A cataclysm is a sudden, violent event that tears a before from an after — a flood that swallows a city, an earthquake that splits the ground, a war or eruption that ends a way of life. The oldest picture inside the word is a flood that covers everything; that picture is still there, even when nobody is talking about water.

A cataclysm浩劫 is a sudden, violent event that tears a before from an after是一場突然、劇烈，把「之前」和「之後」硬生生撕開的事件 — a flood that swallows a city像吞沒一座城市的洪水, an earthquake that splits the ground把地面撕裂的地震, a war or eruption that ends a way of life或是終結一種生活方式的戰爭或火山爆發。 The oldest picture inside the word這個字最古老的畫面 is a flood that covers everything是一場淹沒一切的大洪水; that picture is still there這個畫面依然還在, even when nobody is talking about water即使沒有人在講水的事。

Newspapers like it for huge disasters. In ordinary talk it can sound a little grand: a broken phone is not a cataclysm, though a teenager might say so for a joke.

Newspapers報紙 like it for huge disasters喜歡拿它來講重大災難。 In ordinary talk在日常對話裡, it它 can sound a little grand聽起來會有點誇張：a broken phone is not a cataclysm手機壞了不算浩劫, though a teenager might say so for a joke雖然青少年可能會開玩笑這麼說。

Though actually, people now stretch it to any change so big the world afterwards does not feel like the same world — not only nature, but a market crash or the fall of a government.

Though actually不過事實上, people now stretch it to any change so big現在大家會把它用在任何大到讓事後的世界感覺不再一樣的改變上 the world afterwards does not feel like the same world — not only nature不只是自然災害, but a market crash or the fall of a government也可以是股市崩盤或政府垮台。