠(yuǎn)比人們?nèi)绾蚊獓?yán)峻得多。

As Shakespeare might say if he was around today—“the game， by any other name， would be as sweet” but maybe our motto should be “don’t worry how you say it—just play it！”

如果莎士比亞仍在世，他可能會說：“無論這項運動叫什么名字，都會同樣精彩。”但也許我們的座右銘應(yīng)該是：“別糾結(jié)于如何去叫它，只管去打！”

（譯者單位：華中科技大學(xué)外國語學(xué)院）

1 technically事實上，嚴(yán)格說來。