New normal?_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

New normal?

In other words, people are no longer surprised by them.

Take traffic jams, for example. In the past, when we talked about traffic jams, we hated it so much. And we mainly talked about what measures should be taken to erase the problem. Now, we don't talk about the subject with as much venom or emotion. And we don't think we can erase the problem like a pupil erases a spelling mistake in pencil print. We're so used to it, I suppose, that we've learned to live with it. Seriously, we think there's nothing wrong with traffic jams. We think that traffic jams are what modernity is all about.

We are all right with it.

All right?

Alright, let's read a few other media examples of the new normal, new situations that are going to stay rather than going away:

1. The sluggish U.S. economy disappointed most forecasters, not to mention job seekers, in the first half of this year.

It grew at an annual rate of just under 2 percent, which is below the average for the last half-century when the U.S. economy grew about 3 percent each year.

And although it may not seem like much, that 1 percentage point makes a big difference — influential analysts are saying we're in for a “new normal.”

The “new normal” is a term coined by the brain trust at the giant bond fund PIMCO. Anthony Crescenzi, a PIMCO vice president, strategist and portofolio manager, is part of that brain trust.