导读：工作名片大家都知道，很多人也有。但是你见过这么一种特殊的名片吗？上面就印了你的名字，来个简单说明，既没有公司名称和标示，也没有一连串的头衔。在古代，这种名片非常盛行，当时管这种叫做名帖，是为了登门拜访联络感情给被拜访者的见面介绍文书。可是在21世纪的今天还有人用这张名片吗？这张名片即便再次出现会大受欢迎吗？2008年8月11日的《时代》就报道了名帖在美国盛行的消息。
The Return of the Calling Card(名片名帖指为了拜访主人而提前送交主人家的关于自己的名片，上面印有自己的姓名)
By Harriet Barovick. TIME. Aug. 11, 2008
In the 1800s, there was a certain logic--and a cool distance--to the formal calling card. Those who were part of, or sought a place among, the social élite(精英) would deliver a card with their name engraved on it to someone's home to request a visit. But now that you can IM(instant message即时消息指MSN此类工具发送的消息), e-mail or text(text message手机短消息) pretty much anyone immediately, the Victorian practice seems laughably outmoded(过时的), right? Not so, according to a growing number of enthusiasts reviving(revive原指使…复活苏醒,后比喻指使…再次运作流行起效等) the old-fashioned social-networking tool. "Is it technology fatigue?(技术疲劳指过度使用高科技后产生的厌倦感.我们常说的审美疲劳就是beauty fatigue) A colorful way of branding(brand) yourself? We're not sure," says Peter Hopkins of Crane & Co., where sales of the cards have doubled in the past two years. "But the demand is clear. They are our fastest-growing item."
For a flagging(declining,weakening) stationery(文具) industry, calling cards--essentially nonbusiness business cards--have brought a welcome dose(原指(药的)剂量;后用于说明事物的数量比如What you need is a good dose of laughter) of energy. Some are teenier(teeny极小的) than standard business cards, others much bigger, and many come in bright colors that seem anything but(决不绝非) stodgy(乏味的). Among the buyers: playdate-seeking(playdate or play date指和自己孩子嬉戏玩耍的同龄人，家长们往往特地安排好把孩子集中在一个地方比如博物馆游乐场等让孩子们一起玩耍的同时也能实施监管) parents eager for a sane way to exchange contact info, retirees who miss having business cards to hand out (Memphis stationer(文具店文具商) Baylor Stovall calls them "cruise-ship(游轮) customers") and itinerant(周游的巡回的) young professionals whose cell phones and e-mail addresses are their most reliable locators. Elaine Milnes, a stay-at-home mom in Grand Rapids, Mich., got fed up with(厌倦...) searching for pens on the playground and made a card for herself (title: Caroline's mom). She now operates a thriving(thrive兴旺繁荣) online cardmaking venture, MommyBiz.net(biz即business). Ditto(和以上所说一样; 同样地) for nonparent Ilene Segal, founder of Baby iDesign, a four-year-old stationer in Manhattan. She thinks her playdate cards have caught on(catch on流行) because they're "a nicer way of connecting than plugging someone into your cell."
For young job-hoppers(指经常跳槽换工作的人;跳槽是job-hop), a calling card offers not only a sense of permanence but also a chance for self-expression. In June, Mitch Stripling, an emergency planner who recently moved to New York City, printed cards with cell-phone, e-mail and descriptor(说明描述) ("neo新 Victorian calling card thingy"(thingy俚语,用于当你说话时临时不知道该如何准确描述称呼某个东西时,大致相当于汉语里的玩意;那什么)) info for his 10-year college reunion in an effort to reconnect with people he knew he wouldn't have a chance to speak with at length(After some time; eventually). "I wanted to get away from the whole status thing at reunions, so a business logo didn't feel right," says Stripling,(这句话是指同学聚会时往往都要拿出自己的工作名片，上面会有公司的标示，让人感觉在炫耀身份地位status;Stripling认为同学聚会时不该如此,工作名片不合适) whose card was a buzz-generating(buzz这里指excited interest or attention) hit at Williams College. "Having my own little logo frees me up. It's a way to be expressive of me outside of(除了…之外) whatever job I happen to be doing at the time."
Perhaps the biggest reason the cards have delighted jaded(bored; not enthusiastic) 21st century types is that they work. Says Stripling: "I can't say for sure if it was the card or just the effects of a reunion, but I heard from around 30 people from school in the weeks after." Some are even planning visits.
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