黑猫到底是不是bad luck？你的万圣节冷知识来了！

掐指一算，还有不到一周就万圣节啦……万圣节可以说是英语君最喜欢的西方节日了，除了party，还有吃不完的糖果！这几年国内不少朋友都开始纷纷参加各种万圣节变装晚会，也有朋友互相赠送糖果巧克力。不过，除了糖和party，万圣节其实也是个历史很悠久的节日了，关于这个有点欢乐的节日，有哪些你不知道的冷知识呢？

1.是不是bad luck，黑猫自己都不懂了

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.

黑猫元素现在依然是万圣节装饰的大热门。虽然现在我们说起黑猫这事，在英国大部分地区，人们都觉得路遇黑猫其实是好兆头，说黑猫是厄运实在是太陈词滥调了。不过真说起来，远在中世纪那会儿，猎女巫还是很常见的事，然而一般单身女子会被怀疑有作妖的嫌疑，她们最常见的伙伴，家猫，就被看作是恶魔赐予的礼物。还有一种说法是撒旦在跟女巫们往来的时候，化身成了一只猫。所以就这么莫名其妙的，黑猫成了厄运的象征。万幸的是，这么多年过去，这些小家伙估计从来就不在乎人们怎么说。

Tips：

1）用ancient来形容某件事，这种说法有点夸张的意思，字面上看就是，你做的这事实在是太远古了，也就是太老套，陈词滥调了，表达类似意思的还有cliché和old

2）witch hunt的本意就是猎巫，在中世纪被宗教严格控制的西方世界曾经一度流行。但在现在说起witch hunt，也有政治迫害这层含义。

3）commonplace 平常的，常见的

4）这里其实用了一下单身女孩爱养猫的梗（这样真的好吗

5）out of nowhere是指莫名其妙的出现，不知道从哪冒出来的。例如：

That TV show really popped out of nowhere.

这剧真不知道怎么就火了。

2. 南瓜灯的前身竟然是……萝卜灯？

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!

其实现在所谓的万圣节传统都是美国人自己编的……在欧洲国家，人家根本都不叫Halloween这个名字。说起来，杰克南瓜灯就是个非常好的例子。这些被雕过的南瓜，其实是用来为迷路的鬼魂们指路，或者是驱散恶灵的。杰克这个名字的由来，说白了，就是一个叫杰克的小男孩挑衅了恶魔，然后被恶魔永远关在了地狱了。可是这个淘气boy可不甘心啊，他用恶魔砸在他身上的芜菁（也叫大头菜，疙瘩头，神似大萝卜）做了一个灯，为自己逃出地狱指路。但这个故事其实讲的是爱尔兰版本的杰克灯，直到爱尔兰爆发土豆饥荒，大批人到美国逃难，爱尔兰人才把这个万圣节传统带到美国。但有一点改动的是，他们开始用南瓜代替芜菁制灯，因为芜菁这东西“在北美很难找到”。南瓜万岁！

Tips：

1）to start with这个短语在罗列或者举例的时候放在第一条前面，写作文必备啊对不对。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.

戳戳简直就是上帝选中的男子，他真的太完美了。首先，如果我有他那样的一张脸，我可以一整天啥也不干，就一直对着镜子傻笑。

2）namesake 同名的。比如妮妮Robert Downey Jr.和他老爸Robert Downey就互为namesake

3）piss off somebody是把某人惹毛，气炸的意思。

3.变装不是为了吓人，是为了防身啊

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.

万圣节其实是从古老的盖尔节日－萨温节演变来的。如果你知道萨温节这个词，你大概也知道它代表阴阳两界阻隔最小，鬼们可以随便跑来跟人玩的一天。所以为了骗过鬼眼，让他们相信我们是他们其中的一员，我们当然就要穿上各种恐怖的变装衣服，扮的像行尸走肉一样啊。这样他们就不会把我们的魂给勾走。

Tips：

1）stand for的义项很多，意义也是差的天上地下……在这里就是是代表，有……含义的意思。另外它还可以表示忍受，还有主张，拥护的意思

2）mingle with本意是混入，加入，现在常用来指交往，交际。比如在party上，想要玩得开心，就要努力mingle，挤人群呀

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