【新词新意】starter marriage 起步婚姻.

　　前些年流行“闪婚”，听说后来又流行“闪离”。大致意思就是两个人一高兴就结婚了，然后相处不高兴就离婚了。原来开始和结束一段婚姻可以如此简单!这一类婚姻大部分都可以归入starter marriage的行列。

　　A starter marriage is a first marriage that lasts five years or less and ends without the couple having any children together. The term, a play on the expression "starter home", appears as one of the footnotes in Douglas Coupland&aposs 1991 novel Generation X. However, published usage of the term grew significantly after the publication of Pamela Paul&aposs 2002 book The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony.

　　Starter marriage(“起步婚姻”或“新手婚姻”)指双方初婚、婚姻持续时间不到五年且没有子女的婚姻。这个表达由starter home(首次置业)演变而来，初现于(加拿大小说家)道格拉斯•柯普兰1991年的小说《X世代》的脚注中。不过，这个表达在出版物中大量使用则是在帕米拉•保罗2002年的著作《新手婚姻与婚姻生活的未来》出版之后。

　　She claimed that some young couples get married for reasons not strong enough to support a long relationship, and that an increasing number of them end their marriages quickly. Paul&aposs book caused controversy for suggesting that these divorces are a good thing, if the couple have not had children.

　　帕米拉•保罗指出，有些年轻夫妻结婚时的理由不够充分，不足以维持一段长久的关系，因此他们中很多人的婚姻很快就结束了。因为在书中暗示如果没有孩子的话，这些婚姻结束是一件好事，保罗的这本书曾引发争议。