Language changes so quickly that sometimes it's hard to keep up.
语言变化是如此之快以至于有时候没有办法跟上它们的步伐。

I guess that's why series like this come in handy!
我想我们这样的系列节目用处就体现在此吧。

There are areas that change quicker than others: technology, politics, business...
语言在有很多领域变化要比别的领域变化得更快，如技术领域，政治领域，商业领域……

In technology you'll often find lots of acronyms such as BRB (be right back - used in online chat), and in the worlds of business and politics you're more likely to come across examples of euphemism, aphorism and 'political correctness', where new terms are coined to hide otherwise unpleasant or controversial ideas.
在技术领域，大家可能经常会发现像是BRB（马上就回——网上聊天用语）这一类的首字母缩写词，而在生意和政治场合，也会很有可能遇见像‘委婉说法’、‘格言’以及‘识时务’这些用来避免其它会引起不愉快的或是有争议的意见的单词。

Who can forget such immortal phrases as, 'greed is good' and 'lunch is for wimps' - both coined by the Gordon Gecko character in the film Wall Street?
没有人会忘记像是这一类的不朽的表达：‘贪婪是个好东西’以及‘午餐是为懦夫准备的’——这两个都来自于Gordon Gecko主演的电影《华尔街》。

Both expressions perfectly describe supposedly common aspects of corporate attitudes in the eighties, and are well-remembered today.
两者都很好地描述了想象中的80年代的普遍企业理念，今天也还在被大家牢牢地记着。

And it's from the world of business that the word 'downsize' originated.
downsize这个单词正是从商业领域中产生的。

Today, you're most likely to see the word used as a euphemism for 'firing staff', or reducing the work force within a company.
今天，大家也许很可能看到这个单词被当成‘开除某人’或者‘裁减公司成员’的委婉语。

'Given current sales, we're going to have to downsize by thirty percent.'
如：鉴于眼下的销售量，我们将裁减3%的员工。

Popular opinion has it that saying this is less painful, and more acceptable, than saying 'We're going to have to fire thirty percent of the staff'.
一般的理解是，这样说会没有直接说‘我们要开除3%的员工’那么伤人并且会让人容易接受一点。

Of course the result is the same, but at least the person doing the 'downsizing' gets to feel a little more comfortable.
当然，结果都是一样的，这最多让负责裁员的人感觉好受一点罢了。

The word seems to have originated in the automobile industry in the seventies, where oil prices forced companies to design smaller cars which were lighter and therefore more economical on petrol usage.
这个单词好像是出自70年代的汽车领域。当时汽油的价格迫使很多公司设计出更小型的汽车，好以经济更轻的车身减少汽油的使用。

I wouldn't get too used to this one, though.
但是对我来说这个没什么说服力。

The same people who use the expression seem to have decided that 'down' has negative connotations, so these days you're just as likely to hear of a company being 'rightsized'.
而用这个短语的人群可能觉得单词down暗含消极的意思，所以现在大家最可能听到的是公司们用另外的词（来取代downsized）:rightsized裁员。

Of course, if you lose your job, it doesn't really matter if you've been downsized or rightsized!
当然，如果你失去你的工作，裁员不管是用downsize还是用rightsize都跟你没什么关系。