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.

美国大约有5500万单身女性，很多女性时髦、性感、聪明，掌控自己的人生。

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.

但当无名指上没有戒指时，甚至最自信的单身女性也惧怕回家时的羞愧感，担心受到失望的家人的指责。

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.

如今，一些女性承认会购买假的廉价“订婚戒指”，只是为了防止父母和其他过于苛责的亲友嘲笑和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在逃避问题，或可能引发其他心理问题，但如果这能长久地堵住他们的嘴，同时你又不会被盘问“你交往了3年的男友怎么还不求婚”，30美元的投资可够划算了。

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，假期“空手”回家简直让人难过之极，你今年又一个人回来了，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.

希瑟今年31岁，是纽约的一名律师，由于她的母亲不断纠缠她的婚姻问题，单身的她都要精神错乱了。

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.

她担心这种不断的唠叨不仅会使她精神不正常，还会威胁她与男友托尼的恋爱关系。她的母亲经常询问托尼是否想结婚。

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

知道假日不戴订婚戒指会破坏整个周末的心情，希瑟变得很有主意。

'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!'

她说：“我花30美元买了个假戒指，这下她没的说了。戒指真管用，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3个月后，希瑟有了真正的订婚戒