十分鐘讀懂英語史
No.1 盎格魯-撒克遜人
No.1 Anglo-Saxon
The History of English in Ten Minutes.
Chapter 1. Anglo-Saxon or whatever happen to the Jutes.
十分鐘了解英語歷史。第一章，盎格魯撒克遜人或發(fā)生在朱特人的任何事。
The English language begins with the phrase ‘Up Yours Caesar!’ as the Romans
leave Britain and a lot of Germanic tribes start flooding in, tribes such as the Angles
and the Saxons – who together gave us the term Anglo-Saxon, and the Jutes –
who didn’t.
英語以這句話開頭，去你的凱撒!當(dāng)羅馬人離開英國(guó)，大量日耳曼部落開始涌入。例如盎格魯和撒克遜人。他們留下這個(gè)盎格魯撒克遜人的叫法。以及沒留下痕跡的朱特人。
The Romans left some very straight roads behind, but not much of their Latin
language. The Anglo-Saxon vocab was much more useful as it was mainly words for
simple everyday things like ‘house’, ‘woman’, ‘loaf’ and ‘werewolf’.
羅馬人留下了一些筆直的道路，但是關(guān)于拉丁語的不多。盎格魯撒克遜的語匯更有幫助因?yàn)樗麄兌际顷P(guān)于簡(jiǎn)單的日常用語，像房子，女人，面包，狼人。
Four of our days of the week - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were
named in honour of Anglo-Saxon gods, but they didn’t bother with Saturday, Sunday
and Monday as they had all gone off for a long weekend.
我們一周的四天，周二，周三，周四和周五提名為祭拜盎格魯撒克遜的上帝的日子。但是周六，周日和周一并不打擾人們的正常生活，因?yàn)槿藗兌汲鋈ザ燃倭恕?/p>
While they were away, Christian missionaries stole in bringing with them leaflets
about jumble sales and more Latin. Christianity was a hit with the locals and made
them much happier to take on funky new words like ‘martyr’, ‘bishop’ and ‘font’.
當(dāng)他們離開的時(shí)候，基督教傳教士潛進(jìn)了，帶著傳單小冊(cè)子。為了慈善匯款和更多的拉丁語?；浇探o當(dāng)?shù)厝藥碚饎?dòng)，讓他們樂于接受極具表現(xiàn)力的新詞，比如殉道者，主教，洗禮盆。
Along came the Vikings, with their action-man words like ‘drag’, ‘ransack’,
‘thrust’ and ‘die’, and a love of pickled herring. They may have raped and pillaged but
there were also into ‘give’ and ‘take’ – two of around 2000 words that they gave
English, as well as the phrase ‘watch out for that man with the enormous axe.’
同時(shí)到來的還有北歐海盜說著的話，比如拖，徹底搜索，刺，死亡，喜歡腌制鯡魚。他們可能強(qiáng)JIAN或搶劫，但是也會(huì)喜歡給予和索取。這是他們帶來的2000個(gè)詞匯中的兩個(gè)，還有句話，他們揮舞著巨大的斧頭說，小心一點(diǎn)!
No.2 諾曼人入侵
No.2 The Norman Conquest
The History of English in Ten Minutes. Chapter Two, The Norman Conquest or
Excuse My English.
十分鐘了解英語歷史。第二章，諾曼人入侵或原諒我的英語
1066. True to his name, William the Conqueror invades England, bringing new
concepts from across the channel, like the French language, the Doomsday Book and
the duty-free Galois's multipack. French was ‘de rigueur’ for all official business, with
words like ‘judge’, ‘jury’, ‘evidence’ and ‘justice’ coming in and giving John
Grisham's career a kick-start. Latin was still used ‘ad nauseam’ in church, but the
common man spoke English, able to communicate only by speaking more slowly and
loudly until the others understood him. Words like ‘cow’, ‘sheep’ and ‘swine’ come
from the English-speaking farmers. While the ‘a la carte’ versions ‘beef’, ‘mutton’
and ‘pork’ come from the French-speaking toffs, beginning a long-running trend of
restaurants having completely indecipherable menus.
1066年，名副其實(shí)的征服者William入侵英國(guó)，從海峽對(duì)岸帶來了新的概念，諸如法語，末日裁判書， 伽羅瓦萬用箱。法語是官方商用語言，帶來外來詞例如法官，陪審團(tuán)，證據(jù)和正義，使得約翰-格里姆森的事業(yè)起飛。拉丁語依然令人生厭的應(yīng)用于各個(gè)教堂。普通人講英語，只能通過放慢語速和提高音量來讓人聽懂。有些詞如公牛，羊和豬，源自說英語的農(nóng)民。而菜單上的版本牛肉，羊肉和豬肉則源自說法語的有錢階層，餐館制定讓人讀不懂的菜單的風(fēng)氣源遠(yuǎn)流長(zhǎng)，就是從那時(shí)候開始的。
All in all, the English absorbed about 10,000 new words from the Normans,
though they still couldn't grasp the rules of cheek kissing. The ‘bon-ami’ all ended
when the English nation took their new warlike lingo of ‘armies’, ‘navies’ and
‘soldiers’ and began the Hundred Years' War against France. It actually lasted 116
years but by that point, no one could count any higher in French and English took
over as the language of power.
總的來說，英語從諾曼人那里吸收了差不多10,000個(gè)詞匯，但依然無法描述自己的君主。這種親切徹底結(jié)束于英國(guó)運(yùn)用新的軍事行話，如軍隊(duì)，海軍，士兵。英法之間的百年戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)開始了。其實(shí)進(jìn)行了116年。但早已無人能計(jì)算出到底是英語還是法語是最有力的語言。
No.3 莎士比亞
No.3 Shakespeare
The history of English in ten minutes. Chapter three, Shakespeare, or a plaque on
both his houses.
十分鐘內(nèi)了解英國(guó)歷史。第三章，莎士比亞，或兩個(gè)家的紀(jì)念匾。
As the dictionary tells us about 2,000 new words and phrases were invented by
William Shakespeare.
就如字典告訴我們的，大約2000個(gè)新單詞和短語是莎士比亞造出的。
He gave us handy words like eyeball, puppydog and anchovy and more
show-offy words like dauntless, besmirch and lacklustre. He came up with the word
alligator soon after he ran out of the things to rhyme with crocodile. And the nation of
tea drinkers finally took into their hearts when he invented the hob-nob.
他留給我們靈巧的詞語，如eyeball, puppydog和anchovy，以及很多更炫的詞如dauntless, besmirch 和 lacklustre。他造出了這個(gè)詞，短吻鱷，不久他就才思用盡想不出跟鱷魚押韻的詞。一個(gè)全國(guó)和茶的民族最終特別喜歡他，當(dāng)他創(chuàng)造出“對(duì)酌”這個(gè)詞。
Shakespeare knew the power of catchphrases as well as biscuits. Without him,
we would never eat our flesh and blood out of house and home. We would have to say
good riddance to the green-eyed monster and breaking the ice would be as dead as a
doornail.
莎士比亞知道引人注目的話語和餅干一樣有吸引力，沒有他我們從不會(huì)吃肉
喝血，不會(huì)傾家蕩產(chǎn)，我們不得不說可喜的擺脫了綠眼怪，打破僵局將會(huì)是一命
嗚呼。
If you tried to get your money's worth, you'd be given short shrift and anyone
who laid it on with a trowel could be hoised with his own petard. Of course it's
possible other people used these words first. But the dictionary writers like looking
them up in Shakespeare because there was more cross dressing and people poking
each other's eyes out.
如果你想要使物有所值，你會(huì)被忽視。任何想要用鏟子挖地的人會(huì)是作繭自縛。當(dāng)然有可能其他人首先用了這些詞，但是字典編纂者喜歡在莎士比亞書里查找，因?yàn)檫@里有更多奇裝異服的人，人們彼此傷害。
Shakespeare's poetry showed the world that English was a rich vibrant language
with limitless expressive and emotional power and he still had time to open all those
tea rooms in Stratford.
莎士比亞展示了一個(gè)世界，英語在這里豐富多彩，極具特色和表現(xiàn)力，情感不會(huì)被限制，他依舊保持威力進(jìn)入斯特拉特福德的茶館。
No.4 欽定版《圣經(jīng)》
No.4 The King James Bible
The History of English in Ten Minutes. Chapter four. The King James Bible or
light there be.
十分鐘了解英語歷史。第四章，欽定版《圣經(jīng)》或消遣讀物。
In 1611 ‘the powers that be’ ‘turned the world upside down’ with a ‘labour of
love’ – a new translation of the bible. A team of scribes with the ‘wisdom of
Solomon’ – ‘went the extra mile’ to make King James’s translation ‘all things to all
men’, whether from their ‘heart’s desire’ ‘to fight the good fight’ or just for the ‘filthy
lucre’.
1611年，統(tǒng)治者用義務(wù)勞動(dòng)顛覆了世界。即一本《圣經(jīng)》新版本，一群抄寫員用所羅門的智慧，加倍努力，使得詹姆士國(guó)王的譯本成為所有人的一切。不論是尊崇他們內(nèi)心的欲望，為了信仰和原則而戰(zhàn)，或只是為了不義之財(cái)。
This sexy new Bible went ‘from strength to strength’, getting to ‘the root of the
matter’ in a language even ‘the salt of the earth’ could understand. ‘The writing wasn’t
on the wall, it was in handy little books and with ‘fire and brimstone’ preachers
reading from it in every church, its words and phrases ‘took root’ ‘to the ends of the
earth’ – well at least the ends of Britain.
這本性感的新《圣經(jīng)》不斷壯大，用一種觸及到問題實(shí)質(zhì)的語言，使社會(huì)中堅(jiān)都能理解。著作并不是刻在墻上，它是靈巧方便的小書，還有非常熱心的教士在每一個(gè)教堂讀著它。它的詞語在世界的盡頭生根，或者至少在全英國(guó)。
The King James Bible is the book that taught us that ‘a leopard can’t change its
spots’, that ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’, that ‘a wolf in sheep’s
clothing’ is harder to spot than you would imagine, and how annoying it is to have ‘a
fly in your ointment’.
詹姆士國(guó)王《圣經(jīng)》教給我們積習(xí)難改，雙鳥在林不如一鳥在手。披著羊皮的狼比你想象得更難發(fā)現(xiàn)。藥膏里面的蒼蠅確實(shí)讓人討厭。
In fact, just as ‘Jonathan begat Meribbaal; and Meribbaal begat Micah. And
Micah begat Pithon’, the King James Bible begat a whole glossary of metaphor and
morality that still shapes the way English is spoken today. Amen.
實(shí)際上就如Jonathan生下Meribbaal，Meribbaal生下Micah，Micah又生下
Pithon，詹姆士國(guó)王《圣經(jīng)》創(chuàng)造整套的詞組和品行，如今這些還在影響現(xiàn)在的
英語，阿門。
No.5 科學(xué)英語
No.5 The English of Science or how to speak with gravity.
十分鐘了解英語歷史。第五章。科學(xué)英語或怎樣講重力。
Before the 17th Century scientists weren’t really recognised – possibly because
lab-coats had yet to catch on.
在17世界以前科學(xué)家不被認(rèn)可，也許因?yàn)閷?shí)驗(yàn)室服裝趕不上潮流。
But suddenly Britain was full of physicists – there was Robert Hooke, Robert
Boyle – and even some people not called Robert, like Isaac Newton. The Royal
Society was formed out of the Invisible College – after they put it down somewhere
and couldn’t find it again.
但是英國(guó)立馬聚滿了物理學(xué)家，有羅伯特·虎克，有羅伯特·波伊爾，即使是一些不叫羅伯特的人，譬如牛頓?；始覅f(xié)會(huì)是由來自隱形學(xué)院的人，他們?cè)谀硞€(gè)地方寫下之后再?zèng)]找到了。
At first they worked in Latin. After sitting through Newton’s story about the
‘pomum’ falling to the ‘terra’ from the ‘arbor’ for the umpteenth time, the bright
sparks realised they all spoke English and could transform our understanding of the
universe much quicker by talking in their own language.
最開始他們用拉丁語工作。在耐著性子看完牛頓的故事，關(guān)于蘋果從樹上掉下來，掉過無數(shù)次后，這聰明的火花使得他們?nèi)贾v英語，也能把我們的理解用他們的語言轉(zhuǎn)化的比較方便。
But science was discovering things faster than they could name them. Words like
‘acid’, ‘gravity’, ‘electricity’ and ‘pendulum’ had to be invented just to stop their
meetings turning into an endless game of charades.
但是科學(xué)比他們可以命名的速度發(fā)展的要快，像酸，重力，電，鐘擺不得不發(fā)明來阻止他們的會(huì)議變得無止盡的字謎游戲。
Like teenage boys, the scientists suddenly became aware of the human body –
coining new words like ‘cardiac’ and ‘tonsil’, ‘ovary’, and ‘sternum’ - and the
invention of ‘penis’ (1693), ‘vagina’ (1682) made sex education classes a bit easier to
follow. Though and ‘clitoris’ was still a source of confusion.
就像青年人，科學(xué)家突然意識(shí)到人的身體，發(fā)明新詞如心臟，扁桃體，卵巢和胸骨，還有1963年發(fā)明的陰JING。1682年的詞陰道讓性教育變得更加容易教，雖然陰Di還是帶來困惑。
No.6 英語和帝國(guó)
No.6 English and Empire
The History of English in Ten Minutes. Chapter six. English and Empire or the
sun never set on the English language.
十分鐘了解英語歷史。第六章，英語和帝國(guó)或英語的太陽永不落。
With English making its name as the language of science, the Bible and
Shakespeare, Britain decided to take it on tour.
隨著英語被大量用于科學(xué)，圣經(jīng)，和莎士比亞作品，英國(guó)決定讓它發(fā)揚(yáng)光大。
Asking only for land, wealth, natural resources, total obedience to the crown and
a few local words in return.
尋找土地，財(cái)富，自然資源，完全忠于國(guó)王，帶回了一些外來詞。
They went to the Caribbean looking for gold and a chance to really unwind –
discovering the ‘barbeque’, the ‘canoe’ and a pretty good recipe for rum punch.
They also brought back the word ‘cannibal’ to make their trip sound more exciting.
他們?nèi)ゼ永毡葘ふ尹S金，有機(jī)會(huì)真正自由的發(fā)掘出一些詞匯，例如燒烤，木舟和很多朗姆潘趣酒的菜譜。他們還帶回食人者這類詞匯讓旅行更加刺激。
In India there was something for everyone. ‘Yoga’ – to help you stay in shape,
while pretending to be spiritual. If that didn’t work there was the ‘cummerbund’ to
hide a paunch and - if you couldn’t even make it up the stairs without turning
‘crimson’ – they had the ‘bungalow’.
在印度英國(guó)人發(fā)明了一些詞匯跟每個(gè)人的生活都有點(diǎn)兒關(guān)系。瑜伽讓人保持身材，也試圖使人精神，如果那個(gè)沒有效，還有腹帶來隱藏大肚子。如果你上臺(tái)階會(huì)紅臉，他們有平房。
Meanwhile in Africa they picked up words like ‘voodoo’ and ‘zombie’ –
kicking off the teen horror film – and even more terrifying, they brought home the
world’s two most annoying musical instruments – the ‘bongo’ and the ‘banjo’.
同時(shí)在非洲，他們使用伏都教和僵尸，擊敗青年人的恐怖電影，更加恐怖的是他們帶回世界上最吵鬧的樂器，小鼓，班卓琴。
From Australia, English took the words ‘nugget’, ‘boomerang’ and ‘walkabout’ -
and in fact the whole concept of chain pubs.
英國(guó)人從澳洲帶來詞匯，金屬，回力棒，隨身聽，實(shí)際上還有連鎖酒吧的概念。
Between toppling Napoleon (1815) and the first World War (1914), the British
Empire gobbled up around 10 millions square miles, 400 million people and nearly a
hundred thousand gin and tonics, leaving new varieties of English to develop all over
the globe.
在拿破侖失敗的那年即1815年和一戰(zhàn)之間即1914年，英國(guó)吞沒了大約1千萬平方英里的土地，4億人口，近10萬的杜松燒酒和補(bǔ)品，使得英語在全球
拓展。
