兩個好友面對面坐著喝茶聊天，各自的手機都放在手邊，手機一有響動，便會拿起來看一眼或者回復信息，而兩人的談話便會因此中斷一會兒。這種情況在英語里叫做phubbing。

Phubbing refers to the activity of being impolite in a social situation by looking at your phone instead of paying attention to the person you are with.

Phubbing指在社交場合不關注身邊的人，而是一個勁看手機的不禮貌行為，我們可稱之為“低頭癥”。

Have you ever been chatting to a friend and succumbed to the temptation, mid-conversation, of checking your mobile and apologetically interrupting the flow because you just can't resist replying to a text message? If so, then you're guilty of a 21st century impropriety now known as phubbing. People who can’t help checking their phones during a conversation are known as phubbers.

你有沒有過這樣的經歷，跟朋友聊天的過程中忍不住想看手機，然后很抱歉地暫停你們的對話，因為你實在忍不住要回個短信？如果有的話，那么你就是21世紀無禮行為“低頭癥”的一份子。跟人聊天時老忍不住看手機的人就被稱為“低頭族”。

The word phubbing and its related derivations first appeared in 2012, formed from a blend of the noun phone and verb snub meaning 'to insult someone by ignoring them'.

Phubbing一詞及其衍生詞最早出現在2012年，由名詞phone和表示“怠慢”的動詞snub組合而成。

Opinion polls indicate that a one-to-one conversation is the most frustrating situation in which to be phubbed, causing the victim to feel as if the other person is disinterested in them or the conversation in general. Travelling with someone in a car or on public transport, however, is deemed to be the most 'acceptable' situation in which phubbing could take place. (Source: macmillandictionary.com)

調查顯示，一對一的談話中出現“低頭癥”是最讓人崩潰的狀況，因為受害方會覺得對方對自己或他們的談話內容不感興趣。同別人乘車或公共交通工具出行時則是“低頭癥”最易被接受的場合。

相關閱讀

你手機里有“膨脹軟件”嗎？

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手機保姆 smartphone nanny

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（中國日報網英語點津 Helen）

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