網友上傳的一張合成圖 A composite photo from netizens

你覺得自己是個普通青年、文藝青年、二逼青年還是別的什么青年？
Would you describe yourself as ordinary, artistic, idiotic, or maybe something else?
 
近幾天，一個用來描述中國青年的新詞在國內主要社交網站上炸開了鍋，該詞其實由三個獨立的詞語組成。
Over the past few days, the creation of a new word, which is a combination of three individual words, to describe Chinese youth has created a major buzz on the country's leading social network websites.
 
“普文二”一詞由普通、文藝和二逼這三個詞組合而成，是近日網絡上火爆的一個新興說法，指的是中國那些普通、文藝而又二逼的青年人。
"Pu-wen-er", which combines the abbreviations for putong (ordinary), wenyi (artistic) and erbi (idiotic), has become the hot new expression to describe China's ordinary, artistic and idiotic youth.
 
這個詞兒很詼諧地將三種青年歸類到同一個標簽下，廣受歡迎。成千上萬的年輕人紛紛在網絡上給自己貼上標簽。
The three words, which allow three items to be humorously grouped together under the same category, has become hugely popular, as tens of thousands of young people rushed to tag themselves on the Internet.
 
這一切都始于10月24日，網友“大仙”在豆瓣網發起活動來比較這三類青年的區別。短短幾天，活動就吸引了十幾萬人參與，網友們用五花八門的合成圖和段子詮釋著當下青年們的現實生活。
It all started around Oct. 24 when a netizen named "Daxian" launched a campaign on Douban.com to compare the differences between three kinds of young people. In just a few days, the campaign attracted tens of thousands of composite photos and phrases posted by netizens as they sought to interpret modern life through the younger generation's eyes.
 
這些合成圖通常包含一個青年的三種形象：普通、文藝和二逼，分別指代此人的普通屬性、文藝范兒及“犯二”表現。
The composite photos usually consisted of three images of a young person in his or her ordinary, artistic and idiotic forms, representing his or her ordinary characteristics, cultural sensibility and funny or socially awkward deeds respectively.
 
網友們還在社交網站上貼出一些名人、動物、植物、卡通人物及游戲角色的合成圖，來戲謔他們經典的三種“普文二”狀態。
Netizens also posted composite photos of celebrities, animals, plants, cartoon characters and video game characters with three apparent pu-wen-er statuses on social network websites.
 
與圖片類似，網上的一些段子也用以描述文藝青年的小資、浪漫情結以及二逼青年搞笑、過于直白而沒心沒肺的生活態度。
Similar to the photos, the phrases also attempt to describe the rosy, romantic mood of artistic youth and the humorous or extremely frank attitude of idiotic youth.

三種青年都有各自的擁躉者。普通青年是正常、低調的代名詞，文藝青年偏向浪漫情懷，而二逼青年往往直白坦蕩、特立獨行，或者說是喜歡“犯二”。
The three types of youth have their own fans. "Pu" fans enjoy a low profile, ordinary life; "wen" fans prefer a more romantic outlook, while "er" fans love to be frank, unique or idiotic, as the mood takes them.
 
這種新的分類當然激發了網友們的奇思妙想。天津網友“兔子抽”感慨道：“自從有了這個活動，看什么都自動分類的有木有！”
The new classification has certainly caught the imagination of Internet users. A netizen called "Tuzichou" from Tianjin wrote: "Since pu-wen-er was invented, I couldn't help classifying everything I can see into three types."
 
不過，《中國青年報》的一篇文章指出，將一個人歸類到某個特定的群體是很難做到的。比方說，一個人面對陌生人就可能是個普通青年，在親密的朋友面前會有點肆無忌憚，而一個人獨處時又會多愁善感。
However, an article in the China Youth Daily pointed out that it's not easy to place individuals into one, fixed group. For instance, a person might be ordinary when facing strangers, outgoing among close friends and sentimental when alone.
 
“每個人都有普文二的瞬間，每個人都是普文二三青一體。”網友“春風春雨有時好”如是說。
"Everyone has a moment of pu, wen or er respectively, and everyone could have pu-wen-er characteristics at the same time," wrote a netizen named "Chunfeng chunyu youshihao."
 
“三種青年就好像三個自我。”中國人民大學心理健康專職咨詢師侯瑞鶴老師認為，“普通青年更多地表現屈從于大眾規則的社會自我，二逼青年則在壓力之下采取一種過度補償的方式反抗規則，直白天真，沒心沒肺。文藝青年在社會自我和個人自我之間求得一種平衡，但多少有點回避壓力的意味。”
"The three types reflect three aspects of a person," said Hou Ruihe, a psychologist and counselor at Renmin University of China. "The ordinary type adheres to common social principles, the idiotic type attempts to fight against conventions and pressures, while the artistic type seeks a balance between his or her social role and sense of individuality."
 
華僑大學副教授肖北嬰表示，熱衷給普文二青年分類的這些人往往輕浮，可能引發網絡文化的誤讀誤導。
According to Xiao Beiying, an associate professor at Huaqiao University, pu-wen-er fans tend to behave frivolously and the phenomenon might lead to the misunderstanding of Internet culture.

不過，浙江師范大學李震教授持有不同意見。他認為，“普文二”青年這個名詞的出現和傳播是青年緩解壓力和力圖獲得社會聚焦的重要手段。
However, Li Zhen, a professor at Zhejiang Normal University, disagreed with that assertion, commenting that the creation and spreading of pu-wen-er is an important way for young people to deal with pressure and stresses and improve social focus.

(China.org.cn by Zhou Jing November 14, 2011, Wendy 譯)