解密那些名人名言背后的意思：看看谁躺枪了！

 　　名人名言的魅力总是难以抗拒，毕竟它内用可洗脑，外敷可装X，用得好可造学富五车之势，用得不好也算凑字数高手中的高手。从此，谁在说咱读书少，就用名言刷他们的屏!

　　小时候不用功读书时总是会被教育 “天才是1%的灵感加99%的汗水”;读到名人们说“如果我能看的更远一些，那是因为我站在巨人的肩膀上”，总免不了感叹一下他们既如此牛还如此谦虚。然而，你是否曾想过这些名言也许根本就不是大多数人所想的意思，不过是被人断章取义、以讹传讹。作为曾经“信名言，过人生”的世纪君，今天就做一把考据党，为大家还原那些名言的真实历史，看看到底有哪些名人莫名躺枪……

　　Wordsmiths like Shakespeare and Robert Frost loved their sarcasm¹. But when you take comments like that out of context, they can mean the exact opposite of the author’s intention.

　　That hasn’t stopped us from spouting² famous lines, many from classic literature, however we see fit.

　　马上学：wordsmith是“word”和“smith(铁匠)”两个词组成的合成词，字面意思虽然是”对文字千锤百炼的人”，实际上指的是语言大师，大文豪。例如，In today's review section Anthony Edwards, playwright³, poet, novelist and general wordsmith, talks about his glittering career. 在今天的评论栏目中，安东尼?爱德华兹——著名的剧作家、诗人、小说家也是语言文字领域里的大师，将为我们讲述他光辉的事业。

　　Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration⁴.

　　天才就是1%的灵感加99%的汗水。

　　大发明家爱迪生的这句名言不知鼓舞了多少勤奋向上的童鞋。可是你或许不知道这句还有下半句，Accordingly, a “genius” is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework. 因此，通常只有那些有天分并且付出全部努力的人才能成为“天才”。爱迪生大师的意思显然是要强调后半句，言下之意也就是说没有天赋光凭蛮干也是不行的。

　　马上学：注意文中提到的do one’s homework可不是做家庭作业的意思。而是表示“认真研究学习，做好完全准备”的意思。例如，It was obvious that she had done her homework and thoroughly⁵ prepared for her interview. 显然她对面试做了充分而用心地准备。

　　Money is the root of all evil.

　　金钱是万恶之源。

　　“金钱是万恶之源”?那可未必哦，上帝教导的其实是“对金钱的贪婪是所有罪恶之源——《圣经》提摩太前书第6章第10节”。要是钞票会说人话，一定会吐槽一句，“我和乃们什么仇什么怨?!”

　　Not really. The love of money is the root of all evil, according to Timothy 6:10 from the King James Bible.

　　Romeo, Romeo, whereforart thou, Romeo?

　　罗密欧啊，罗密欧，为什么是你，我的爱人?

　　没错，当大文豪莎士比亚笔下婀娜多姿的朱丽叶站在阳台上呼唤爱人的时候，心里想得可不是罗密欧跑哪儿去风流了。在中古英文中，whereforeart其实表示的是“why”的含义。朱丽叶在这里质问命运之神为何让自己爱上了世仇蒙太古家的儿子罗密欧。

　　In most high school adaptations of Shakespeare’s well-known play, Juliet raises a hand to her furrowed⁶ brow, searching for her lover from a balcony. But “whereforeart” doesn’t mean “where.” It means “why.” Juliet questions why fate made Romeo a Montague, her family’s sworn enemy.

　　I disapprove⁷ of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

　　我不同意你的观点，但是我誓死捍卫你表达观点的权利。

　　很多人认为这是法国文豪伏尔泰的名言。事实上这句话是作家Evelyn Beatrice Hall拜读了伏尔泰倡导宗教和解的大作《论宽容》一文之后所做的解读，而当时距离伏尔泰的时代早已过了200年了。

　　Most attribute this insight to Voltaire. In reality, Evelyn Beatrice Hall, a writer born two hundred years later, paraphrased⁸ a quote from Voltaire’s “Treatise on Tolerance,” which begged for understanding between religions.

　　If I have seen a little further it is by standing⁹ on the shoulders of Giants.

　　如果我能看的更远一些，那是因为我站在巨人的肩膀上。

　　牛顿的这句名言出自其1676年写给竞争对手胡克的信。很多人以为牛顿说这句是谦虚，实际上当时牛顿一直在和胡克争夺胡克定律是谁发现的。这句话是牛顿给对手胡克的信里提到的。实际上是在讽刺胡克身高太矮。

　　The best-known use of this phrase was by Isaac Newton in a letter to his rival Robert Hooke, in 1676: "What Descartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways, and especially in taking the colours of thin plates into philosophical¹⁰ consideration. If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."

　　而且这个比喻也并非牛顿原创。根据史料 ，早在 12世纪，著名的法国沙特尔学校校长、 中世纪哲学家伯纳德( Bernard of Chartres)就曾说过：“Nos esse quasi nanos gigantium humeris insidientes.”大意是， 我们都像坐在巨人肩膀上的矮子。这句话如今还能在沙特尔市著名的哥特式大教堂的窗户上找到。伯纳德以来，至少有十余人用过这一比喻，牛顿是其中最著名的一个。

　　But Newton didn't coin the phrase himself. He was alluding¹¹ to a simile¹² said much earlier by Bernard of Chartres, a 12th-century man.John of Salisbury wrote that Bernard of Chartres used to say that "we [the Moderns] are like dwarves¹³ perched on the shoulders of giants [the Ancients], and thus we are able to see more and farther than the latter."

　　Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

　　我能否将你与夏日相比?

　　莎翁这句几百年来被情侣们奉为经典的情话实际上并不是写给哪位姑娘的，而是献给自己心目中的男神——莎士比亚最好的同性朋友的赞美诗。小伙伴们来看下一句，Thou art more lovely and more temperate¹⁴.(你比夏天更可爱，更温婉。)简直更加情意绵绵了有木有。事实上，莎士比亚一生中总共写了上百首十四行诗献给这位仁兄!基情四射啊。

　　More than one slick love letter has included this phrase. But arguably Shakespeare’s most famous sonnet¹⁵ praised a man, not a woman. He actually wrote hundreds of sonnets¹⁶ about this guy, his dearest friend.

　　Blood is thicker than water.

　　血浓于水。

　　在美国，很多家庭的合影照片上会镶嵌这句名言表达家庭温暖和家人之爱。然而这句话原本的表述却是“誓约之血浓于胎腹之水”，所谓的“胎腹之水”指的是家庭血缘关系，而“誓约之血”则隐喻士兵血洒疆场。这个谚语原本的意思竟然是“部队里的兄弟情要胜过父母兄弟的血亲之情”，这你敢信?!

　　This gets uttered around awkward family photos on the mantle¹⁷ of nearly every home in the country. The original phrase, however, meant the opposite. An earlier proverb preached, “The blood of the covenant¹⁸ is thicker than the water of the womb.” In this case, “water of the womb” refers to family while “blood of the covenant” means blood shed by soldiers. So really, military bonds trump¹⁹ your siblings²⁰ and parents.

1 sarcasm   

n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic）

参考例句：

• His sarcasm hurt her feelings.他的讽刺伤害了她的感情。
• She was given to using bitter sarcasm.她惯于用尖酸刻薄语言挖苦人。

2 spouting   

n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水

参考例句：

• He's always spouting off about the behaviour of young people today. 他总是没完没了地数落如今年轻人的行为。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blood was spouting from the deep cut in his arm. 血从他胳膊上深深的伤口里涌出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

4 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

5 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

6 furrowed   

v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Overhead hung a summer sky furrowed with the rash of rockets. 头顶上的夏日夜空纵横着急疾而过的焰火。 来自辞典例句
• The car furrowed the loose sand as it crossed the desert. 车子横过沙漠，在松软的沙土上犁出了一道车辙。 来自辞典例句

7 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。

8 paraphrased   

v.释义，意译( paraphrase的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Baxter paraphrased the contents of the press release. 巴克斯特解释了新闻稿的内容。 来自辞典例句
• It is paraphrased from the original. 它是由原文改述的。 来自辞典例句

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

11 alluding   

提及，暗指( allude的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He didn't mention your name but I was sure he was alluding to you. 他没提你的名字，但是我确信他是暗指你的。
• But in fact I was alluding to my physical deficiencies. 可我实在是为自己的容貌寒心。

12 simile   

n.直喻，明喻

参考例句：

• I believe this simile largely speaks the truth.我相信这种比拟在很大程度上道出了真实。
• It is a trite simile to compare her teeth to pearls.把她的牙齿比做珍珠是陈腐的比喻。

13 dwarves   

n.矮子( dwarf的名词复数 )；有魔法的小矮人

参考例句：

• Everyone will try to claim it: Men, Dwarves, wizards. 每个种族都会争取它的拥有权：人类，矮人，巫师。 来自电影对白
• Have you learned nothing of the stubbornness of Dwarves? 难道你还不了解那个矮人的倔强吗？ 来自电影对白

14 temperate   

adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的

参考例句：

• Asia extends across the frigid,temperate and tropical zones.亚洲地跨寒、温、热三带。
• Great Britain has a temperate climate.英国气候温和。

15 sonnet   

n.十四行诗

参考例句：

• The composer set a sonnet to music.作曲家为一首十四行诗谱了曲。
• He wrote a sonnet to his beloved.他写了一首十四行诗，献给他心爱的人。

16 sonnets   

n.十四行诗( sonnet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Keats' reputation as a great poet rests largely upon the odes and the later sonnets. 作为一个伟大的诗人，济慈的声誉大部分建立在他写的长诗和后期的十四行诗上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He referred to the manuscript circulation of the sonnets. 他谈到了十四行诗手稿的流行情况。 来自辞典例句

17 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

18 covenant   

n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约

参考例句：

• They refused to covenant with my father for the property.他们不愿与我父亲订立财产契约。
• The money was given to us by deed of covenant.这笔钱是根据契约书付给我们的。

19 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

20 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分