沒有人來的那幾個月
開關關掉的是生意：旅館、小店、觀光小鎮的人潮停了，整段時間就用這個字叫。
noun · B1
The quiet part of the year for a place or a business that lives on visitors — the months when few people are travelling or taking holidays, so trade is slow.
淡季
核心畫面
A year with a switch on it. For part of the year the thing is on — the hotels are full, the games are played, the town is loud. Then the switch goes off, and the same place keeps existing with nothing running: shutters down, empty stands, half-price rooms. Off-season is the name for the stretch while the switch is off.
可以把一年想成裝了一個開關。一年裡有一段是開著的：旅館客滿、比賽照打、小鎮很吵。然後開關被關掉，同一個地方還在，只是…更多收起
可以把一年想成裝了一個開關。一年裡有一段是開著的：旅館客滿、比賽照打、小鎮很吵。然後開關被關掉，同一個地方還在，只是什麼都沒有在跑：鐵門拉下、看台空著、房價砍半。off-season 就是拿來叫那段「開關關著」的時間。From the word’s history
From off- plus season.
Wiktionary 記載這個字是 off- 加上 season 組成的。off- 帶著「不在運作、關起來」的意思，所以整個字就是一年當中那件事沒有在運轉的那一段。
Wiktionary entry for off-season (etymology: From off- + season), supplied in the evidence packet
Two branches
球季之外的那半年
一樣是開關關著，只是關掉的是比賽。場上沒事，但場下的人一點都沒閒著。
noun · B1
The part of the year when a sport is not being played, between the end of one season and the start of the next — the months when players train, rest and change teams instead of competing.
球季之外的時期