为什么英语中把懦弱胆小的人称作chicken

时间:2022-08-08 09:23:03

(单词翻译:单击)

为什么英语中把懦弱胆小的人称作chicken?鸡是怎么和胆小联系到一起的?你也许不知道,这事和大名鼎鼎的莎翁也有关系。
 
Anyone who refuses a double-dog dare is liable to be labeled a chicken. How dogs found their way into dare culture remains1 a bit of a mystery—but the reason cowards are called "chickens" is slightly clearer.
任何拒绝接受挑战的人都很容易被贴上懦夫(chicken)的标签。为什么挑战(double-dog dare)会和狗扯上关系现在还是一个谜,但是懦夫被称为chicken的原因倒是略微明朗一些。
 
According to the Oxford2 English Dictionary, the earliest written instance of the word chicken in the craven sense comes from William Shakespeare's Cymbeline, circa 1616. "Forthwith they fly, Chickens," he wrote, describing soldiers fleeing a battlefield.
根据《牛津英语词典》的解释,chicken一词和懦夫含义相关的最早的书面实例来自威廉·莎士比亚创作于1616年左右的《辛白林》。莎士比亚在这个剧本中形容逃离战场的士兵时写道:“他们随即飞奔而逃,懦夫们。”
 
But as Grammarphobia reports, domestic fowl3 had been associated with an absence of bravery long before the 17th century. One play from around 1450 described a coward as a "henne-harte," and poet John Skelton likened some spineless courtiers to "hen-hearted cuckolds" in his poem Why Come Ye Nat to Courte circa 1529.
但是据“语法恐惧症”网站介绍,早在17世纪前,鸡就和胆小关联在一起。创作于1450年左右的一部戏剧将懦夫描述为“母鸡心脏”,诗人约翰·斯凯尔顿在他创作于1529年左右的诗歌《为何你们不上朝?》中将一些谄媚无骨的朝臣比作“鸡心王八”。
 
Hens may have seemed especially timid because roosters were typically characterized as plucky4. If you were a leader, a dauntless warrior5, or just a dominant6 presence in the mid-16th century, someone might call you a "cock" (as a compliment). And when people first started using the term hen to tag submissive or cowardly folks in the 1600s, they were often juxtaposing it with cock.
或许因为公鸡通常都被描述得很大胆,从而让母鸡相形之下显得特别胆小。如果你是16世纪中叶的一个领导者、一个无畏的战士或一个重要人物,有人可能会叫你“公鸡”(作为赞美)。17世纪人们刚开始用母鸡来指代顺从懦弱的人时,通常都会与公鸡一词并列。
 
Take, for example, the closing stanza7 of a late 17th-century ballad8 known as Taylor's Lamentation9:
举17世纪晚期的一首民谣《泰勒的悲叹》的末节为例:
 
"Ever since then she bears such a sway,
That I am forc'd her Laws to obey.
She is the Cock and I am the Hen,
This is my case, Oh! pity me then."
“从那以后她就说一不二,
她的命令我都得服从。
她是公鸡而我成了母鸡,
这就是我的命运,哎,可怜我吧。”
 
The sexist subtext here isn't exactly hidden: Female chickens, like female humans, are characterized as subdued10 and faint-hearted, taking cues from their valorous and powerful male counterparts. Any time the script is flipped11, pity is in order for the poor man. Fortunately, the less gendered phrase (hens and roosters are all chickens) won out over time, though it's not totally clear why. Chicken meaning fool—which may have been an offshoot of goose-as-fool—first started showing up in print around 1600. So it seems possible that the coward connotation caught on partly because the term also worked as a more general insult, too.
在这里字里行间都可以看出带有性别歧视的隐含意思:母鸡和女人一样被刻画成顺从胆小的形象,只能听命于勇敢强大的雄性。只要脚本一反转,可怜的男人就应该受到同情。幸运的是,随着时间流逝chicken这个不带有强烈性别色彩的词胜出了,母鸡和公鸡都统称为chicken,尽管原因不是很清楚。17世纪前后,用鸡(chicken)来指代傻瓜的用法首次出现在印刷品中,这可能是鹅带有的傻瓜含义的衍生用法。所以鸡带有的懦夫含义一部分可能是因为这个词同时也具有更普遍的侮辱含义。

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1 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
2 Oxford Wmmz0a     
n.牛津(英国城市)
参考例句:
  • At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
  • This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。
3 fowl fljy6     
n.家禽,鸡,禽肉
参考例句:
  • Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
  • Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后,我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉,少吃红色肉类。
4 plucky RBOyw     
adj.勇敢的
参考例句:
  • The plucky schoolgirl amazed doctors by hanging on to life for nearly two months.这名勇敢的女生坚持不放弃生命近两个月的精神令医生感到震惊。
  • This story featured a plucky heroine.这个故事描述了一个勇敢的女英雄。
5 warrior YgPww     
n.勇士,武士,斗士
参考例句:
  • The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
  • A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。
6 dominant usAxG     
adj.支配的,统治的;占优势的;显性的;n.主因,要素,主要的人(或物);显性基因
参考例句:
  • The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
  • She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。
7 stanza RFoyc     
n.(诗)节,段
参考例句:
  • We omitted to sing the second stanza.我们漏唱了第二节。
  • One young reporter wrote a review with a stanza that contained some offensive content.一个年轻的记者就歌词中包含有攻击性内容的一节写了评论。
8 ballad zWozz     
n.歌谣,民谣,流行爱情歌曲
参考例句:
  • This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
  • This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。
9 lamentation cff7a20d958c75d89733edc7ad189de3     
n.悲叹,哀悼
参考例句:
  • This ingredient does not invite or generally produce lugubrious lamentation. 这一要素并不引起,或者说通常不产生故作悲伤的叹息。 来自哲学部分
  • Much lamentation followed the death of the old king. 老国王晏驾,人们悲恸不已。 来自辞典例句
10 subdued 76419335ce506a486af8913f13b8981d     
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
  • I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候,我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。
11 flipped 5bef9da31993fe26a832c7d4b9630147     
轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 ); 按(开关); 快速翻转; 急挥
参考例句:
  • The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转,撞毁了。
  • The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

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