時尚界每一季都有流行趨勢報告，告訴人們近期都流行哪些風格的服飾。而在我們每天的生活中，很多風潮都是一吹而過，盛行時人盡皆知，過去后無人記起。比如曾經傳遍北京大街小巷的“掉渣餅”，掛在每個人嘴邊的“打醬油”，還有全民買基金的風潮。

A fad is any form of behavior that develops among a large population and is collectively followed with enthusiasm for some period, generally as a result of the behavior's being perceived as novel in some way. A fad is said to "catch on" when the number of people adopting it begins to increase rapidly. The behavior will normally fade quickly once the perception of novelty is gone.

Fad指因其新奇性而在一段時間內被廣泛普及并受到人們追捧的某種行為，我們稱之為“曇花一現的潮流”。當追隨這一潮流的人數迅速增加的時候，我們就可以說這個潮流開始“流行”。通常來說，一旦其新奇性消失，這種潮流就會迅速消亡。

The specific nature of the behavior associated with a fad can be of any type including language usage, apparel, financial investment, and even food. Apart from general novelty, fads may be driven by mass media programming, emotional excitement, peer pressure, or the desire of 'being hip'.

可稱為“曇花一現的潮流”的行為可以是任何形式的，包括語言的使用、服飾、金融投資，甚至食物。除其本身的新奇性之外，這些潮流也可能因為受到大眾傳媒節目、情緒激動、同伴壓力或者“想要走在潮流前端”的愿望等因素影響而流行起來。

Though the term trend may be used interchangeably with fad, a fad is generally considered a fleeting behavior whereas a trend is considered to be a behavior that evolves into a relatively permanent change. (Source: Wikipedia)

雖然trend（潮流、趨勢）一詞可與fad互用，不過，fad通常指轉瞬即逝的行為，而trend多指能夠帶來永久改變的一些趨勢和行為。

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（中國日報網英語點津 Helen）

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