VOA慢速英語:Words and Their Stories: Nicknames for Philadelphia and Boston

詞匯掌故：費城和波士頓別名

Now, the VOA Special English program, WORDS and THEIR STORIES. Almost all American cities have nicknames. They help establish a city's identity. They can also spread unity and pride among its citizens.

這里是美國之音慢速英語詞匯掌故節(jié)目。幾乎所有的美國城市都有別名。別名有助于確立城市特性，還能激發(fā)民眾自豪感增進團結(jié)。

Two east coast cities -- Philadelphia and Boston -- were both important in the early history of the United States. Philadelphia is best known as The City of Brotherly Love.

美國兩個東部沿海城市--費城和波士頓在美國早期歷史中都非常重要。費城是最著名的“兄弟之愛之城”。

In sixteen eighty-one, King Charles the Second of England gave William Penn a large amount of land to establish a colony. The king named the colony Pennsylvania in honor of Penn's father. William Penn was a Quaker. He brought his beliefs about equality, religious freedom and brotherly love to this new land. Penn was also an expert in Latin and Greek. He established a city and named it Philadelphia, which is Greek for "brotherly love." An ancient city called Philadelphia was also noted in Christianity's holy book, the Bible.

1681年，英國國王查爾斯二世送給威廉·佩恩 (William Penn)大片土地建立一個殖民地。為了紀(jì)念佩恩的父親，國王將這塊殖民地命名為賓夕法尼亞。佩恩是貴族，他把自己的信條：平等、宗教自由和兄弟之愛帶到 了這片新的土地。佩恩還是一名拉丁語和希臘語專家。他建立了一個城市并把它命名為Philadelphia(費城)，這個名字在希臘語中的意思是“兄弟之 愛”。基督教《圣經(jīng)》中也提到了一個被稱為Philadelphia的古老城市。

Philadelphia became the social, political and geographical center of the American colonies. In the late seventeen hundreds, many events that took place in Philadelphia gave birth to the American Revolution and independence. For example, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed in the city. Philadelphia was the temporary capital of the new nation from seventeen ninety to eighteen hundred.

費城成為了美國殖民地的社會、政治和地理中心。18世紀(jì)末期，許多事件都發(fā)生在費城，催生了美國的革命和獨立。例如，美國獨立宣言和美國憲法都是在這個城市簽署的。從1790年到1800年，費城還是美國這個新國家的臨時首都。

Some of Philadelphia's other nicknames are The Quaker City, The Cradle of Liberty and The Birthplace of America. Philadelphia is a long name. So many people just call it Philly.

費城的其它別名還包括貴格城(Quaker City)，自由的搖籃和美國發(fā)源地。Philadelphia這個名字太長了，所以很多人稱之為Philly。

注：貴格城別名源自基督新教派貴格會，具體請百度之。

Boston is another important city. It is one of the oldest cities in the United States. In sixteen thirty, Puritan settlers from England established Boston in what would become the state of Massachusetts.

波士頓是另一個重要城市。它是美國最古老的城市之一。17世紀(jì)30年代，來自英格蘭的清教徒在后來的馬薩諸塞州建立了波士頓。

Several major events took place in Boston before and during the American Revolution. You may have heard of the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Bunker Hill.

美國革命前和革命期間，幾次重大事件都發(fā)生在波士頓。你可能已經(jīng)聽說過波士頓大屠殺，波士頓茶葉黨和邦克山戰(zhàn)役。

So, like Philadelphia, Boston is called The Cradle of Liberty. Another nickname is The Cradle of Modern America.

因此，和費城一樣，波士頓也被稱為自由的搖籃。另一個別名是現(xiàn)代美國的搖籃。

However, Boston's most famous nickname is Beantown. But it was not because the city grew a lot of beans. In the seventeen hundreds, Boston was a major trading center. It received a lot of sugarcane from the West Indies. Beans baked in molasses, a sugar product, became a favorite food in the city. Today, no companies there make Boston baked beans. Restaurants in Boston rarely serve it. But many Americans eat this tasty dish at home.

然 而，波士頓最著名的別名是豆城(Beantown)。但這并不是因為這個城市盛產(chǎn)豆子。18世紀(jì)時，波士頓是一個主要貿(mào)易中心，它收到了大量來自西印度群 島的甘蔗。豆子在糖漿中烘烤后成為這個城市最受歡迎的食物。如今這里沒有哪家公司生產(chǎn)波士頓悶烤豆，波士頓的餐館也很少提供這種食物，但許多美國人在家里 做這道美食。