The Story Behind Everyday Words

English is a great borrower. Around its old Germanic core, it has taken in words from Latin, French, Old Norse, Greek, Arabic and dozens of other languages. Many words that sound completely ordinary today came from far away, and some changed their meaning beyond recognition on the way.

英语是一门很爱借词的语言。在古老的日耳曼语核心之外，它吸收了来自拉丁语、法语、古诺尔斯语、希腊语、阿拉伯语以及其他几十种语言的词。许多今天听来再普通不过的词，其实来自远方，有些在流传途中意思变得面目全非。

Each of these words records a moment when peoples met: a conquest, a trade route, a new food on the table. When you say 'salary', 'sky', 'disaster' or 'avocado', you are using words with long and unexpected histories. Here are some of the best stories behind everyday English words, along with a few popular ones that turn out to be myths.

每一个这样的词，都记录着不同民族相遇的一刻：一场征服、一条商路、餐桌上的一道新食物。当你说“salary”（薪水）、“sky”（天空）、“disaster”（灾难）或“avocado”（牛油果）时，你用的都是历史悠久、来历出人意料的词。下面介绍日常英语词汇背后最精彩的一些故事，也会谈到几个流传很广、其实只是传说的说法。

Latin came into English through several doors: Roman trade, the Church, and later scholars and scientists. The word 'salary' comes from the Latin 'salarium', which is related to 'sal', meaning salt. You may have heard that Roman soldiers were paid in salt. It's a nice story, but no ancient source says so, and historians still don't know exactly what the salarium had to do with salt.

拉丁语从好几扇门进入英语：罗马人的贸易、教会，以及后来的学者和科学家。“salary”（薪水）来自拉丁语“salarium”，与意为“盐”的“sal”有关。你也许听说过罗马士兵的军饷是用盐支付的。这个故事很动听，但没有任何古代文献这样记载，历史学家至今也说不清“salarium”到底和盐有什么关系。

'Disaster' reached English in the 1590s, through French, from the Italian 'disastro'. It is built from 'dis-' (bad) and 'astro' (star), from the Latin 'astrum'. A disaster was literally an event under an unlucky star, an idea that comes from astrology. 'January' is named after Janus, the Roman god of doorways and beginnings, who was shown with two faces, one looking back and one looking forward. 'Calendar' comes from 'calendae', the first day of each Roman month, when debts had to be paid.

“disaster”（灾难）在16世纪90年代经由法语从意大利语“disastro”进入英语。它由“dis-”（坏的）和“astro”（星星）组成，后者源自拉丁语“astrum”。所以“disaster”字面上就是“在不吉利的星辰下发生的事”，这种观念来自占星术。“January”（一月）得名于雅努斯，罗马神话中掌管门户与开端的神，他的形象有两张脸，一张向后看，一张向前看。“calendar”（日历）来自“calendae”，即罗马每个月的第一天，那天必须偿还债务。

Viking raids on Britain began in 793 with an attack on the monastery of Lindisfarne. Over the next century, Danes and Norwegians settled across the north and east of England, and their language, Old Norse, mixed with Old English in everyday life. Because the two languages were related, people borrowed even very basic words from each other.

维京人对不列颠的劫掠始于793年，那年他们袭击了林迪斯法恩修道院。在接下来的一个世纪里，丹麦人和挪威人在英格兰北部和东部定居下来，他们的语言古诺尔斯语在日常生活中与古英语交融。由于两种语言是亲属语言，人们甚至互相借用了最基本的词。

'Sky' comes from the Old Norse 'ský', which meant 'cloud'. 'Window' comes from 'vindauga', literally 'wind eye', and 'knife' from 'knífr'. 'Husband' comes from 'húsbóndi', the master of a house. 'Egg' is Norse too, and it pushed out the older English word 'ey'. Even the pronouns 'they', 'them' and 'their' come from Old Norse. 'Anger' comes from 'angr', which meant grief or sorrow rather than rage.

“sky”（天空）来自古诺尔斯语“ský”，原意是“云”。“window”（窗户）来自“vindauga”，字面意思是“风之眼”；“knife”（刀）来自“knífr”。“husband”（丈夫）来自“húsbóndi”，即一家之主。“egg”（蛋）也来自古诺尔斯语，它取代了更古老的英语词“ey”。就连代词“they”“them”和“their”（“他们”的主格、宾格和所有格）也来自古诺尔斯语。“anger”（愤怒）来自“angr”，当时的意思与其说是暴怒，不如说是悲伤和忧愁。

In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings and became king of England. The new nobility spoke Norman French. For about three hundred years, French was the language of the royal court, the law courts and the upper classes, while ordinary people went on speaking English.

1066年，诺曼底公爵威廉在黑斯廷斯战役中击败哈罗德国王，成为英格兰国王。新贵族说诺曼法语。在大约三百年里，法语是王室宫廷、法庭和上层社会的语言，而普通百姓仍然说英语。

As a result, thousands of French words entered English. Many of them relate to law ('justice', 'judge', 'crime'), government and society ('royal', 'noble', 'servant', 'parliament') and food ('beef', 'pork', 'mutton', 'poultry'). English often kept the old Germanic word for the living animal and took the French word for its meat: 'cow' but 'beef' (French 'boeuf'), 'pig' but 'pork' ('porc'), 'sheep' but 'mutton' ('mouton'). The usual explanation, made famous by Walter Scott's novel 'Ivanhoe' (1819), is that English peasants raised the animals and French-speaking lords ate them. Historians think the real picture was more mixed, but the pattern is clear.

于是，成千上万的法语词进入了英语。其中许多与法律（“justice”正义、“judge”法官、“crime”罪行）、政治与社会（“royal”王室的、“noble”贵族的、“servant”仆人、“parliament”议会）以及饮食（“beef”牛肉、“pork”猪肉、“mutton”羊肉、“poultry”禽肉）有关。英语常常保留古老的日耳曼词来称呼活的动物，而用法语词来称呼它的肉：“cow”（牛）对“beef”（法语“bœuf”），“pig”（猪）对“pork”（“porc”），“sheep”（羊）对“mutton”（“mouton”）。通常的解释因沃尔特·司各特1819年的小说《艾凡赫》而广为人知：英格兰农民饲养牲畜，说法语的领主则吃它们的肉。历史学家认为实际情况更为复杂，但这一规律十分明显。

In the Middle Ages, Baghdad, Cairo and Córdoba were among the world's great centers of science, mathematics and medicine. Many scientific words traveled from Arabic into Latin, often through translations made in Spain and Sicily, and from Latin into English.

在中世纪，巴格达、开罗和科尔多瓦都是世界上重要的科学、数学和医学中心。许多科学词汇先从阿拉伯语进入拉丁语，往往借助在西班牙和西西里完成的翻译，再从拉丁语进入英语。

'Alcohol' comes from the Arabic 'al-kuhl', a fine black powder used as eye makeup. Alchemists later used the word for any very pure substance, and in the end it came to mean the strong spirit distilled from wine. 'Algebra' comes from 'al-jabr', 'putting broken parts back together', a word in the title of a book by the Baghdad mathematician al-Khwarizmi, and 'algorithm' comes from his own name. Other words that came into English through Arabic include 'cotton', 'coffee', 'sugar', 'zero', 'cipher' and 'magazine', which first meant a storehouse. 'Assassin' comes from 'hashishiyyin', 'hashish users', an insulting name that enemies gave to the Nizari Ismailis, a medieval group known for killing political leaders.

“alcohol”（酒精）来自阿拉伯语“al-kuhl”，指一种用来画眼妆的黑色细粉。后来炼金术士用这个词指任何非常纯净的物质，最终它专指从葡萄酒中蒸馏出来的烈性“精华”。“algebra”（代数）来自“al-jabr”，意为“把断开的部分重新接合”，这个词出现在巴格达数学家花拉子米一本书的书名里；“algorithm”（算法）则来自他本人的名字。经由阿拉伯语进入英语的词还有“cotton”（棉花）、“coffee”（咖啡）、“sugar”（糖）、“zero”（零）、“cipher”（密码）和“magazine”（杂志），后者最初的意思是“仓库”。“assassin”（刺客）来自“hashishiyyin”，意为“吸食大麻者”，这是敌人给伊斯玛仪派中尼扎里派起的蔑称，这个中世纪团体以刺杀政治领袖而闻名。

After Columbus reached the Caribbean in 1492, Europeans met plants, foods and animals they had never seen, and the words for them. Most of these words came into English through Spanish, from Native American languages such as Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs), Quechua and Taino. Others, like 'raccoon', 'moose' and 'skunk', came straight from the Algonquian languages of North America.

1492年哥伦布抵达加勒比地区之后，欧洲人接触到许多从未见过的植物、食物和动物，也接触到了它们的名称。这些词大多经由西班牙语进入英语，源自纳瓦特尔语（阿兹特克人的语言）、克丘亚语和泰诺语等美洲原住民语言。另一些词，如“raccoon”（浣熊）、“moose”（驼鹿）和“skunk”（臭鼬），则直接来自北美的阿尔冈昆诸语言。

'Avocado' comes from the Nahuatl 'ahuacatl', through the Spanish 'aguacate'. 'Tomato' comes from 'tomatl'. 'Chocolate' is also from Nahuatl, although experts still argue about the exact original word. 'Potato' first meant the sweet potato, from the Taino 'batata'. 'Hurricane' comes from the Taino 'hurakán', and 'barbecue' and 'canoe' probably come from Taino too, through the Spanish 'barbacoa' and 'canoa'. 'Llama' and 'puma' are Quechua words from the Andes.

“avocado”（牛油果）来自纳瓦特尔语“ahuacatl”，经由西班牙语“aguacate”传入。“tomato”（番茄）来自“tomatl”。“chocolate”（巧克力）也来自纳瓦特尔语，不过专家至今仍在争论它的确切原词。“potato”（土豆）最初指的是红薯，来自泰诺语“batata”。“hurricane”（飓风）来自泰诺语“hurakán”，“barbecue”（烧烤）和“canoe”（独木舟）很可能也来自泰诺语，经由西班牙语“barbacoa”和“canoa”传入。“llama”（美洲驼）和“puma”（美洲狮）则是安第斯山区克丘亚语的词。

'Berserk' comes from the Old Norse 'berserkr', probably 'bear shirt'. It was the name for Viking warriors who fought in a wild rage, perhaps dressed in bearskins. 'Clue' is a newer spelling of 'clew', a ball of thread (Old English 'cliewen'). In the Greek myth, Ariadne gives Theseus a ball of thread so he can find his way out of the Minotaur's labyrinth. Over time, a clue came to mean anything that helps you solve a puzzle.

“berserk”（狂暴的）来自古诺尔斯语“berserkr”，意思很可能是“熊皮衫”。这是对一类维京战士的称呼，他们作战时狂怒失控，也许身披熊皮。“clue”（线索）是“clew”较新的拼法，原指一团线（古英语为“cliewen”）。在希腊神话中，阿里阿德涅给了忒修斯一团线，让他能够走出弥诺陶洛斯的迷宫。后来，“clue”渐渐指任何有助于解开谜题的东西。

'Muscle' comes from the Latin 'musculus', 'little mouse', perhaps because a muscle moving under the skin looks like a mouse running under a cloth. 'Hazard' was first the name of a dice game, and the word probably comes from the Arabic 'az-zahr', 'the die'. 'Silly' meant 'happy' or 'blessed' in Old English and slowly drifted to 'innocent' and then to 'foolish'. Some famous stories, though, are simply made up. 'Posh' does not stand for 'port out, starboard home', and 'sincere' does not come from the Latin 'sine cera', 'without wax'. There is no evidence for either story.

“muscle”（肌肉）来自拉丁语“musculus”，意为“小老鼠”，也许是因为肌肉在皮肤下活动时，看起来像一只老鼠在布下面跑。“hazard”（危险）最初是一种骰子游戏的名称，这个词可能来自阿拉伯语“az-zahr”，意为“骰子”。“silly”（傻的）在古英语中意为“幸福的”或“受祝福的”，后来慢慢变成“天真的”，最后变成“愚蠢的”。不过，有些著名的故事纯属编造。“posh”（时髦的、上流的）并不是“port out, starboard home”（去程左舷、回程右舷）的缩写；“sincere”（真诚的）也不是来自拉丁语“sine cera”（无蜡）。这两种说法都没有任何证据。

English is still taking in new words. Technology alone has brought 'app', 'blog', 'emoji' (borrowed from Japanese) and 'selfie', as well as the verbs 'to tweet' and 'to google'. In 2013, Oxford Dictionaries named 'selfie' its Word of the Year.

英语仍在不断吸收新词。单是科技就带来了“app”（应用）、“blog”（博客）、“emoji”（表情符号，借自日语）和“selfie”（自拍），还有动词“to tweet”（发推文）和“to google”（用谷歌搜索）。2013年，牛津词典将“selfie”评为年度词汇。

A few new words are invented from nothing, but most follow old patterns. Some are blends, like 'brunch' from 'breakfast' and 'lunch'. Others are borrowed, like 'karaoke' from Japanese or 'schadenfreude' from German. Old words also get new jobs: a 'cloud' now stores data, and a 'mouse' sits next to your keyboard. Nobody can say exactly how many words English has, because it depends on how you count, but the Oxford English Dictionary alone describes more than half a million words and phrases.

只有少数新词是凭空创造的，大多数仍遵循古老的构词方式。有的是拼缀词，比如由“breakfast”（早餐）和“lunch”（午餐）合成的“brunch”（早午餐）。有的是借词，比如来自日语的“karaoke”（卡拉OK）和来自德语的“schadenfreude”（幸灾乐祸）。旧词也会承担新任务：“cloud”（云）如今用来存储数据，“mouse”（鼠标）就放在键盘旁边。没有人能准确说出英语究竟有多少个词，因为这取决于怎么计算，但仅《牛津英语词典》就收录了五十多万个单词和短语。

Every English word keeps traces of the people who used it before us. Roman law and Roman gods, Viking settlers, Norman lords, Arab scholars and Aztec cooks have all left something in the words we use every day.

每一个英语单词都保留着在我们之前使用它的人们留下的痕迹。罗马的法律与神祇、维京定居者、诺曼领主、阿拉伯学者和阿兹特克厨师，都在我们每天使用的词语中留下了印记。

The study of word origins is called etymology, and a good dictionary will tell you the history of almost any word. The next time an ordinary word catches your attention, look it up. The real story is often more surprising than the popular one.

研究词语来源的学科叫作词源学，一本好词典几乎能告诉你任何一个词的历史。下次某个普通的词引起你的注意时，不妨查一查。真实的故事往往比流行的说法更出人意料。