黑貓到底是不是bad luck？你的萬聖節冷知識來了！
掐指一算，還有不到一週就萬聖節啦……萬聖節可以說是英語君最喜歡的西方節日了，除了party，還有吃不完的糖果！這幾年國內不少朋友都開始紛紛參加各種萬聖節變裝晚會，也有朋友互相贈送糖果巧克力。不過，除了糖和party，萬聖節其實也是個歷史很悠久的節日了，關於這個有點歡樂的節日，有哪些你不知道的冷知識呢？
1.是不是bad luck，黑貓自己都不懂了
Black cats still grace many Halloween decorations. Although nowadays, in most parts of the UK, people think it’s actually good luck for a black cat to cross your path, and it’s really ancient to say that black cats are symbols of bad luck. But far back in the Dark Ages, when witch hunts were still commonplace, solitary women are often accused of witchcraft, and their most common partners, pet cats were said to be given by the devil. Another version of the medieval myth told that Satan turned himself into a cat when socializing with witches. So out of nowhere, black cats became bad luck. Fortunately, through centuries, those poor little things probably don’t even care about it.
黑貓元素現在依然是萬聖節裝飾的大熱門。雖然現在我們說起黑貓這事，在英國大部分地區，人們都覺得路遇黑貓其實是好兆頭，說黑貓是厄運實在是太陳詞濫調了。不過真說起來，遠在中世紀那會兒，獵女巫還是很常見的事，然而一般單身女子會被懷疑有作妖的嫌疑，她們最常見的夥伴，家貓，就被看作是惡魔賜予的禮物。還有一種說法是撒旦在跟女巫們往來的時候，化身成了一隻貓。所以就這麼莫名其妙的，黑貓成了厄運的象徵。萬幸的是，這麼多年過去，這些小傢伙估計從來就不在乎人們怎麼說。
Tips：
1）用ancient來形容某件事，這種說法有點誇張的意思，字面上看就是，你做的這事實在是太遠古了，也就是太老套，陳詞濫調了，表達類似意思的還有cliché和old
2）witch hunt的本意就是獵巫，在中世紀被宗教嚴格控制的西方世界曾經一度流行。但在現在說起witch hunt，也有政治迫害這層含義。
3）commonplace 平常的，常見的
4）這裏其實用了一下單身女孩愛養貓的梗（這樣真的好嗎
5）out of nowhere是指莫名其妙的出現，不知道從哪冒出來的。例如：
That TV show really popped out of nowhere.
這劇真不知道怎麼就火了。
2. 南瓜燈的前身竟然是……蘿蔔燈？
The whole thing about Halloween is actually made up by the Americans. It’s not even called Halloween in the European countries. To start with, Jack-o’-lanterns would be a perfect proof. These carved pumpkins, are made to guide lost souls or protect from evil spirits. And the namesake, Jack, who basically, pissed off the devil, and were condemned by him to spend forever in hell. But this naughty boy won’t let it go, and tried to use the turnip, a kind of vegie that looks like radish, that the devil tossed at him, to make a lantern, and guide himself out of hell. Now we are actually talking about the Irish version of Jack-o’-lanterns, it’s after the potato famine, when Irish people were forced to flee to America, they brought this custom there, except one thing is different – they started to use pumpkins to replace turnips, because those things are “hard to find in North America.” Heil pumpkins!
其實現在所謂的萬聖節傳統都是美國人自己編的……在歐洲國家，人家根本都不叫Halloween這個名字。說起來，傑克南瓜燈就是個非常好的例子。這些被雕過的南瓜，其實是用來爲迷路的鬼魂們指路，或者是驅散惡靈的。傑克這個名字的由來，說白了，就是一個叫傑克的小男孩挑釁了惡魔，然後被惡魔永遠關在了地獄了。可是這個淘氣boy可不甘心啊，他用惡魔砸在他身上的蕪菁（也叫大頭菜，疙瘩頭，神似大蘿蔔）做了一個燈，爲自己逃出地獄指路。但這個故事其實講的是愛爾蘭版本的傑克燈，直到愛爾蘭爆發土豆饑荒，大批人到美國逃難，愛爾蘭人才把這個萬聖節傳統帶到美國。但有一點改動的是，他們開始用南瓜代替蕪菁制燈，因爲蕪菁這東西“在北美很難找到”。南瓜萬歲！
Tips：
1）to start with這個短語在羅列或者舉例的時候放在第一條前面，寫作文必備啊對不對。例如：
Troye Sivan is like the chosen one. He’s got everything. To start with, if I got a face like his, I’ll just stare at the mirror and grin all day.
戳戳簡直就是上帝選中的男子，他真的太完美了。首先，如果我有他那樣的一張臉，我可以一整天啥也不幹，就一直對着鏡子傻笑。
2）namesake 同名的。比如妮妮Robert Downey Jr.和他老爸Robert Downey就互爲namesake
3）piss off somebody是把某人惹毛，氣炸的意思。
3.變裝不是爲了嚇人，是爲了防身啊
Halloween is actually created from the old Gaelic holiday Samhain. If you know the word Samhain, you probably know what it stands for. It means the day when the veil between our world and the ghost world is thinnest, and the ghosts of the deceased could mingle with the living. So in order to fool them and make them believe we’re one of them, we put on all kinds of scary costumes and act like ghoul. This way they won’t take our soul away.
萬聖節其實是從古老的蓋爾節日－薩溫節演變來的。如果你知道薩溫節這個詞，你大概也知道它代表陰陽兩界阻隔最小，鬼們可以隨便跑來跟人玩的一天。所以爲了騙過鬼眼，讓他們相信我們是他們其中的一員，我們當然就要穿上各種恐怖的變裝衣服，扮的像行屍走肉一樣啊。這樣他們就不會把我們的魂給勾走。
Tips：
1）stand for的義項很多，意義也是差的天上地下……在這裏就是是代表，有……含義的意思。另外它還可以表示忍受，還有主張，擁護的意思
2）mingle with本意是混入，加入，現在常用來指交往，交際。比如在party上，想要玩得開心，就要努力mingle，擠人羣呀
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