Ping-Pong or Table Tennis: Which Is Correct?Ping-Pong和Table Tennis哪个对？

Perhaps a look at the history of table tennis/ping-pong will give us a clue as to what we should be calling our favorite sport.

该如何称呼这项备受喜爱的运动——table tennis还是ping-pong？或许，追溯其历史渊源能够为我们提供一些启示。

According to the ITTF website， the first use of the name “Table Tennis” appeared on a board and dice game made by J. H. Singer of New York in 1887， showing that the phrase “table tennis” had been around at least since then.

国际乒联网站的资料显示，table tennis这一名称最早见于1887年，当时纽约的J. H. 辛格公司在其设计的棋盘和骰子游戏中首次使用了这一词语。这表明table tennis这一名称至少从那时起就已存在。

In 1901， John Jacques registered “Ping-Pong” as a trade name in England， and the American rights were sold to Parker Brothers. On the 12th of December 1901， “The Table Tennis Association” was formed in England and four days later， “The Ping-Pong Association” was also formed in England. These two associations would later merge in 1903 to become “The United Table Tennis and Ping-Pong Association”， and then would eventually change back to “The Table Tennis Association” before dying out in 1904.

1901年，约翰·雅克在英国将Ping-Pong注册为商标，而美国的商标使用权则转售给了帕克兄弟。同年12月12日，The Table Tennis Association在英国成立。仅四天后，The Ping-Pong Association也在英国成立。这两个协会于1903年合并为The United Table Tennis and Ping-Pong Association，后又改回The Table Tennis Association，直至1904年解散。

This seems to suggest that the names ping-pong and table tennis were fairly interchangeable at the origin of the sport. And as Parker Brothers were apparently very aggressive in protecting their rights to the trade name “Ping-Pong” in America， it is perhaps understandable that when the game began to revive in England and Europe in the 1920’s， the name table tennis was preferred to ping-pong to avoid trademark disputes. It would also explain why the governing body of the sport is the International Table Tennis.

这段历史说明，在这项运动兴起初期，ping-pong和table tennis这两个名称是可以互换使用的。由于帕克兄弟在美国极力维护其对Ping-Pong这个商标的使用权，在1920年代，当这项运动在英国和欧洲其他国家复兴时，人们更倾向于使用table tennis而非ping-pong来避免商标纠纷。这也是这项运动的管理机构国际乒乓球联合会（International Table Tennis Foundation，ITTF）的名称中用table tennis的原因。

So as far as history is concerned， the names ping-pong and table tennis were equally valid when referring to the sport.

在历史上，ping-pong和table tennis这两个名称都可以用来指代这项运动。

In modern times， it seems that our sport has split into two camps—the recreational players who tend to use the phrase ping-pong and table tennis interchangeably and treat it as a game or past-time， and the serious players who call it table tennis almost exclusively and view it as a sport. （This distinction stands with the possible exception of China， where apparently the phrase ping-pong is still popular for the sport and past-time.）

如今似乎已经分化成两个阵营——业余球员将这项运动视为一种游戏或消遣活动，随意地在ping-pong和table tennis两个名称之间切换；而专业球员则将其看作一项真正的竞技运动，几乎只使用table tennis一词。（当然也存在例外，在中国，ping-pong［乒乓］一直广泛用于指代这项运动及消遣活动。）

While most recreational players don’t really care what the sport is called （as they are too busy having fun）， some serious players take offense at the sport being called ping-pong， associating the phrase with basement level play. They believe that the name table tennis should be used exclusively， since they feel that this is more appropriate for the image of the sport.

大多数业余球员并不太在意这项运动的确切命名（因为他们更忙于享受其中的乐趣）。然而，一些专业球员却对ping-pong这一叫法颇有微词，他们认为这个名称容易让人联想到低层次的消遣而已。因此，他们主张仅使用table tennis，这样更符合这项运动的形象。

Nowadays I really don’t care whether the general public or other players call the sport ping-pong or table tennis as long as they are talking about it！ Although I must admit， in my own conversation I will always use table tennis， since I’ve been using that name for so long it just feels natural. And if someone else calls the sport ping-pong， I tend to think that person is a beginner.

如今我真的不在乎大众或是其他球员如何命名这项运动。只要是在谈论这项运动，无论是ping-pong还是table tennis都可以！可我必须承认，我私下里会一直称其为table tennis，这是由于多年来我已经习惯如此了，这种叫法感觉更加自然。如果有人称其为ping-pong，我会倾向于认为他/她是一个初学者。

Perhaps we should call the serious sport table tennis， and the fun basement version ping-pong？ While both phrases are technically1 correct， I’d certainly recommend that new players who are visiting a table tennis club or playing in their first tournament stick to using table tennis instead of ping-pong. That way you’ll always be correct， and you won’t risk offending any serious players who might not like the sport being called ping-pong—although I personally think the sport faces more important challenges at present than whether people call it ping-pong or table tennis.

我们不妨用table tennis指代严肃的体育项目，而用ping-pong指代低层次的娱乐活动。虽然事实上这两个词语都正确，但我还是建议初学者在初入俱乐部或参加比赛首秀时使用table tennis而不是ping-pong。如此一来就能确保一直不会叫错，也不会冒犯到反对将这一运动称为ping-pong的专业球员。不过我个人认为，这项运动目前面临的其他挑战远比人们如何命名它要严峻得多。

As Shakespeare might say if he was around today—“the game， by any other name， would be as sweet” but maybe our motto should be “don’t worry how you say it—just play it！”

如果莎士比亚仍在世，他可能会说：“无论这项运动叫什么名字，都会同样精彩。”但也许我们的座右铭应该是：“别纠结于如何去叫它，只管去打！”

（译者单位：华中科技大学外国语学院）

1 technically事实上，严格说来。