The evolution of the coffee cup lid | Small Thing Big Idea, a TED series

Transcriber: TED Translators admin Reviewer: Camille Martínez

翻译人员: Wanting Zhong 校对人员: Zhi Ji

You never give it any thought,

你从不会特别留意它，

and there are billions of them out there,

世界上有几十亿个它的同类，

but the amount of design and passion and creativity

但是这个小小圆盘中 汇聚的设计、热情与创意

that goes into this little disc is remarkable.

实在令人叹服。

[Small thing.]

【小事物】

[Big idea.]

【大智慧】

The coffee cup lid is a lid for your coffee cup.

咖啡杯盖是为 你的咖啡杯准备的盖子。

It snaps on.

它与咖啡杯完美配合。

It has an opening.

它留有供人饮用的开口。

You've got lids with a little latch that opens and closes.

你可以通过一个小锁闩， 打开和关闭这个饮用口。

You've got ones that are in creative shapes.

有的杯盖的形状富有创意。

Coffee cup lids have their own vocabulary.

咖啡杯盖有其专有词汇。

People talk about the "peripheral skirts,"

人们会谈到 “外周裙边 （peripheral skirts）”，

the "press-in dimples," the "fragrance outlets,"

“摁入式凹槽（press-in dimples）”， “香味排出口（fragrance outlets）”，

the "slosh factor."

“泼溅指数（slosh factor）”。

But you need these words,

但你需要这些词汇，

because so much thought and innovation

因为这些咖啡杯盖中

倾注了如此多匠心与创新。

goes into these coffee cup lids.

Our society is just more and more mobile.

我们社会的流动性正在日益增加。

Everything is on the move.

一切都在奔波着。

The good part: it's convenient.

好处是：方便。

You can drink coffee anywhere, you don't have the stay in the diner.

你随时随地都能喝咖啡， 不需要坐在餐厅里饮用。

It can be in the subway. You can be walking.

可以在地铁上。 可以在行走途中。

The bad part is, it's harder to savor a coffee

坏处是，当你拿着咖啡上路时，

when you're taking it on the road.

更难品尝咖啡的风味。

The first patent for a lid on a cup

杯盖的首个专利

was in 1934,

问世于 1934 年，

but it was for cold beverages.

但它是为冷饮设计的。

And in 1950, this guy named James Reifsnyder

1950 年，一个名叫詹姆斯 · 雷夫斯奈德 （James Reifsnyder）的人

invented the first snap-on lid.

发明了第一个扣合式杯盖。

But it didn't have an opening for drinking.

但它并没有供饮用的开口。

In the '60s there was this huge cultural shift,

到了 60 年代， 发生了巨大的文化变迁，

where people started drinking coffee on the move.

人们开始边走边喝咖啡。

And 7-Eleven was the first to sell coffee to go.

7-Eleven 便利店是 首个提供外卖咖啡的店。

And then came this revolution in 1967.

随后是 1967 年的变革。

A man named Alan Frank invented a lid

一个名叫阿兰 · 弗兰克 （Alan Frank）的人设计了一款新杯盖，

that you could peel a tab off,

你可以从杯盖上

like in the shape of a guitar pick,

撕掉一块状似吉他拨片的撕裂片

and drink it from there.

从那儿喝到咖啡。

In 1975, another big advance:

1975 年，又一次重大进步：

you could peel back a tab and attach it to the lid itself.

你可以揭开杯口的小片， 把它卡在盖子上。

So, more and more people started drinking coffee on the go.

于是，越来越多人 开始喝外卖咖啡。

In 1984, a watershed moment in the history of coffee cup lids:

1984 年，人们见证了 咖啡杯盖史的转折点：

the birth of the traveler lid.

旅行杯盖的诞生。

And it is iconic -- you've seen it a million times.

这是个标志性杯盖—— 你见到它不下百万次。

And it solved a whole host of problems.

并且它解决了诸多问题。

It's designed so that you don't splash your face,

它的设计不会让咖啡溅到脸上，

because it's higher than any of the other ones.

因为它比其它杯盖要高。

And it's got this protruding rim,

它有这样的突出杯沿，

so it slightly cools the coffee before it hits your lips.

因而可以在咖啡碰到 嘴唇前对其稍加冷却。

It's got a small depression in the center for your nose,

它的中心有个 为鼻子设计的小凹陷，

so you can really get in there and get maximum aroma.

这样你就能充分沉浸其中， 享受到最浓郁的芬芳。

It's got this tiny air hole that lets the steam out

它有个迷你气孔， 能够排出蒸汽，

and stops it from creating a vacuum.

防止杯内形成负压。

This is one of those objects where you just don't notice it

就是这种毫不起眼的东西，

until it dribbles on your lap.

可以防止咖啡洒在你的裤子上。

So I think the coffee cup lid will just continue to evolve,

我觉得咖啡杯盖还会继续进化，

and you're going to see a move away from single-use plastic lids

你将会看到由一次性塑料杯盖

to lids that are a little more sustainable.

向更加环保的杯盖转变。

We're not going to stop moving.

我们不会停止奔波。

We're not going to stop drinking coffee.

我们不会停止享用咖啡。

And I think that's what these coffee lid engineers are trying to do,

我觉得这就是咖啡杯盖 工程师试图做到的事：

is to make it so that the experience of taking it on the road

在路上喝咖啡

和坐在餐厅里从陶瓷杯中 啜饮咖啡的体验同样惬意。

is as good as sitting in a restaurant, drinking from a ceramic cup.

Because, you know, coffee is serious business.

因为你我皆知， 喝咖啡可是正事。