One-Hit Wonder
前几天看到这篇One-Hit Wonder，挺意外的。之前只知道To Kill A Mockingbird多么有名，完全不晓得作者Harper Lee一辈子只写过这一本书。
To Kill a Mockingbird hit the bookstores in 1960. Within weeks, it had become a bestseller. Forty-five years later, it is practically an industry of its own: To date, more than 30 million copies have been sold, and by 1988 three-quarters of the public schools in America were teaching it.
Despite the novel’s success, Lee, as is widely known, never published another book; instead, she retreated to her hometown of Monroeville, Ala., where she has given few interviews since 1964.
不管是什么原因，这么成功的作家居然再也没出版过第二本书，难免会被人套上One-hit wonder的帽子。来看看one-hit wonder的定义： an individual or group with only one success, such as a hit song, bestselling book, etc. 也就是说，有了一个成功作品后就再也无所作为的歌手、演员、作家都可以叫one-hit wonder。
还有一个短语也表达类似的意思，叫flash in the pan，相当于中文里的“昙花一现”。比如：
A: American Idol is all the rage these days. The winner is guaranteed to become a huge star. （美国偶像现在太火了。冠军肯定会成为大明星。）
B: Well, not necessarily. Ruben Studdard was very popular when he won the event, but people barely remember him nowadays. He’s just a flash in the pan. （不一定吧。Ruben Studdard刚赢的那阵子可受欢迎呢，现在人们都快不记得他了。他只是昙花一现。）
A: You have a point. I can’t name one hit song from him. He’s not even a one-hit wonder! （有道理。他的畅销作品我完全说不上来。他甚至不能算是曾经唱红过一首歌的歌星！）
Bonus video: Boris - Within My Hands (I sure hope he’s not a one-hit wonder!)
July 31st, 2006 at 1:08 pm
等啊等，终于又写了。彦，最近是不是在忙什么？
以前只知道flash in the pan，今天又学了一个。可是感觉one-hit wonder没有很好的中文解释。
Yan:
哦，最近的确比较忙，请允许我保密一下。
one-hit wonder的确没有很对应的中文词，不过这种情况很常见，习惯了。
July 31st, 2006 at 11:19 pm
One-hit wonder 难道不能也翻译成“昙花一现”？
最有名的 one-hit wonder 得算 Margaret Mitchell 了吧？
Yan:
我的第一反应是，one-hit wonder最常形容那些只有一首歌走红的歌手，他们完全有可能一直推出新歌，只是再没红过。“昙花一现”则是干脆就消失了。
Margaret Mitchell比较短命，one-hit wonder相对情有可原。