Shouts & Murmurs

Late-Night Dorm-Room Conversation Topics, Updated for Middle Age

深夜宿舍卧谈话题,中年更新版
September 10, 2026
Two women talking near a small desk.
Photograph from Getty

Do you ever think about death?
Do you ever think about aging in place?

你会想到死亡吗?你会想到就地养老吗?

Would you sleep with a professor to avoid failing?
Would you agree to attend your son’s teacher’s three-hour Herbalife lecture, in the library community room on a Saturday morning, if it would keep him from failing gym?

你会为了不挂科跟教授上床吗?你会为了不让儿子体育课挂科,同意周六早上去图书馆社区活动室,听他老师讲三小时康宝莱讲座吗?

What would you do with a million dollars?
What would you do with forty-five unassigned minutes all to yourself?

有了一百万美元你会怎么花?有了四十五分钟完全属于自己的空闲时间,你会怎么过?

What do you think we’ll remember about this incredible time in our lives?
Why do I still know all the lyrics to the Spin Doctors’ “Two Princes”?

你觉得这段人生中不可思议的时光,我们会记住什么?为什么我到现在还记得“旋转医生”乐队《两位王子》的全部歌词?

Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?
Why are there so many Isabellas in the world, including the child I inexplicably gave that name to?

为什么世界上有这么多痛苦和磨难?为什么世界上有这么多叫伊莎贝拉的孩子,包括我莫名其妙给自己孩子起的那个名字?

Would you pull the lever so that the trolley only kills one person, even if he’s a better person than the five that you’re saving?
Does anyone know any effective stretches to help avoid lower-back pain from actions such as pulling a lever?

你会拉下拉杆,让电车只撞死一个人吗?哪怕他比你要救的那五个人都更好?有没有人知道什么有效的拉伸动作,能避免拉下杆这类动作导致的下背痛?

Fuck, Marry, Kill: Kiefer Sutherland, John Cusack, Carrot Top?
Fuck, Marry, Kill: Income-tax returns, life-insurance policies, that folder explaining benefits that you received from H.R. when you were onboarded, and then immediately lost?

上床、结婚、杀掉:基弗·萨瑟兰、约翰·库萨克、“胡萝卜头”?上床、结婚、杀掉:所得税申报表、人寿保险单、那个入职时人力资源部给你的福利说明文件夹,然后你转眼就弄丢了?

At what moment do I become an actual adult? Is it when I graduate, or when I have a child of my own? Maybe when I have more years behind me than ahead? When I love someone more than I love myself?
I know this one—it was when I voluntarily agreed to buy a HVAC-maintenance plan from a very nice young man named Russell who called me “ma’am.”

我在哪个时刻才真正成为大人?是毕业的时候,还是有了自己孩子的时候?也许是我身后岁月多过眼前岁月的时候?是我爱一个人胜过爱自己的时候?这个我知道——是我自愿同意从一个非常有礼貌、叫我“女士”的年轻人拉塞尔那里,买下一份暖通空调保养计划的时候。

Who do you think the next member of the Twenty-seven Club will be?
It’s sad that Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin died so young, but, on the other hand, isn’t it a relief that we didn’t have to watch them become spokespeople for a geriatric-psoriasis medication?

你觉得下一个加入“二十七岁俱乐部”的会是谁?吉姆·莫里森、吉米·亨德里克斯和珍妮丝·乔普林那么年轻就去世,确实令人难过,但换个角度想,我们不用看着他们变成老年银屑病药物的代言人,不也是一种解脱吗?

If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
Probably a Scorsese film because I have yet to stay awake to see the end of any of them.

如果余生只能看一部电影,你会选哪部?大概是斯科塞斯的片子吧,因为他的电影我至今没有一部是醒着看到结尾的。

Do you ever wonder if God is real?
Do you ever wonder if soluble fibre is real? ♦

你有没有想过上帝是否真实存在?你有没有想过可溶性膳食纤维是否真实存在?♦

2 free previews left — register to get 30 translations a month