核心畫面

Picture a date stuck on everything people make: the day it was printed, the day it was built, the day it stops counting. Time keeps walking forward, and sooner or later the thing is left standing behind that date, outside the stretch of time where it fitted. The thing itself has not changed at all — the world around it has. Out-of-date names that position: still here, still in your hand, but no longer inside its own date.

可以想成每樣東西身上都掛著一個日期:印出來的那天、做出來的那天,或是有效到哪一天。時間一直往前走,走著走著,那樣東西更多收起可以想成每樣東西身上都掛著一個日期:印出來的那天、做出來的那天,或是有效到哪一天。時間一直往前走,走著走著,那樣東西就被留在日期後面,掉到它原本適用的那段時間之外。東西本身其實沒有變,是周圍的世界變了。out-of-date 講的就是這個位置:它還在你手上,只是已經不在自己的日期裡面了。

Two branches

被時間留在後面的資料和東西

這一家最貼近核心畫面:東西沒有壞、也沒有寫錯,只是時間往前走,它留在原地。判斷靠的是「跟現在比起來如何」。

adjective · B1

Describing information that comes from an earlier time, so it may no longer match the way things are now and may no longer be correct.

過時的

過了有效期限的文件

核心畫面裡的日期是慢慢被時間拋在後面;這一家的日期則是官方畫下的一條線,跨過去就不算數。同一個畫面,多了一個明確的期限。

adjective · B1

If an official document is out-of-date, the period of time it was valid for has ended, so it can no longer be used.

過期的