火鸡：错误的定义

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

这里是词语掌故的另一个节目，美国之音英语学习的美语表达。

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

感恩节是美国一个盛大的节日，感恩节大餐是这个节日的重中之重。

And at the center of Thanksgiving dinner is the turkey.

感恩节大餐的关键是火鸡。

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

我们的听众也许好奇为什么“turkey”既是土耳其——一个国家名字，又是一种鸟类——美国人感恩节大餐的食物。

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

许多人认为这种鸟来自土耳其，但是火鸡不是来自土耳其。

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.

实际上，火鸡这个名字是个错误的叫法。我们可以说这是个错误的定义。

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

因为美国人庆祝感恩节，所以是时候可以解释一下错误的来源了。

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.

首先，在古代，“Turkey”是“土耳其人的土地。”单词“火鸡”是一种鸟，第一次出现在英语中是在1540年，对单词turkey的误解是因为这类鸟的称呼跟另一种鸟相似。

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

这就是先前我们说的错误的定义。

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

首先，非洲有一种叫珍珠鸡的鸟，这种鸟长着黑色的羽毛，身上有白色斑点，脖子后有一块棕色毛。葡萄牙的商人把这种珍珠鸡从北非带到欧洲。

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

这种外国鸟通过土耳其来到欧洲，因此，英国人认为这种鸟是“土耳其鸡”。

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.

他们错误地称雄性鸟叫“火公鸡”，称雌性鸟是“火母鸡”。后来日渐流行成为圣诞一道菜。

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

当欧洲人搬迁到北美的时候，他们看到一种跟珍珠鸡相似的鸟，欧琳·哈格瑞福斯是个词典编纂人，他解释了一下当初的情况：

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

“一些欧洲人看到美国的火鸡，认为那就是珍珠鸡，他们那时候称之为‘火公鸡’所以也就称这种鸡叫‘火鸡’了。”

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.

尽管与土耳其国家或者欧洲没有什么关系，但是现在我们称这种北美的鸟叫火鸡。

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.

现在我们称呼这种鸟叫火鸡因为有人当初错误的命名。他们认为火鸡跟来源于非洲的鸡相像——首先被人所知是因为来自非洲的这种鸟。

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

还有一个令人不解的地方，而这个错误的称谓跨越国界，传到不同国家。

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

而土耳其人他们称北美的这种鸟叫“hindi”这个词语来自印度。这个来自印度引用源于东亚新世界的古老的、错误的认识。

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

有时侯，语言就是这样随着时间被错误的流传。

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.

另一个有意思的情况是火鸡几乎成为美国的国鸟了，一些人认为火鸡应该成为美国的象征。

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 respectable bird” and a “true original native of America.”

但是今天，你可以看到美国总统的秃头鹰印章。富兰克林并没有想到秃头鹰成为新国家的象征。他认为鹰“懒散”而且“品德不良”，因为鹰从别的鸟类那盗取食物。他认为火鸡是个“人们更容易接受的鸟”而且“是美国本土真正的起源”。

And that’s it for this episode of Words and Their Stories. Join us again next week, when we explore the story behind American English.

这是词语掌故的一些片段，下周继续加入我们，我们会探索美语背后火鸡的故事。

Turkey: A Case of Mistaken Identity

In this 2013 file photo, Popcorn the turkey receives the traditional "presidential pardon" from President Obama. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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.

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.

In this 1913 photo, a young T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia), left, is pictured in front of the Long Wall of Sculpture in ancient Turkey. (Photo courtesy of the Joint Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition)

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 spoke of before.

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

A wild turkey flies up to it's evening roost in a tree on Staten Island, New York. (Nov.2013)

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 lexicographer, someone who writes dictionaries. Mr. Hargraves explains what happened:

“Some Europeans saw an American turkey, thought that it was the guine a 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 reference 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.

The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States. The turkey's character was too "questionable." (File Photo)

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 respectable bird” and a “true original native of America.”

And that’s it for this episode of Words and Their Stories. Join us again next week, when we explore the story behind American English.