每日一词学英语(21): Zeitgeist

这个词源于德语，对应的日语是“時代精神(じだいせいしん)”，中文的“时代精神”应该是外来语，来自日语，因为中文的“时代”和“精神”好像都是日语外来语。英文解释：The spirit of the age; the taste, outlook, and spirit characteristic of a period.

Google每年要举办“时代精神会议”(Google’s annual Zeitgeist conference), where movers and shakers go to discuss the big ideas of the day, share important insights and, as a general rule, not wear ties.业界精英在会上讨论新点子、分享新见解，并且有个惯例，就是都不打领带。今年的会上，有位来自亚马逊热带雨林的酋长不光没打领带，甚至戴了一顶镶着羽毛的帽子。

查尔斯王子出席了会议并发表讲话，他西装革履，独树一帜(Prince Charles addresses Google Zeitgeist conference... in a tie)。在会上他做了主题演讲，打破了外界对他不喜欢网络技术的看法。

Until recently the world assumed that the Prince was the sort of technophobe who scarcely knew what the internet was and thought that Twitter was how birds communicated. Not any more: this invitation, and the launch of the Prince’s rainforest video on MySpace, has revealed that he is almost as media-savvy as his mother, who is 83.
看来查尔斯和他83岁的妈妈一样，与时俱进，对新鲜事物不甘落后，颇具时代精神(Zeitgeist)。