第1601期:What makes us late?

As the saying goes, ‘time waits for no man’. Time is always against us, and we just can’t stop it. Maybe that’s why some of us are always running late for appointments. But if timekeeping is not what you’re good at, don’t stress. There might be a good reason for your lack of punctuality.

俗话说，‘时间不等人’。时间总是与我们作对，我们无法阻止它。也许这就是为什么我们中的一些人总是约会迟到的原因。但如果计时不是你擅长的，不要紧张。你不守时可能有充分的理由。

People’s attitudes to being on time vary. Some clock-watch and make sure they’re bang on time for a meeting. It is, after all, rude to be late, and if you can make it on time, why can’t everyone else? But if, like me, you want to make every second count, you might try to squeeze as much as you can into the time you have available. However, when your schedule doesn’t run to plan, your punctuality inevitably slips.

人们对准时的态度各不相同。一些时钟手表，并确保他们准时开会。毕竟迟到是不礼貌的，如果你能准时赶到，为什么其他人就不能呢？但是，如果像我一样，你想让每一秒都很重要，你可能会尝试尽可能多地挤进你有空的时间。但是，当您的日程安排没有按计划进行时，您的准时性不可避免地会下降。

People who lack promptness have been described as ‘time benders’. Author Grace Pacie told the BBC that “they’re the people who don’t want to be late, but they have a strange resistance to being early, and they don’t allow enough time.” They assume their journey to an appointment will always go smoothly, and the train will always be on time!

缺乏及时性的人被描述为“时间扭曲者”。作家格蕾丝·帕西（Grace Pacie）告诉 BBC，“他们是不想迟到的人，但他们对早起有一种奇怪的抵抗力，而且他们没有足够的时间。”他们认为他们的约会之旅总是会顺利进行，而且火车总是准时！

Perceptions of unpunctual people are almost always negative – even if sometimes wrong. Writing for the BBC, Laura Clarke says: “Being consistently late might not be your fault. It could be your type. The punctually-challenged often share personality characteristics, such as optimism, low levels of self-control, anxiety, or a penchant for thrill-seeking, experts say. It is also possible people are late so not to be conspicuous and to avoid the anxious wait for others to turn up.

对不守时的人的看法几乎总是消极的——即使有时是错误的。劳拉·克拉克为 BBC 撰稿时说：“一直迟到可能不是你的错。它可能是你的类型。专家说，准时挑战者通常具有共同的性格特征，例如乐观、自我控制水平低、焦虑或喜欢寻求刺激。也有可能人们迟到了，所以不要太显眼，避免焦急地等待其他人出现。

Maybe us latecomers should make more of an effort and follow the advice I heard to not ‘try’ to be on time but ‘decide’ to be on time. But I know if a meeting or a deadline really matters, then I’ll be there. Otherwise relax, even if others are cursing you!

也许我们后来者应该更加努力，并遵循我听到的建议，不要“尝试”准时，而是“决定”准时。但我知道如果会议或截止日期真的很重要，那么我会在那里。否则放松，即使别人在诅咒你！

词汇表

time waits for no man 时不我待
running late 迟到
timekeeping 守时
be on time 准时
clock-watch 不停地看表
bang on time 非常准时，正好准时
make every second count 争分夺秒
schedule 日程安排表
promptness 准时，及时
time bender “弯曲时间的人”，总想在有限时间内做过多的事，从而导致经常迟到的人
unpunctual 不准时的
punctually-challenged 不守时的人
penchant 倾向
conspicuous 显眼的
latecomer 迟到的人
deadline 截止日期，最后期限