這是真的嗎? 不洗咖啡杯更衛生!

There are two types of people in this world: those who regularly wash their office coffee mug, and those who only take it off their desk to cover up the crusted coffee stain at the bottom with a fresh pour, chasing away their shame with the reasoning that the heat must kill the germs or something.

世界上有兩種人：第一種人總是不厭其煩地清洗辦公室裏的咖啡杯；第二種人只會在重新泡咖啡時纔會將杯子帶離辦公桌，用新的咖啡掩蓋杯子裏已經硬化的咖啡漬，並在心裏默唸，熱咖啡的溫度一定足夠殺死杯子裏的細菌或其他什麼東西，用這個理由掩蓋自己內心的罪惡感。

Depending on which type of person you are, this will be either mildly annoying or more-than-mildly exciting:

如果你是第一種人，下面的內容可能會令你有些不適；如果你是第二種人的話，恭喜，你可以竊喜了：

As Heidi Mitchell wrote in a recentWall Street Journal column, it's fine to never wash your mug, as long as you're not sharing it with anybody else.

海蒂·米切爾在《華爾街日報》的專欄裏寫道，只要不與其他人共用一個杯子，一直不洗咖啡杯也是可以的。

Better than fine, in fact: It may actually be the most sanitary option.

不僅如此，實際上：這可能是最最衛生的做法了。

There are two caveats to that statement, infectious-disease expert Jeffrey Starke, a pediatrics professor at Baylor College of Medicine, told Mitchell:

貝勒醫學院的小兒科教授、傳染病專家傑弗裏·斯塔克表示，關於以上說法，有兩個需要注意的地方。他對海蒂·米切爾說道：

One, it only applies if you're not sharing the mug with anybody else. And two, "if you leave cream or sugar in your mug over the weekend, that can certainly cause mold to grow" — in which case, wash it out.

第一，這隻在不與其他人共用一個杯子的情況下才能成立。第二，如果你在杯子裏留下了奶油或糖，週末過後，裏面很可能會發黴，這時就需要清洗了。

Otherwise, though, there's not really much to worry about: "If I went and cultured the average unwashed coffee cup, of course I'm going to find germs," Starke said. "But remember the vast majority came from the person who used the cup."

不過，除此之外，確實沒有太多需要擔心的。斯塔克教授稱，"如果對一隻沒洗過的普通咖啡杯進行培養，肯定能在裏面發現細菌。但其中大部分細菌都來自使用杯子的人。"

Even if you drink from it while sick, it's pretty hard to re-infect yourself with the same mug; most viruses don't live long outside the body.

如果一個人在生病的時候用同一個杯子喝東西，也很難造成再次感染；大多數病毒在體外存活的時間大都不長。

Which means that just letting your mug live in its own filth may be a safer bet than the alternative: scrubbing it with the disgusting communal sponge in the office kitchen.

也就是說，與其用公司廚房裏骯髒的公共海綿清洗杯子，還不如讓咖啡漬繼續安靜地留在你的杯子裏，這可能是更安全的做法。

If the idea ofnot washing horrifies you, just stick the sponge in the microwave before using. Otherwise, though, feel free to continue your lazy ways without guilt.

如果你覺得不洗杯子實在是件無法忍受的事情，你可以在使用前將海綿扔進微波爐裏消下毒。不然的話，儘管大大方方地犯懶吧。