There are roughly 55 million single women in the US, many of them with-it, smokin' and smart, with their finger on the pulse of life.

在美国大约有5500万单身女性，她们中许多人时髦、性感、聪明，能够自己掌握自己的命运。

 

 

But when that certain finger is ringless, even the most self-assured single dreads the shame and rebuke of disappointed family during a visit home.

但是当她们的无名指上没有戒指的时候，即使是最自信的单身女性也会害怕回家时要面临的失望的家人的指责及由此而来的羞愧感。

 

The holidays are known to cause stress to scores of single women in the throes of "The Panic Years", who dub the annual visit-cum-interrogation the "Thanksgiving Third Degree".

节假日会给众多单身女性带来压力，《心慌的岁月》正体现出了单身女性这一心头之痛，她们将每年一次的“回家兼受审”称为“感恩节逼婚”。

 

Now some women have admitted to buying fake, cheap "engagement rings" just to prevent parents - and other overly-critical family members - from delivering ridicule and judgement over their single status.

现在，一些女性已经承认她们会购买假的廉价的“订婚戒指”，只是为了防止父母和其他过于苛刻的亲友嘲笑和随意评价自己的单身状态。

 

It may sound like a slippery slope towards avoidance issues and other psychological problems – but if it muzzles them long enough without you getting grilled about why your boyfriend of three years hasn't proposed yet, it could be well worth the $30 investment.

也许这听起来似乎是一种逃避问题或可能引发其他心理问题的滑坡效应（使事情更糟糕），但是如果能长久地堵住他们的嘴，不用再被盘问恋爱三年的男友为什么还不求婚，那么30美元的投资绝对是值得的。

 

Sometimes it's downright soul-crushing when you come home for the holidays empty-handed - literally - watching your family members' faces crumble in disappointment that you're back another year without any engagement bling.

有时“两手空空”——真正意义地——回家度假实在是件让人受伤的事，你今年又一个人回来了，手上没有亮闪闪的订婚戒指，家人失望之情溢于言表。

 

Heather, a 31-year old lawyer from New York, was well on her way to being both unhitched and unhinged, thanks to her mother's persistent pestering about marriage.

希瑟，31岁，是一名来自纽约的律师，因为她母亲坚持不懈地纠缠她的婚姻问题，她现在简直快要精神错乱了。

 

She feared that the constant nagging could destroy not just her own sanity, but threaten her long-time relationship with her boyfriend, Tony, who was regularly interrogated about his intentions from his would-be mother-in-law.

她担心这种持续不断的唠叨不仅仅会毁了她的理智，还会威胁到她与男友的长久关系。她的男友托尼，定期就会被未来岳母盘问有没有结婚的打算。

 

Well aware that showing up without a ring for the holidays would taint the mood of the entire weekend, she became very resourceful.

深知不带戒指回家度假会破坏掉整个周末的好心情，希瑟现在变得很有主意。

 

"I got a fake ring for 30 bucks just to shut her up", she said. "It actually worked and it turned into a really great visit!"

“我花了三十块买了个假戒指，只是为了让我妈妈不再唠叨”，她说。“这方法真的奏效，也让我这次回家很愉快！”

 

Just three months later, Heather had a real ring to show off. Tony proposed on their own timetable - on Valentine's Day - and her mother was never the wiser.

就在三个月后，希瑟有了真正可以展示出来的订婚戒指。托尼按照他们自己的计划——在情人节这天——向她求婚了，而希瑟的妈妈仍然对女儿造假一无所知。