J. D. Louie

語言的起源與發(fā)展很大程度上都是為了描述我們的生活。據(jù)說愛斯基摩人就有成百上千的詞匯來描述冰雪。世界之大，無奇不有，因此就存在著無數(shù)詞匯，反映了每個(gè)語言背后的歷史文化背景和思維見解。讓我們來看看這些網(wǎng)羅而來的異域奇詞吧。

There are billions of words in the world, but there are an in finite1. in finite: 無數(shù)的。number of situations and experiences to be had. Some experiences are so rare, we never think to name them. Others are similar to things we already have a name for, so we file them away2. file away: 歸檔。under that category. However, each culture is unique, and other countries have words for things we’d never think of.

1. Backpfeifengesicht（一張非常欠揍的臉）

From the people who brought you schadenfreude(happiness at the misfortune of others) and gluckschmerz(unhappiness at the good fortune of others), we have backpfeifengesicht. This is a German word that roughly translates to “a face badly in need of a fist.” The exact circumstances surrounding the creation of such a word are unknown. However, before we decide to run off and call our bosses backpfeifengesichts, it is interesting to note that it is the face that is said to be in need of punching and not necessarily the person it’s attached to.3. punching: 拳打，揍；be attached to:附屬于。

That is to say, this need not be just another synonym4. synonym: 同義詞。for people we really don’t like.

The idea that some faces are just more punchable5. punchable: 抗揍的。than others is not unheard of and has even been supported by science. Scientists believe that in the early days of humanity,when the main weapon of war was a strong right hook,humans evolved faces that could take a punch.6. 科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，在人類發(fā)展的早期，當(dāng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中主要的武器是一記強(qiáng)有力的右勾拳時(shí)，人類就把臉長(zhǎng)成能抗揍的樣子。hook: 勾拳。This applied mostly to males, since they tended to fight over women. The nose, jaw, cheekbones, and eye sockets evolved to be stronger,since these are a fist’s main targets.7. jaw: 下頜，下巴；cheekbone: 顴骨；eye socket: 眼窩。Over the years, our faces have become more delicate, but some faces have retained more “punchable traits” than others. So a backpfeifengesicht may just be a 125-kilogram (250 lb) guy with an iron chin jutting out, daring whoever’s brave enough to take their best shot.8. lb: 磅；jut out: 突出；take one’s best shot: 盡力為之，盡量嘗試。

2. Pisan Zapra（兩分鐘就到！）

The Malaysian word for the time it takes to eat a banana is pisan zapra. Before clocks became widespread, this word was used as a way to give a rough estimate of time. To say that someone would arrive in pisan zapra meant that they could be expected to show up in about two minutes. The Finnish word poronkusema(the distance equal to how far a reindeer can travel without taking a comfort break) works in a similar vein.9. Finnish: 芬蘭的；reindeer: 馴鹿；in a similar vein: 同樣地，相似地。

Pisan zapra is comparable to doing something in a jiffy10. jiffy: 一會(huì)兒，瞬間。or a moment. It sounds like an odd way to measure time, but that’s pretty much how all measurements started. Also, a “moment” is not just a vague11. vague: 模糊的，不明確的。measurement. In the medieval ages12. medieval ages: 中世紀(jì)。, it was de fined as being 90 seconds. A “jiffy” is actually a real unit of time as well. Scientist Gilbert Newton Lewis coined13. coin: v. 編造，杜撰（新詞語）。the phrase in the early 1900s. The amount of time it takes light to travel one centimeter (0.4 inch) is a jiffy (which is about one-hundredth of a second). Just something to think about the next time we take a moment to eat a jiffy peanut butter and banana sandwich.

3. Pesamenteiro（帶著吃貨的心去哀悼）

Pesamenteiro is a Portuguese word for “one who habitually joins groups of mourners at the home of a deceased person, ostensibly to offer condolences but in reality to partake of the refreshments which he expects will be served.”14. pesamenteiro是葡萄牙語中形容那些習(xí)慣性地去逝者家中加入哀悼者中間，表面上以示慰問，實(shí)則是期待會(huì)有點(diǎn)心可以享用的人。mourner: 哀悼者，送葬者；ostensibly: 表面上；condolence: 哀悼，慰問；partake: 享用；refreshment: 點(diǎn)心，茶點(diǎn)。After two weeks straight of eating nothing but ramen noodles,15. straight: 規(guī)矩的生活方式；ramen noodle: 拉面。any college student can understand why someone would do such a thing. Even so, a little more explanation wouldn’t hurt.

Hunger is a fast-growing problem in Portugal. Schools have even been known to keep their cafeterias16. cafeteria:（工廠、學(xué)校中的）自助餐廳。open during vacations to provide meals for students who would otherwise go hungry.Portugal is one of the poorest countries in Western Europe. In the 1900s, their policy for economic development focused on cheap labor costs. This unfortunately led to Portugal being unprepared for the competition coming from developing countries. Since 2000, the country’s economic growth per year has only averaged about one percent. While a pesamenteiro may at first sound like a cheapskate or a freeloader,17. cheapskate: 小氣鬼，吝嗇鬼；freeloader: 不速之客，揩油的人。such behavior is possibly the result of Portugal’s financial crisis.

4. Pu’ukaula（拿老婆當(dāng)賭注）

Gambling18. gambling: 賭博。can lead to the loss of many things. One can lose their car or house. It’s no secret that losing the deed19. deed: 契據(jù)。to his house in Las Vegas can result in a husband losing his wife. However,there is a much more direct way a man can lose his wife at a poker table. The de finition of the Hawaiian word pu’ukaula is “to set one’s husband or wife up as a stake20. stake: 賭注。in gambling.” It may sound like the plot of a movie or perhaps a practice only found in the back rooms of the highest rollers21. high roller: 豪賭者，肆意揮霍的人。. Unfortunately,however, this is an all-too-common occurrence—and not just in Hawaii. At least two incidents have been reported in India. In both cases, the wife escaped when her husband tried to hand her over to the winner. In one case, villagers had to guard the house where the wife was seeking shelter when the winner went so far as to raid the village to retrieve her.22. raid: 攻擊，突襲；retrieve: 追討，取回。

5. Prozvonit（在對(duì)方接聽前就掛掉電話）

In the Czech Republic and Slovakia,23. Czech Republic: 捷克共和國(guó)；Slovakia: 斯洛伐克。prozvonit is to call someone’s cell phone and hang up before they answer. There are two possible reasons for doing this. The first is to prompt24. prompt: 促使。the person to call back. This, depending on the cell phone plan,will cost the caller minutes but will not cost the person who prozvonit-ed anything.

The second reason someone may do this is similar but simpler: The person may call and hang up as a way to send a message without wasting any minutes. In the days of carnivals25. carnival: 嘉年華，狂歡節(jié)。, way before cell phones, workers did this all the time. A worker would call his mother collect and tell the operator that his name was “Kay Fabian.”26. call sb. collect: 給某人打?qū)Ψ礁顿M(fèi)的電話；operator:（電話）接線員。When the operator would ask the mother if she would accept the charge for a call from Kay Fabian, she would say “no” and save money.However, because of the code name, she would know that the call had been her son’s way of saying he was doing fine.

6. Tsujigiri（辻 斬——十字路口的平民試刀）

It’s only human nature to want to try out something new when we first get it. For most of us, that just means taking a spin around the block in a new car or taking “sel fies”with a new phone.27. take a spin: 兜風(fēng)；selfie: 自拍。Samurai28. samurai: 武士。took it a step further, it would seem. Tsujigiri is a Japanese word that translates to“crossroads killing.” While unfortunate, that may not sound too bad. However,that was actually the nickname for when a samurai got a new sword and tested it out on whoever happened to be walking down the street. That’s right: The victim didn’t have to be an enemy or otherwise offensive, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. These attacks were representative of how unchecked the power of the samurai was when they were at their most popular.29. 這些攻擊說明，在武士最流行的時(shí)期，他們的權(quán)力是多么不受制約。unchecked: 不受約束的。Such actions were eventually outlawed in the Tokugawa period.30. outlaw: 宣布……為不合法的； the Tokugawa period:德川時(shí)代（1603—1867），又稱江戶時(shí)代，是指日本歷史中在江戶幕府（德川幕府）統(tǒng)治下的時(shí)期。From then on, those caught testing their swords out in that way were treated as killers, arrested, and usually put to death.