英语知识丨揭秘：圆形的披萨为什么装在方形的盒子里？

Why do round pizzas come in square boxes?｜揭秘：圆形的披萨为什么装在方形的盒子里？

If you’re like most people, you’re too busy eating pizza to stop and consider the logistics of how it arrived on your kitchen counter. Ponder it long enough, though, and you may find it curious that pies usually come in square or other boxes that are a geometric departure from the round crust. So why don’t pizzas arrive in round cardboard boxes?

如果你和多数人一样，你一般会只顾着吃披萨而非关心披萨是怎么来到你的餐桌上的。但如果你好好思量一下，你可能会好奇为什么披萨往往都装在和圆形披萨形状不同的方形或其他形状的盒子里。那么为什么披萨不装在圆形纸板盒里呢？

It’s mostly because the pizza industry doesn’t really care to disrupt the cardboard industry. Cardboard boxes are usually manufactured with edges (i.e. square or rectangular) because they can be made in one piece as well as neatly stacked.

这很大程度上是因为披萨产业无意给纸板盒产业找麻烦。纸板盒一般都是有棱角的（比如正方形或长方形），因为这样的盒子可以一次成型，而且也容易堆放整齐。

The advantage of making a round pizza box would mainly be aesthetic. It’s not going to save space over an edged box. In the case of frozen pizzas, stacking pies vertically runs the risk of them rolling out of place. It’s just bad pizza management.

制作圆形披萨盒的主要优点是好看，但是它并不比有棱角的盒子节省空间。在存放冷冻披萨时，竖着堆放披萨盒会让披萨滚走，从而变得不好收拾。

Of course, there are exceptions. Many pizzerias offer sheet or Sicilian-style pizzas, which are served in a rectangular shape and better conform to a rectangular box. And some chains have toyed with the conventional pizza box shape. Domino’s has a six-sided design with tapered front edges intended to reduce the cardboard used and limit the company’s carbon footprint. (It also reportedly keeps the pizza from sliding around.)

当然也有例外。许多披萨店会提供长方形饼底的薄底披萨或西西里风格披萨，这样装在长方形纸盒里更合适。还有一些连锁店对传统披萨纸盒进行了改造。达美乐披萨推出了一种锥形边缘的六边形披萨盒，旨在减少纸板用量，限制企业的碳足迹。（据称还能防止披萨在纸盒中四处滑动。）

Pizza wasn’t always relegated to square cardboard. In the 1800s, street sellers carried pies in portable metal containers that kept them warm. When pizza started rising in popularity in postwar America, pizzerias used a single piece of cardboard as support and then slipped the pie into a paper bag. Eventually, corrugated cardboard struck a fine balance between retaining heat without trapping too much moisture.

披萨并不是一直装在方形纸盒里的。19世纪的街头小贩曾将披萨装在便携的保温金属容器中。后来，披萨在战后的美国变得越来受欢迎，披萨店就用一块纸板托起披萨放入纸袋里。最后，披萨店就采用了瓦楞纸板来做披萨盒，既可以保温，又不会让太多湿气留在盒子里。

Will we ever see a radical rethink of the pizza box? Some people have tried. In 2010, Apple filed for a patent for a round pizza container with holes so moisture can escape. It’s used in the company’s food courts. Another company, World Centric, designed a compostable round box in 2018 that can be used to reheat pizza. A similar product was test-marketed by Pizza Hut in 2019. All of the designs boasted of keeping pizzas warmer and crispier for longer, but none have become ubiquitous.

未来披萨盒是否会有大创新呢？有些人已经尝试过了。2010年，苹果公司给一种有孔的圆形披萨盒申请了专利，通过小孔可以散发掉披萨的湿气。这种披萨盒被用于苹果公司的食堂中。还有一家名为World Centric的公司在2018年设计出一种可以用来重新加热披萨的可降解圆形披萨盒。必胜客在2019年也试销过一款类似的产品。所有这些设计都声称可以让披萨保温更久，更长时间地保留酥脆口感，但是没有一款被成功推广。

For the most part, you’re still likely to encounter square boxes. Pizza is, after all, about finding comfort in the familiar.

大多数时候，你还是会见到方形的披萨盒。毕竟，吃披萨就是从熟悉的感觉中寻找慰藉。

ponder

英 [ˈpɒndə(r)]；美 [ˈpɑːndər]

v. 思索；考虑

geometric

英 [ˌdʒiːəˈmetrɪk]；美 [ˌdʒiːəˈmetrɪk]

adj. 几何图形的

tapered

英 ['teɪpəd]；美 ['teɪpəd]

adj.锥形的

corrugated

英[ˈkɒrəgeɪtɪd]；美[ˈkɔrəgeɪtɪd]

adj.（金属、纸板）瓦楞状的

compostable

英 [kəmˈpɒstəbl]；美 [ kəmˈpoʊstəbl]

adj.可降解的；可用作堆肥的