为什么“X”指的是“亲吻”？
Why does 'x' mean 'kiss'?
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。
And I'm Rob.
我是罗伯。
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。
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。
Oh, I’m very EXcited.
我非常兴奋。
Ha ha, yeah, very good, very good, Rob!
哈哈，很好，很棒，罗伯！
My EXpectations are really high.
我真的好期待。
Yep, that's another good one.
好吧，那说得又很好。
Is it an EXtraordinary letter?
它是一个不同寻常的字母吗？
OK, thank you Rob.
好吧，谢谢你，罗伯。
That’s enough of your jokes. I’m getting EXasperated!
你的玩笑够了，我要恼了！
Oh, now you’ve got me at it!
我已经明白你想表达什么了。
Well, no prizes for guessing what letter we’re focussing on today.
好吧，猜今天我们将讨论的字母并没有奖励。
Why?
为什么？
No, it’s not 'Y'.
不，不是字母“Y”。
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？
Because of all the not so subtle clues you’ve been giving.
因为你给出的全不是隐含线索。
The letter is 'X'.
那个字母是“X”。
Yes. Exactly.
是的，正是。
Alright, I think we get the idea!
好吧，我觉得我们说到点上了！
Before we go much further, let’s have a question.
但是在我们谈论更多之前，让我们回答一个问题。
English has 26 letters.
英语有26个字母。
Which language has 74 letters?
哪种语言有74个字母？
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？
Any ideas Rob?
有什么想法吗，罗伯？
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。
Well, I'll have the answer later on.
好的，稍后我将会揭晓答案。
Now, Rob, what does the letter 'X' all by itself at the end of a message mean?
现在罗伯，字母“X”单独在信息最后指什么？
Well, it means a kiss.
好吧，它指的是亲吻。
The more kisses, the more affection you are showing.
亲吻越多，你表现出的感情越多。
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？
Dr Laura Wright is from the Faculty of English at Cambridge University,
劳拉•怀特博士来自剑桥大学英语系，
and she appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme Word of Mouth.
她做客BBC广播4频道Word of Mouth节目。
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？
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。
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”。
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。
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……
That’s nearly a kiss, isn’t it?
那发音差不多就是“亲吻”的发音，不是吗？
Yes, it is, isn’t it?
是的，是的，不是吗？
I think a penny’s just dropped there.
是不是恍然大悟？
It has, clunk.
是的，哐啷一声。
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？
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。
And why did this come to mean a kiss?
而且为什么这指的是亲吻？
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/。
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？
Yes, he did.
是的，是的。
And Dr Wright used a phrase for when someone suddenly understands something, particularly something that is obvious to others.
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。
She said 'the penny has just dropped'.
她说“恍然大悟”。
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。
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。
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。
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。
Let’s listen to that exchange again.
让我们再听一次刚才的交谈。
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。
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”。
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。
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……
That’s nearly a kiss, isn’t it?
那发音差不多就是“亲吻”的发音，不是吗？
Yes, it is, isn’t it?
是的，是的，不是吗？
I think a penny’s just dropped there.
是不是恍然大悟？
It has, clunk.
是的，哐啷一声。
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。
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。
Professor Nils Langer from the University of Bristol told a story about a colleague of his who wasn’t too familiar with this convention.
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。
What was her mistake?
她犯了什么错误？
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。
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。
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。
They docked her another 20 quid, I think!
我觉得他们扣了她20英镑的薪酬。
What was her mistake, Rob?
她的错误是什么，罗伯？
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。
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。
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。
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。
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。
To dock money' is to cut the amount of money you are expecting to receive,
“To dock money”是说削减你预期得到的钱数，
and 'a quid' is a slang word for a British pound.
而“a quid”是一英镑的俚语。
Now time for the answer to our question.
是时候揭晓我们问题的答案了。
English has 26 letters.
英语有26个字母。
Which language has 74 letters?
哪种语言有74个字母？
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？
I guessed b) Hindi.
我猜是b) 北印度语。
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。
The answer is a) Khmer.
答案是a) 高棉语。
Very well done if you knew that.
如果你知道的话那你很棒啊。
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。
We started with 'a penny'.
我们从“一便士”开始。
A penny is an English coin.
一便士是一种英国硬币。
A hundred pennies makes one pound sterling.
100便士是1英镑。
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。
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。
The Inland Revenue' is the UK’s tax authority.
“税务局”是英国的税收部门。
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。
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。
And finally, 'a quid', which is a slang term for one pound sterling.
最后，“a quid”是一英镑的俚语。
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。
Find us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, our App and of course the website bbclearningenglish.com.
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。
See you soon, goodbye.
下次见，再见。
Bye bye!
拜拜！