20101124 Why We Gave Away Our Home (3)

Why We Gave Away Our Home

Back home, our friends and family kept asking us, "What is it like to live in half the space?" Before we downsized, we were a little worried. Would we feel squeezed? Or like we'd made too big a sacrifice? Two years later, I can tell you: it's the best move we ever made. As we worked together on our family project, those interconnected moments became more frequent. The more we shared, the more we laughed, teased and bonded. As Hannah said the other day, "We learned how to really trust each other."

We don't expect anyone else to copy what we did and sell their home. We had more than enough house, and it was something we could cut in half to help those in need. But most people can find some commodity in their lives they could give up, whether it's time (having the hours of TV you watch each week and volunteering instead?) or stuff (donating half the clothes in your closet?).

Like us, your family could set out to make a small difference in the world – and transform yourselves in the process.

downsize v. 縮小/縮減編制

=> quickly reduce the size of something in order to make smaller

eg: The company downsized their customer service department last year.

=> 這家公司在去年縮減了客服部的編制

eg: The owner of the factory decided to downsize the manufacturing lines from two to one.

=> 工廠老闆決定將兩條生產線縮減成一條

inter- 兩者之間

interconnect v. 使互相聯繫或連接

=> have a lot connections in itself

eg: The problems of poverty, a low level of education, and drug-abuse are interconnected.

=> 貧窮、低教育程度以及濫用藥物這些問題都是彼此連接在一起的

eg: The periodical meetings offer all the departments opportunities to interconnect.

=> 定期的會議讓各部門有機會彼此聯繫

commodity n. 有用/有價值的東西

eg: Business tact is a valuable commodity for a salesperson.

=> 談生意的技巧對一位業務員來說是極其有用的

commodity n. 產品

eg: The country's most valuable commodities are diamonds and silver.

=> 這個國家最有價值的產品是鑽石和銀

copy

=> do the same things that someone has done

set out to do something

= begin to do something

//== Chat room ==//

講到買賣房子，美國人會講home而不會講house。

因此homeowner是房屋持有人，照理說房屋持有人應該是houseowner，

為什麼要改用homeowner？

因為房屋仲介業者刻意選的一個很溫馨的字眼來取代house，

讓人覺得你住的不是冷冰冰的房子，這種字叫做euphemism，

這是一種委婉、婉轉的說法，

也就是用好聽的字眼home來掩飾往往是冰冷的無情的地方。

homeowner 房屋持有人

euphemism 是一種委婉、婉轉的說法

以下都是euphemism的說法

retirement home 美國退休人士住的公寓

nursing home 老人院