为何XOXO中的“X”代表亲吻？剑桥英语系博士告诉你

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[00:00.11]...
[00:11.43]Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, I'm Neil.	大家好，欢迎来到六分钟英语，我是尼尔。
[00:16.90]And I'm Rob.	我是罗伯。
[00:17.23]We're going to be looking at a letter from the English alphabet.我们将看一下英语字母表里的一个字母。
[00:20.98]It's a letter which has a particular meaning when used at the end of a piece of informal writing such as letters, emails, texts and messages.	当这个字母被用在一封非正式文本结尾处的时候，像是信件，邮件，信息或者消息，它会有一个特殊的意思。
[00:28.81]Oh, I'm very EXcited.	我非常兴奋。
[00:30.97]Ha ha, yeah, very good, very good, Rob!	哈哈，很好，很棒，罗伯！
[00:32.80]My EXpectations are really high.	我真的好期待。
[00:35.24]Yep, that's another good one.	好吧，那说得又很好。
[00:36.60]Is it an EXtraordinary letter?	它是一个不同寻常的字母吗？
[00:38.92]OK, thank you Rob. That's enough of your jokes. 好吧，谢谢你，罗伯。
[00:42.14]I'm getting EXasperated! Oh, now you've got me at it!你的玩笑够了，我要恼了！
[00:47.38]Well, no prizes for guessing what letter we're focussing on today.	我已经明白你想表达什么了。好吧，猜今天我们将讨论的字母并没有奖励。
[00:50.88]Why?	为什么？
[00:51.90]No, it's not 'Y'.	不，不是字母“Y”。
[00:52.97]No, no, I didn't mean the letter 'Y', I meant the word 'why', as in - why are there no prizes?	不，不，我指的不是字母“Y”，我指的是单词“why”，就是说为什么没有奖励？
[00:59.94]Because of all the not so subtle clues you've been giving. The letter is 'X'.	因为你给出的全不是隐含线索。那个字母是“X”。
[01:04.95]Yes. Exactly.	是的，正是。
[01:06.17]Alright, I think we get the idea! Before we go much further, let's have a question.好吧，我觉得我们说到点上了！但是在我们谈论更多之前，让我们回答一个问题。
[01:11.60]English has 26 letters. Which language has 74 letters? 英语有26个字母。哪种语言有74个字母？
[01:16.78]Is it...a) Khmer(Cambodian) b) Hindi or c) Armenian? Any ideas Rob?	是a) 高棉语(柬埔寨语) b) 北印度语 还是c) 亚美尼亚语？有什么想法吗，罗伯？
[01:21.93]An excellent question, but quite obscure, I'm going to say b) Hindi.	一个非常好的问题，但是相当晦涩，我会说是b) 北印度语。
[01:26.89]Well, I'll have the answer later on. Now, Rob, what does the letter 'X' all by itself at the end of a message mean?	好的，稍后我将会揭晓答案。现在罗伯，字母“X”单独在信息最后指什么？
[01:33.88]Well, it means a kiss. The more kisses, the more affection you are showing.	好吧，它指的是亲吻。亲吻越多，你表现出的感情越多。
[01:38.55]Where does this concept of putting an X to mean a kiss come from?放一个“X”意味着“亲吻”这个概念从哪里来的？
[01:42.92]Dr Laura Wright is from the Faculty of English at Cambridge University, and she appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme Word of Mouth.劳拉?怀特博士来自剑桥大学英语系，她做客BBC广播4频道Word of Mouth节目。
[01:50.26]When does she say this practice started and where does it come from?	她说这个做法从什么时候开始的，从哪里开始的？
[01:53.99]Well, we've been adding Xs for kisses at the bottom of letters since at least 1763.好的，我们至少从1763年就开始在信件的末尾加“X”来表达亲吻。
[02:00.52]So the very first one we know of had seven Xs.我们知道的最早的一封有7个“X”。
[02:03.51]I have to say, I haven't gone to seven ever.我不得不说，我从来没有过七个的。
[02:06.50]We get 'X' from the Roman alphabet which got it from the Greek alphabet, pronounced /ks/ and the Romans...	我们从罗马字母表里得到“X”这个字母，而它又源于希腊字母表，发音是/ks/，而且罗马人……
[02:13.45]That's nearly a kiss, isn't it?	那发音差不多就是“亲吻”的发音，不是吗？
[02:16.57]Yes, it is, isn't it? I think a penny's just dropped there.	是的，是的，不是吗？是不是恍然大悟？
[02:19.87]It has, clunk.	是的，哐啷一声。
[02:21.47]What do we learn about the origins of the 'X' for kisses?	从代表“亲吻”的“X”的起源中，我们学到了什么？
[02:25.82]Well, it's been used since at least 1763, and it comes from the Roman alphabet and they got it from the Greeks.	好的，它至少是从1763年被使用，而且它来源于罗马字母表，而且那是罗马人从希腊字母表中得来的。
[02:33.43]And why did this come to mean a kiss?	而且为什么这指的是亲吻？
[02:35.91]Well, Dr Wright suggests it's because of the original pronunciation - /ks/.	好的，怀特博士说那是因为原发音――/ks/。
[02:40.97]And at the point the presenter made the connection, didn't he?	而那个时候主持人把那和发音联系起来了，不是吗？
[02:44.27]Yes, he did. And Dr Wright used a phrase for when someone suddenly understands something, particularly something that is obvious to others.是的，是的。而且怀特博士用了一个词组指代某人突然理解某事，特别是某事对其他人来说显而易见。
[02:51.79]She said 'the penny has just dropped'.	她说“恍然大悟”。
[02:54.56]And this has got nothing to do with a penny, which is small coin, actually dropping anywhere.而且这和一便士没什么关系，那是一枚小面额硬币，实际上扔得到处都是。
[02:59.87]But the presenter makes a joke by using a word we use for the noise of something falling - 'clunk'.	但是主持人通过我们用来指某物掉下来的声音――“哐啷一声”这个词讲了一个笑话。
[03:05.90]Although, to be honest, a penny would never really clunk.然而说实话，一便士真的绝不会发出哐啷一声。
[03:09.75]That's more like the noise two heavy metal objects would make - the clunk of a car door, for example.	那更像是两个巨大的金属物发出的声响――例如像是汽车门发出的哐啷一声。
[03:15.98]Let's listen to that exchange again.	让我们再听一次刚才的交谈。
[03:17.94]Well, we've been adding Xs for kisses at the bottom of letters since at least 1763.好的，我们至少从1763年就开始在信件的末尾加“X”来表达亲吻。
[03:24.44]So the very first one we know of had seven Xs.我们知道的最早的一封有7个“X”。
[03:27.48]I have to say, I haven't gone to seven ever.我不得不说，我从来没有过七个的。
[03:30.12]We get 'X' from the Roman alphabet which got it from the Greek alphabet, pronounced /ks/ and the Romans...	我们从罗马字母表里得到“X”这个字母，而它又源于希腊字母表，发音是/ks/，而且罗马人……
[03:37.31]That's nearly a kiss, isn't it?	那发音差不多就是“亲吻”的发音，不是吗？
[03:39.91]Yes, it is, isn't it? I think a penny's just dropped there.	是的，是的，不是吗？是不是恍然大悟？
[03:43.58]It has, clunk.	是的，哐啷一声。
[03:45.80]One thing to note about putting an X at the end of a communication is that it is not something you do for everyone.在通信最后加上“X”要注意的一件事是它不是你对每一个人都要做的事情。
[03:51.74]It's usually only to friends and family members, people you might kiss in real life.它通常仅是对朋友和家庭成员而言，你在现实生活中或许会亲吻的人。
[03:56.50]Professor Nils Langer from the University of Bristol told a story about a colleague of his who wasn't too familiar with this convention. What was her mistake?	来自布里斯托大学的尼尔斯?兰格教授讲述了一个关于他同事的故事，他的同事对这个惯例并不是太熟悉。她犯了什么错误？
[04:05.64]A colleague of mine from Bristol, who... when she came over from Germany thought that X was just the normal way of closing a letter in England.我布里斯托大学的一个同事，她……她从德国过来的时候认为在英国，“X”在只是结束信件的一种常见方式。
[04:13.87]And so she would finish any letter with Xs, even a letter to the Inland Revenue.所以她完成任何信件都以“X”结尾，甚至是给税务局的信件。
[04:18.80]We never heard, really, how the Inland Revenue responded to these letters with these Xs.	我们真的从来没听说过税务局是如何回复这些带“X”的信件的。
[04:23.77]They docked her another 20 quid, I think!	我觉得他们扣了她20英镑的薪酬。
[04:27.20]What was her mistake, Rob?	她的错误是什么，罗伯？
[04:28.73]She didn't realise that you don't put an X on every communication.她没有意识到不用把“X”放在每封通信上。
[04:34.80]So she even put it on business letter including one to the Inland Revenue, which is the government department in the UK that deals with tax.	所以她甚至把它放在商业信件中，包括给税务局的一封，那指的是英国处理税务的一个政府部门。
[04:42.13]We don't know how the tax people felt about the letter with kisses.我们不知道税务人员是对带“亲吻”的信件作何感想。
[04:45.85]But the presenter joked about what their response would have been.	但是主持人对他们过去可能做出的回复进行了调侃。
[04:49.80]Yes, he joked that they probably docked her another 20 quid.是的，他调侃说他们或许会扣她另外20英镑的薪酬。
[04:53.56]To dock money' is to cut the amount of money you are expecting to receive, and 'a quid' is a slang word for a British pound.	“To dock money”是说削减你预期得到的钱数，而“a quid”是一英镑的俚语。
[05:00.79]Now time for the answer to our question. English has 26 letters. Which language has 74 letters?是时候揭晓我们问题的答案了。英语有26个字母。哪种语言有74个字母？
[05:07.76]Is it... a) Khmer (Cambodian) b) Hindi or c) Armenian?	是a) 高棉语(柬埔寨语) b) 北印度语 还是c) 亚美尼亚语？
[05:11.21]I guessed b) Hindi.	我猜是b) 北印度语。
[05:13.44]Well, I suppose it was a one in three chance, but not correct this time.好吧，我猜有三分之一的答对机会，但是这次不正确。
[05:17.65]The answer is a) Khmer. Very well done if you knew that.答案是a) 高棉语。如果你知道的话那你很棒啊。
[05:21.52]Now on to the vocabulary we looked at in this programme.	现在继续我们在这个节目里看到的词汇吧。
[05:24.76]We started with 'a penny'. A penny is an English coin.我们从“一便士”开始。
[05:28.95]A hundred pennies makes one pound sterling.	一便士是一种英国硬币。100便士是1英镑。
[05:31.38]The phrase, 'the penny has dropped', means that someone has suddenly understood something.	词组“恍然大悟”指的是某人突然理解某事。
[05:36.30]A clunk' is the noise of two heavy objects hitting each other.	“哐啷声”是两个巨大物体彼此碰撞的声音。
[05:40.20]The Inland Revenue' is the UK's tax authority.	“税务局”是英国的税收部门。
[05:43.18]If you dock money from someone, you reduce the amount of money you pay them.如果你扣某人的薪酬，你就是削减了付给他们的钱。
[05:47.90]For example, as an employee in the UK, your tax is automatically docked from your salary.	例如，作为英国的雇员，你要交的税自动从你的工资中扣除。
[05:53.95]And finally, 'a quid', which is a slang term for one pound sterling.最后，“a quid”是一英镑的俚语。
[05:58.32]Right, before they start docking our pay for being late, it's time to say goodbye.好的，在他们因为我们结束得晚扣我们薪水之前，是时候说再见了。
[06:02.80]Find us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, our App and of course the website bbclearningenglish.com. See you soon, goodbye.	要在Instagram，Facebook，Twitter，YouTube，我们的应用上查找我们的内容呀，当然还有网站bbclearningenglish.com。下次见，再见。
[06:11.70]Bye bye!	拜拜！

Our dictionary

为何XOXO中的“X”代表亲吻？剑桥英语系博士告诉你