A man-made fibre that stretches a long way and springs back to its original shape. It is almost never used alone — a small percentage is mixed into cotton or nylon so that leggings, swimsuits, cycling shorts, and stretchy jeans hug the body and keep their shape after washing. Look at a clothing label and you will see something like '95% cotton, 5% spandex'.

A man-made fibre一種人造纖維 that stretches a long way可以拉伸很長 and springs back to its original shape又能彈回原本的形狀。It is almost never used alone它幾乎不會單獨使用 — a small percentage is mixed into cotton or nylon而是以一小部分比例混進棉或尼龍裡 so that leggings, swimsuits, cycling shorts, and stretchy jeans好讓內搭褲、泳衣、自行車褲，還有彈性牛仔褲 hug the body and keep their shape after washing貼合身體，而且洗過之後還能保持形狀。Look at a clothing label看一下衣服標籤 and you will see something like你會看到像 '95% cotton, 5% spandex'「95% cotton, 5% spandex」（95%棉、5%彈性纖維）這樣的字樣。

The naming is regional and worth knowing: spandex is the American word, elastane is the standard word in Europe, and Lycra is a brand name (originally DuPont's) that many people use for the material generally, rather as people say Post-it or Band-Aid. All three mean the same fibre.

The naming is regional and worth knowing這個字的說法因地區而不同，值得知道: spandex is the American wordspandex是美式說法, elastane is the standard word in Europeelastane是歐洲的標準說法, and Lycra is a brand name (originally DuPont's)Lycra則是一個品牌名（原本是杜邦公司的） that many people use for the material generally很多人拿來泛指這種材質, rather as people say Post-it or Band-Aid就像大家把Post-it（便利貼）或Band-Aid（OK繃）當成通用說法一樣。All three這三個字 mean the same fibre全都是指同一種纖維。

In Taiwan the label most often reads 彈性纖維 or 萊卡, and 萊卡 is the brand-as-common-name, the way Lycra works in English.

In Taiwan the label most often reads 彈性纖維 or 萊卡在台灣，標籤上最常寫「彈性纖維」或「萊卡」, and 萊卡 is the brand-as-common-name而「萊卡」是把品牌名當成通用說法在用, the way Lycra works in English就跟英文裡Lycra的用法一樣。

The word is uncountable — 'a little spandex in the fabric', not 'a spandex'.

The word is uncountable這個字是不可數名詞 — 'a little spandex in the fabric'可以說「a little spandex in the fabric」（布料裡有一點spandex）, not 'a spandex'但不會說「a spandex」。

It also has a joking life in English: 'a man in spandex' conjures superhero costumes or 1980s aerobics videos, and the phrase is usually meant to raise a smile.

It also has a joking life in English在英文裡它也有一種好玩、開玩笑的用法: 'a man in spandex'「a man in spandex」（穿著緊身衣的男人） conjures superhero costumes or 1980s aerobics videos會讓人聯想到超級英雄的緊身衣，或是1980年代的有氧體操影片, and the phrase is usually meant to raise a smile而且這種說法通常是想引人一笑。