Like many other sports, table tennis began as a mild social diversion. Descending, along with lawn tennis and badminton, from the ancient medieval game of tennis. It was popular in England in the second half of the nineteenth century under its present name and various trade names such as Gossima and Whiff-Whaff. After the name Ping-Pong (an imitation of the sound made by the ball striking the table and the vellum bats that were used) was introduced by J. Jaques & Son, the game became a fashionable craze.

正如其他运动一样，乒乓球只是社会中无足轻重的一部分。它跟草坪网球和羽毛球都是由网球演变而来的。在十九世纪的后半叶，乒乓球就以其现在的名字或其他商名文明于英国。比如： GOSSIMA ， WHIFF-WHAFF。而当乒乓这个名字被J JAQUES 介绍进来之后，它就开始越来越受欢迎。

The game was popular in Central Europe in 1905-10, and even before this is a modified version had been introduced to Japan , where it later spread to China and Korea. After a period when it had dropped out of favor in Europe, the game was revived in England and Wales in the early twenties. by that time ’Ping-Pong’ had been registered as a trademark, so the earlier name of table tennis was re-introduced. National associations were formed and standardization of the rules began, both in Europe and the Far East.Then, over the next sixty years, table tennis developed into a major worldwide sport, played by perhaps thirty million competitive players and by uncountable millions who play less seriously. However, the game itself has not changed in essence since its earliest days, though it is faster, more subtle and more demanding than it was even only twenty years ago.

在十九世界初期的中欧，乒乓球运动很热，后来其运动方式稍加修改，传入日本，而后来又传入中国和韩国。乒乓球曾经一度销声匿迹，在十九世界二十年代早期，它又在英格兰和威尔士获得新生。在那时，乒乓球被作为一种商标予以注册，所以，乒乓球再度浮出人们脑海的记忆。那时也成立了很多国家的协会，同时在欧洲和远东，比赛的规则也被设立。其后的六十年间，它发展成为一项世界著名的运动。其运动员能达到3千万，另有无数人以休闲方式接触乒乓。然而，乒乓由始以来，它的精髓是没有改变的。尽管现在其要求比20年前要苛刻的多。