VOA慢速英语2014 Turkey: A Case of Mistaken Identity

 

Turkey: A Case of Mistaken Identity

And now another edition of Words and Their Stories, a VOA Learning English program about American expressions.

Thanksgiving is one of the biggest American holidays. And Thanksgiving dinner is the center of the holiday.

And at the center of Thanksgiving dinner is the turkey.

Turkey is the "star" of the Thanksgiving Day meal.Turkey is the "star" of the Thanksgiving Day meal.

Our listeners may be wondering why the word “turkey” describes both a country and a bird that Americans eat for Thanksgiving dinner.

Many think the bird comes from the nation of Turkey. But turkey is not from Turkey.

In fact, the fact that the turkey bird is called by that name is one big mistake.  We could say it is a case of mistaken identity.

Since Americans are celebrating Thanksgiving, it is time to set the record straight.

First of all, “Turkey” has meant the “land of the Turks” since ancient times. The word turkey, referring to the bird, first appears in the English language around 1540. And the misunderstanding over the word turkey happened because of birds that look similar.

This is the case of mistaken identity that we spoke¹ of before.

First, there is an African bird called the guinea fowl². It has dark feathers with white spots and a patch of brown on the back of its neck. Portuguese³ traders brought the guinea fowl to Europe through North Africa.

This foreign bird came to Europe through Turkish lands. So, the English thought of the bird as a “Turkish chicken.”

They mistakenly called the male bird the “turkey cock.” They called the female bird the “turkey hen.” It became popular to eat the bird for Christmas dinner.

When the Europeans moved to North America, they saw a bird that looked like the guinea fowl. Orin Hargraves is a lexicographer⁴, someone who writes dictionaries.  Mr. Hargraves explains what happened:   

“Some Europeans saw an American turkey, thought that it was the guinea fowl, which at that time was called the “turkey cock” and so gave it the same name."

And so now we call this North American bird turkey even though it has no connection at all with the country Turkey … or even with Europe, for that matter.

Now we call that bird turkey because somebody misnamed it. They thought it looked like this bird of African origin -- a bird that came at first from Africa.

And there is another piece to the puzzle. The case of mistaken identity crosses land and language borders.

The Turkish, for their part, call the North American bird “hindi,” the Turkish name for India. The reference⁵ to India probably comes from the old, wrong idea that the New World was in Eastern Asia.

Sometimes, that is how language changes over time – by mistakes.

Another interesting fact about the turkey is that it almost became the national bird of the United States. Some people thought it should be the symbol of the U.S.

But today, of course, you will see the bald eagle on the Presidential Seal of the United States. Founding father Benjamin Franklin did not think the eagle was a good symbol for the new country. He thought the eagle was “lazy” and “of bad moral character” because it stole food from other birds. He thought that the turkey was a “more respectable⁶ bird” and a  “true original native of America.”

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 fowl   

n.家禽，鸡，禽肉

参考例句：

• Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
• Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。

3 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

4 lexicographer   

n.辞典编纂人

参考例句：

• A lexicographer's job is to describe the language.词典编纂者的工作就是对语言加以描述。
• The lexicographer knew that the English lexis was changing. 字典编纂者知道英语词汇在不断变化。

5 reference   

n.提到，说到，暗示，查看，查阅

参考例句：

• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。
• I like to have my reference books within my reach.我喜欢把参考书放到伸手可取的地方。

6 respectable   

n.品格高尚的人；adj.值得尊重的，人格高尚的，不少的

参考例句：

• She seems respectable enough.她看上去挺体面的。
• His savings were just enough to pay for a respectable funeral.他的存款刚好够办一个体面的葬礼。