"cat got your tongue" 的来历是什么?
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"cat got your tongue" 的来历是什么?
"cat got your tongue" 的来历是什么?
"cat got your tongue" 的来历是什么?
这三个回答有重合之处,在前两个回答中,我将这部分重合用粗体标出,这个重复之处就是流传最广的「都市传说」了.这个解释指出,这个惯用语与海员们受到的一种酷刑有关,与这种酷刑有关的刑具叫做「九尾鞭」（直译应该叫做「九尾猫」,以下文字和图片引用自维基百科『九尾鞭』条目：它最初在英国皇家海军以及英国的陆军中用作为重体罚的刑具,在英国和其它一些国家的执法体罚中也有过实用.九尾鞭这个名称在英语中首次出现于1695年.名称的来源可能是它导致的平行的伤痕像爪导致的伤痕一样.它的设计可能比其名称更早.）因此人们或许吞吞吐吐的原因并非literally地与作为动物的猫有关,而可能与九尾鞭这种刑具有关,直接面对酷刑,所以才吞吞吐吐,看起来也很合理.但是这个解释的可靠性仍然是可疑的,不过它仍然是一个最被流传的又略合理的解释,也因此大家似乎都把这样的说法看成是一个「来源」.只是大家并不认为这个回答就是唯一一个可信的解释,这个词还很有可能就仅仅是来自于小朋友们的玩笑话.通过各类词典可以知道这个词最早出现在字典中的时间、以及现在这个词的用法.但这个词的终极的来源,似乎还并没有解释太清楚.不管怎样,前两个答案都指出,从字典收录的情况来看,这个词在英语世界的广泛使用或许并没有那么长时间的历史.我想,这是下面第三个答案所提供的4个理论不够可靠的地方.
The most surprising thing about "cat got your tongue" may be that it seems to be a quite recent expression.While it certainly sounds as if it must have been dreamt up back in the Middle Ages,the earliest written example listed in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1911.Also,there is some confusion about its origin.The Random House dictionary says it is from the mid-nineteenth Century and was used when talking to a child who refused to answer a parent's questions after doing something bad.However,other sources suggest thatit comes from the English sailing ship days,and refers to the cat o' nine tails (a whip).If the captain or other officer told someone something in secrecy,he would be threatened with 'the cat' if he were to tell the others.Of course,if the others wanted to know what had been said they would say,"Tell us,or are you afraid?