Introduction

Despite what Neil's been told, comfortable shoes, such as trainers, are considered more acceptable these days than ever before. This is because more and more people are wearing them. But what has caused this rise in popularity? Has it happened suddenly, or over time? And is Neil wearing high heels? Find out and everything and learn the related vocabulary.

This week's question

Which famous sports clothing company's first pair of running shoes was inspired by the square pattern on a waffle-making machine? Was it:

a) Adidas

b) Nike, or

c) Puma

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Transcript

Note: This is not a word for word transcript

Dan

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Dan.

Neil

Let me just sit down. Ah! And I'm Neil.

Dan

Neil, are you wearing high heels?

Neil

Hang on. Ah! Not any more!

Dan

How did they feel?

Neil

Agony! How do women do this?

Dan

Why on earth are you wearing them?

Neil

Well, I wanted to look fashionable and cool! Everyone knows that high heels are the height of fashion – on the street, at work and at parties. I'm ready for anything!

Dan

I'm not so sure you're right there, Neil. Our topic for this 6 Minute English is about the rise in popularity of the comfy shoe. However, before we step into that, let's have our quiz question. Which famous sports clothing company's first pair of running shoes was inspired by the square pattern on a waffle-making machine? Was it:

a)???Adidas

b)???Nike, or

c)???Puma

Neil

Well, I have no idea, so I'm going to say Adidas because that's got marks.??

Dan

We'll have to wait until later to find out. So, what do you think of when I say?comfy?shoes?

Neil

Well,?comfy?is an adjective which is an informal way of saying 'comfortable'. So, I suppose we're talking trainers. But I was always told that trainers weren't appropriate for everywhere, like work and many formal or social places, such as parties, bars and clubs.

Dan

Well, that certainly used to be the case, but that may not be as true any more. Victoria Moss is the Senior Fashion Editor at the Telegraph newspaper in the UK. Here she is speaking on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour about why trainers are considered more fashionable these days. Is it something that's happened very recently?

Victoria Moss?

Well I think it's been, sort of, coming on for a while. And I think one thing in fashion in the last 10 years has been a, sort of, mass?casualisation?of everything. And there's been a big?streetwear?trend, which has?filtered?through.

Dan

So, is it something that's happened very recently?

Neil

Apparently not, no. She said that there has been a mass?casualisation?of things over the last 10 years.?Casualisation?here means 'the process of becoming less formal and more relaxed' – 'more casual'.

DanYes! Society has relaxed its idea of what is considered formal or appropriate. In addition, we're told there has been a big?streetwear?trend.?Streetwear?is a style of casual clothing worn especially by young people from urban settings – that's the city.

Neil

This trend has?filtered?through. If something?filters?through, it appears or happens gradually over time.

Dan

So, presumably, the trend for?streetwear?filtered?through?from its specialised area into mainstream fashion until everyone was following it.

Neil

Well, that explains why trainers are more fashionable these days, but it doesn't explain why people are wearing them more. Not everyone follows fashion, you know.

Dan

Yes, Neil I can see that when I look at you. But you're forgetting the comfy part. Emma Supple is a podiatrist – a foot doctor - who also spoke on Woman's Hour. Here she is explaining why being comfy is so important. What are people doing more these days that they weren't before?

Emma Supple

So what we're actually talking about is, actually, people, for?wellness?walking more and doing more… and they're not going to do that in a lot of high heels… so trainers are changing the materials. There are now a lot of fabric trainers and if you've inherited foot problems, then that kind of fabric… they're wrapping around?knobbly?bits, and knobbly bits hurt.

Dan

What are people doing more?

Neil

They're walking more and they're doing it for?wellness.?Wellness?is the state of being healthy.

Dan

As a result, trainers have had to change their materials to fabric to make themselves more comfortable.

Neil

Not only that, but if you have any foot problems, these fabric, or cloth, trainers are better at fitting to the shape of your foot. That means if you have any?knobbly?bits, they won't hurt as much, which makes trainers more comfortable for everyone!

Dan

Knobbly?is an adjective that means 'lumpy' – 'having many raised areas on the surface'.?

Neil

So, it's the combination of a change in fashion and a change in materials that's made trainers and other comfy shoes more popular than ever, right?

Dan

Exactly! And hard on the heels of that revelation, we can reveal the answer to our quiz question. Earlier I asked which famous sports clothing company's first pair of running shoes was inspired by the square pattern on a waffle-making machine. Was it:

a)???Adidas

b)???Nike, or

c)???Puma

Neil, you said?

Neil

I said Adidas

Dan

Sorry. The answer is Nike. In 1971 their co-founder Bill Bowerman was having breakfast when he saw the waffle machine and it inspired the design of Nike's first running shoe. Let's hope it was?comfy?one.

Neil

Aha! It must be time to review our vocabulary! So, first we had?comfy?– an adjective which is an informal ways of saying 'comfortable'.

Dan

Then we had?casualisation. This describes the process of things, such as fashion or behaviour, becoming less formal and more casual.

Neil

Next was?streetwear. That describes a style of casual clothing that is worn especially by young people who live in cities.

Dan

Then we heard?filtered through. If something?filters through, it appears or happens gradually over time. For example, has it filtered through to you yet, Neil, that high heels were a mistake?

Neil

Yes it has! They didn't do anything for my?wellness, I can tell you, which means'the state of being healthy'.

Dan

And lastly, we had?knobbly.?This adjective means 'lumpy' or 'having many raised areas on the surface' - like skin when it gets cold. Do you have anything?knobbly?on your foot, Neil?

Neil

Probably! My feet are killing me!

Dan

I think we've found your Achilles heel!?However, it's time to go. But we will be back. In the meantime, you can find us in all the usual places online and on?social media, just look for BBC Learning English. Bye for now.

Neil

Goodbye!

Vocabulary

comfy?(informal)

comfortable

casualisation

The process of becoming less formal and more relaxed, more casual

streetwear

a style of casual clothing especially worn by young people from urban settings

filter through

appear or happen gradually over time

wellness

the state of being healthy

knobbly

lumpy; having many raised areas on the surface

雙語版Transcript

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Dan.

大家好，歡迎來到六分鐘英語，我是丹。

Let me just sit down. Ah! And I'm Neil.

讓我坐下。??！我是尼爾。

Neil, are you wearing high heels?

尼爾，你穿高跟鞋了？

Hang on. Ah! Not any more!

等一下。啊，沒再穿了！

How did they feel?

穿高跟鞋感覺怎么樣？

Agony! How do women do this?

痛苦！女性怎么做到這一點的？

Why on earth are you wearing them?

你究竟為什么要穿高跟鞋？

Well, I wanted to look fashionable and cool!

好吧，我想看起來既時尚又酷！

Everyone knows that high heels are the height of fashion – on the street, at work and at parties.

大家都知道高跟鞋是時尚的巔峰——在街頭，工作和派對上。

I'm ready for anything!

我準(zhǔn)備好了！

I'm not so sure you're right there, Neil.

尼爾，我不太確定你那樣說是對的。

Our topic for this 6 Minute English is about the rise in popularity of the comfy shoe.

我們這期六分鐘英語的主題是關(guān)于舒適的鞋子越來越受歡迎。

However, before we step into that, let's have our quiz question.

但是，在我們開始之前讓我們提出測驗問題。

Which famous sports clothing company's first pair of running shoes was inspired by the square pattern on a waffle-making machine?

哪家著名的運動服裝公司的第一雙跑鞋的靈感來自于華夫餅機的方形圖案？

Was it: a) Adidas b) Nike, or c) Puma?

它是：a）阿迪達(dá)斯，b）耐克，還是c）彪馬？

Well, I have no idea, so I'm going to say Adidas because that's got marks.

好吧，我不知道，所以我說是阿迪達(dá)斯，因為那有分?jǐn)?shù)。

We'll have to wait until later to find out.

我們得稍后才能找出答案。

So, what do you think of when I say comfy shoes?

所以，當(dāng)我說舒適的鞋子時你怎么看？

Well, comfy is an adjective which is an informal way of saying 'comfortable'.

好的，"comfy"是一個形容詞，它是"comfortable"的一種非正式說法。

So, I suppose we're talking trainers.

所以我想我們正在談的是運動鞋。

But I was always told that trainers weren't appropriate for everywhere, like work and many formal or social places, such as parties, bars and clubs.

但我總是被告知運動鞋并不適合所有場合，比如工作和許多正式場合或者社交場所，比如派對上，酒吧和俱樂部。

Well, that certainly used to be the case, but that may not be as true any more.

好吧，曾經(jīng)當(dāng)然是那種情況，但那可能不再適用了。

Victoria Moss is the Senior Fashion Editor at the Telegraph newspaper in the UK.

維多利利亞·莫斯是英國電訊報的高級時尚編輯。

Here she is speaking on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour about why trainers are considered more fashionable these days.

在BBC廣播4頻道Woman's Hour節(jié)目中她講述了為什么現(xiàn)在運動鞋被認(rèn)為是更加時尚的。

Is it something that's happened very recently?

那是最近發(fā)生的事情嗎？

Well I think it's been, sort of, coming on for a while.

好吧，我認(rèn)為已經(jīng)有一段時間了。

And I think one thing in fashion in the last 10 years has been a, sort of, mass casualisation of everything.

而且我認(rèn)為在過去十年中流行的一件事情就是所有事物的大規(guī)模休閑化。

And there's been a big streetwear trend, which has filtered through.

而且受歡迎的街頭風(fēng)已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)。

So, is it something that's happened very recently?

所以它是最近發(fā)生的事嗎？

Apparently not, no.

顯然不是，不是。

She said that there has been a mass casualisation of things over the last 10 years.

她說在過去十年事物大規(guī)模休閑化。

Casualisation here means 'the process of becoming less formal and more relaxed' – 'more casual'.

這里的"休閑化"意味著"變得不那么正式，更放松的過程"——"更隨意"。

Yes! Society has relaxed its idea of what is considered formal or appropriate.

是的！社會放寬了什么被認(rèn)為是正式或適當(dāng)?shù)母拍睢?/p>

In addition, we're told there has been a big streetwear trend.

此外我們被告知有一陣受歡迎的街頭風(fēng)。

Streetwear is a style of casual clothing worn especially by young people from urban settings – that's the city.

街頭風(fēng)是一種休閑穿衣風(fēng)格，特別是來自城市的年輕人——那指的是城市。

This trend has filtered through.

這種潮流已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)。

If something filters through, it appears or happens gradually over time.

如果某事物"filters through"，它會隨著時間的推移逐漸出現(xiàn)或發(fā)生。

So, presumably, the trend for streetwear filtered through from its specialised area into mainstream fashion until everyone was following it.

所以據(jù)推測，街頭風(fēng)的潮流從其特定領(lǐng)域逐漸出現(xiàn)在主流時尚中，直到每個人都追求這種潮流。

Well, that explains why trainers are more fashionable these days, but it doesn't explain why people are wearing them more.

好吧，那就解釋了為什么現(xiàn)在運動鞋更加時尚，但這并不能解釋為什么人們更多地穿運動鞋。

Not everyone follows fashion, you know.

你知道的，并不是每個人都追求時尚。

Yes, Neil I can see that when I look at you.

是的，尼爾，看看你我就能知道。

But you're forgetting the comfy part.

但你忘記了舒適這部分。

Emma Supple is a podiatrist – a foot doctor - who also spoke on Woman's Hour.

艾瑪?·蘇普拉是一名足病醫(yī)生——一名足科醫(yī)生——她也在Woman's Hour節(jié)目發(fā)言。

Here she is explaining why being comfy is so important.

在這里她解釋了為什么舒適如此重要。

What are people doing more these days that they weren't before?

現(xiàn)在什么是人們做得更多而以前卻沒有做過的事情？

So what we're actually talking about is, actually, people, for wellness walking more and doing more…?and they're not going to do that in a lot of high heels… so trainers are changing the materials.

所以我們實際上談?wù)摰氖牵瑢嶋H上人們?yōu)榱私】挡叫懈?，做的更多……而且他們不會在穿著高跟鞋的時候那樣做……所以運動鞋的材質(zhì)正在變化。

There are now a lot of fabric trainers and if you've inherited foot problems, then that kind of fabric… they're wrapping around knobbly bits, and knobbly bits hurt.

現(xiàn)在有很多棉布運動鞋，而且如果你遺傳了足病，那么那種棉布材質(zhì)……它們會包裹著凸起的地方，凸起的地方會受傷。

What are people doing more?

人們做得更多的是什么？

They're walking more and they're doing it for wellness.

他們走的更多，而且他們那么做是為了健康。

Wellness is the state of being healthy.

"Wellness"是健康的狀態(tài)。

As a result, trainers have had to change their materials to fabric to make themselves more comfortable.

因此運動鞋不得不將材質(zhì)改為棉布以使自己更舒適。

Not only that, but if you have any foot problems, these fabric, or cloth, trainers are better at fitting to the shape of your foot.

不僅如此，如果你有任何足部問題，這些棉布或布料的運動鞋會更適合你的腳型。

That means if you have any knobbly bits, they won't hurt as much, which makes trainers more comfortable for everyone!

這意味著如果你有任何凸起的地方，它們不會受到太大的傷害，這使得運動鞋對每個人來說都更加舒適！

Knobbly is an adjective that means 'lumpy' – 'having many raised areas on the surface'.

"Knobbly"是一個形容詞，意思是"凹凸不平的"——"表面上有很多凸起的區(qū)域"。

So, it's the combination of a change in fashion and a change in materials that's made trainers and other comfy shoes more popular than ever, right?

因此，時尚的改變與材質(zhì)的改變相結(jié)合使得運動鞋和其它舒適的鞋比以往更受歡迎，對嗎？

Exactly!

正是！

And hard on the heels of that revelation, we can reveal the answer to our quiz question.

緊跟其后的是我們可以揭曉我們測驗問題的答案了。

Earlier I asked which famous sports clothing company's first pair of running shoes was inspired by the square pattern on a waffle-making machine.

早些時候我問，哪家著名的運動服裝公司的第一雙運動鞋的靈感來自于華夫餅機的方形圖案？

Was it: a) Adidas b) Nike, or c) Puma?

它是：a）阿迪達(dá)斯b）耐克，還是c）彪馬？

Neil, you said?

尼爾，你說是？

I said Adidas.

我說是阿迪達(dá)斯。

Sorry. The answer is Nike.

很遺憾。答案是耐克。

In 1971 their co-founder Bill Bowerman was having breakfast when he saw the waffle machine and it inspired the design of Nike's first running shoe.

1971年，他們的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人比爾·鮑爾曼吃早飯的時候看到華夫餅機，這激發(fā)了耐克第一款運動鞋的設(shè)計靈感。

Let's hope it was comfy one.

我們希望它是舒適的。

Aha! It must be time to review our vocabulary!

啊哈！現(xiàn)在是時候回顧我們的詞匯了！

So, first we had comfy – an adjective which is an informal ways of saying 'comfortable'.

所以，首先我們學(xué)習(xí)了"舒適的"——一個形容詞，它是"輕松的"一種非正式的說法。

Then we had casualisation.

然后我們學(xué)了"休閑化"。

This describes the process of things, such as fashion or behaviour, becoming less formal and more casual.

這描述了像時尚或舉止這類事情變得不那么正式和更加隨意的過程。

Next was streetwear.

接下來是街頭風(fēng)。

That describes a style of casual clothing that is worn especially by young people who live in cities.

那描述了特別是居住在城市的年輕人的休閑服裝穿著風(fēng)格。

Then we heard filtered through.

然后我們聽到了"filtered through"。

If something filters through, it appears or happens gradually over time.

如果某事物"filtered through"，它會隨著時間的推移逐漸出現(xiàn)或發(fā)生。

For example, has it filtered through to you yet, Neil, that high heels were a mistake?

例如，到現(xiàn)在你有沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)高跟鞋是一個錯誤？

Yes it has!

是的，有！

They didn't do anything for my wellness, I can tell you, which means'the state of being healthy'.

我可以告訴你，它們對我的健康沒有任何作用，那指的是"健康的狀態(tài)"。

And lastly, we had knobbly.

最后我們學(xué)了"knobbly"。

This adjective means 'lumpy' or 'having many raised areas on the surface' - like skin when it gets cold.

這個形容詞的意思是"凹凸不平的"或"表面有許多凸起的區(qū)域"——?就像冷的時候的皮膚一樣。

Do you have anything knobbly on your foot, Neil?

尼爾，你腳上有什么凸起的地方嗎？

Probably! My feet are killing me!

或許！我的腳快要了我的命了！

I think we've found your Achilles heel!

我想我們已經(jīng)找到了你的致命弱點了！

However, it's time to go.

然而是時候結(jié)束節(jié)目了。

But we will be back.

但我們還會回來的。

In the meantime, you can find us in all the usual places online and on social media, just look for BBC Learning English.

與此同時，你可以在網(wǎng)上和社交媒體上的所有常見地方找到我們，只需查找BBC教學(xué)英語。

Bye for now.

再見了。