特別推薦：世界杯雙語大觀

住過集體宿舍的人大概都曾經為了躲避干活兒找過借口吧。躲來躲去，最后那任務可能還是會落到自己的身上，也不知道最開始那么耍賴躲著是為了什么。在英語里，這種狀況是有名字的，叫做roommate chicken。

Roommate chicken refers to the condition where a group of people sharing a living space each avoid doing a household chore for an extended period because each believes it's someone else's responsibility. The idea is that eventually the situation will reach a critical mass where the guilty party will cave in and do the chore.

Roommate chicken（暫譯為“室友耍賴游戲”）指的是這樣一個狀況：一群人共享一個居住空間，而在一段很長的時間里，每個人都躲著不做家務，因為大家都認為做家務是別人的事。到最后，實在忍受不下去的時候，自認有愧的一方會退一步，把家務都給做了。

Chicken is the name of a game, which is an influential model of conflict for two players in game theory. The principle of the game is that while each player prefers not to yield to the other, the outcome where neither player yields is the worst possible one for both players.

這里的chicken是一個游戲的名字，是游戲理論中對雙方玩家很有影響力的一個游戲模式。這個游戲的原則是，雖然游戲雙方都不愿意屈服于對方，但是雙方都不認輸的結局對兩方玩家來說卻是最糟糕的結局。

For example:

-"I'm not going to do the dishes. It's your turn."

我才不洗碗呢，該你了。

-"Yeah, but 90% of them are from the dinner you made for your girlfriend. I'm not cleaning up your mess."

是該我了，但是百分之九十的碗碟都是你給你女朋友做飯拿出來的。我才不給你收拾爛攤子呢。

-"I'm not playing roommate chicken with you on this. Clean it up!"

我沒空跟你推來搡去。洗碗去！

-"I'll die before I clean your mess."

要我給你洗碗，除非我死了。

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（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

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