Josh Is the Name, and They Will Fight You for It

 

「喬許」是個名字，他們會為此與你而戰

【摘要2021.5.9.自由】◎黃靖媗

Every time Josh Swain went to register for a social media account under his name, he was foiled. "It’s always been taken,"Mr. Swain said. What’s even more bizarre： "I have never met a Josh Swain."

每當喬許．斯溫用他的名字去註冊社群媒體帳號時，都會受挫。「它總是被佔走」，斯溫說，更奇怪的是，「我從來沒見過一個叫喬許．斯溫的人」。

Last year, he found nine other Josh Swains and invited them to a group chat to settle the matter.

去年，他找到9名其他的喬許．斯溫，並且邀請他們進入群組聊天，以解決這個問題。

"Precisely, 4/24/2021, 12：00 PM, meet at these coordinates"he wrote one morning to a group of strangers. "We fight, whoever wins gets to keep the name, everyone else has to change their name."

「2021年4月21日下午12點整，在這些座標見面」，他在一天早上，向一群陌生人寫道。「我們戰鬥，贏家將能保有名字，其他人都必須改名」。

Mr. Swain was becoming convinced that somebody else named Josh Swain might actually show up.

斯溫開始相信，會有些名字叫喬許．斯溫的人真的出現。

He arrived at the park around 11 a.m. to scope out the location. By Mr. Swain’s estimation, about 1,000 people turned out, all prepared for a good-humored romp.

他大約於上午11點抵達公園，並勘察現場。據斯溫估計，大約有千人到場，他們全都準備好參加一場幽默的嬉戲。

新聞辭典

foil：動詞，挫敗、阻止。例句：The jail escape plan was foiled.（逃獄計畫被阻止了。）

settle：動詞，解決、結束（爭端）。例句：She wants to get this matter settled as soon as possible.（她想要儘快解決這件事。）

scope out：動詞，仔細觀察。例句：The robots can scope out potentially hazardous situations.（這台機器人可以觀察潛在的危險情況。）