To multitask is to do several things at the same time — answering a message while cooking, or running more than one job on a computer. The word started with computers: around 1965 it was used as an adjective for a machine that could run more than one task at once; people only started using it as a verb for humans around 1986. Today the verb is the everyday sense.

To multitask是 to do several things at the same time同時做好幾件事, answering a message while cooking像邊煮飯邊回訊息, or running more than one job on a computer或是電腦同時跑好幾個工作。The word這個字 started with computers最早是從電腦開始的: around 1965大約1965年 it was used as an adjective for a machine that could run more than one task at once被當成形容詞，形容能同時跑好幾個工作的機器; people only started using it as a verb for humans around 1986人們要到1986年左右才開始把它當動詞用在人身上。Today現在 the verb這個動詞用法 is the everyday sense是日常最常見的意思。

Though actually, for people it is often a little optimistic. We usually switch from one thing to another very fast, rather than truly doing two hard things at the exact same moment — and a lot of us do it worse than we think.

Though actually不過事實上, for people用在人身上時 it is often a little optimistic常常有點樂觀過頭。We我們 usually switch from one thing to another very fast通常只是很快地在兩件事之間切換, rather than truly doing two hard things at the exact same moment而不是真的同時做兩件難事 — and而且 a lot of us do it worse than we think很多人做起來比自己以為的還差。

Computers still “multitask” in a stricter way. You can say “I can’t multitask today” or “I’m multitasking”; older computing English also had “a multitask system,” but machines now usually say multitasking instead.

Computers電腦 still "multitask" in a stricter way做到的「multitask」還是比較嚴格意義上的那種。You can say你可以說 "I can't multitask today"「I can't multitask today」（今天沒辦法一心多用）or "I'm multitasking"或「I'm multitasking」（我正在一心多用）; older computing English舊式的電腦用語 also had "a multitask system"也有過「a multitask system」這種說法, but machines now usually say multitasking instead不過機器現在通常改說multitasking。