中国十大奇怪的山|十大奇怪的美国文化传统介绍

5.Trick-or-Treating

5.不给糖就捣乱 Many cultures have strong historic traditions relating to dressing up around the time of Halloween and exchanging various forms of food, but few of these traditions involve children going door-to-door asking for candy with the words: "Trick or treat!" That strange practice is believed to be American in origin, but funny enough, perhaps the people who find this the practice most baffling are the pintsized rookies being paraded around the neighborhood. While at any other time of year their parents forbid them from talking to strangers, begging for candy and roaming the streets at night, all of a sudden they change their tune and support such shenanigans on one magical evening each fall. 很多文化中都有在万圣节前夕穿盛装和交换各种食物的历史传统，但是很少有习俗会让孩子们挨家挨户地要糖，还要不停地说“不给糖就捣乱”。人们普遍认为这个奇怪的习俗起源于美国本土，但有趣的是，也许对这个习俗感到最为困惑的恰恰是那些正在邻居门前*的小孩子。父母一年到头都不许他们和陌生人说话、讨要糖果，更别说深更半夜还在街上晃荡，然而却在每年秋天这个神奇的夜晚突然来个一百八十度大转弯，转而鼓励起这种鬼把戏。 不给糖就捣乱

But here's the catch: They only receive these precious goodies by parroting out the magic words "Trick or treat." And heaven forbid the giver of candy requests a "Trick" of these poor confused newbies. But after a few years, they catch on, and trick-or-treating becomes a tradition they couldn't imagine October without.

然而这个恶作剧的关键在于，他们只有鹦鹉学舌般不断重复“不给糖就捣乱”这一咒语，才能获得这些宝贵的美食。但愿不会有大人拒绝给糖，却要求这些困惑的新手“捣乱”。但是过几年，他们就会明白了，而“不给糖就捣乱”也成了他们在十月不可或缺的传统。 4.Presidential Turkey Pardons

4.总统赦免火鸡 总统赦免火鸡

Thanksgiving in general seems to mystify those not steeped in American traditions, but perhaps no part of that quirky turkey fest seems more bizarre than the annual ceremony during which modern presidents grant an official pardon to a live turkey presented to them by the National Turkey Federation (NTF). Interestingly, there's also been a great deal of confusion among Americans concerning the actual origins of this strange tradition. Although the NTF has been gifting presidents with turkeys annually since 1947, the whole idea of "pardoning" them by sparing them from the stove didn't occur until years later, and even then, when it did occasionally happen, it certainly wasn't with anything as grandiose as a declaration of an official presidential pardon. The first bird to receive a formal stay of execution in the mode of an expressly stated "presidential pardon" wasn't delivered to the Rose Garden until 1989, when then-President George H. W. Bush started this act of official benevolence that's now become an annual American tradition.

对那些不热衷于美国传统节日的人来说，感恩节似乎会让他们感到困惑。但在这场奇怪的火鸡盛会中，最令人费解的莫过于每年总统都会赦免一只由国家火鸡联盟赠送的火鸡。有趣的是，美国人自己也搞不懂这个奇怪的传统到底从何而来。自1947年起，国家火鸡联盟每年向总统赠送感恩节火鸡，但多年后，肯尼迪总统才首次赦免火鸡，让它们免遭炉灶之火。不过此次赦免事出偶然，远非美国官方的“总统特赦”。直到1989年，总统乔治·布什才在玫瑰园正式举办了首次“赦免火鸡仪式”，之后“总统赦免火鸡”便成了美国的一个传统。 3.Black Friday Shopping Sprees

3.黑色星期五购物狂潮 黑色星期五购物狂潮

Just hours after millions of unpardoned turkeys are devoured in the United States on Thanksgiving each year, armies of shoppers head out to get a start on their annual Christmas gift list. Black Friday sales traditionally launch this national weekend shopping bonanza, which wraps up on Cyber Monday, a more recently minted tradition that's grown in popularity with the rise of online shopping.

每年感恩节当天，都会有数百万未遇大赦的火鸡成为美国人的盘中餐，而几小时后，购物大军就会着手采购圣诞礼物。周末购物狂潮从黑色星期五开始，到网络星期一结束。（网络星期一是因网购而新兴不久的网络购物节） In 2010, the National Retail Federation conducted a survey, and estimated that more than 200 million shoppers went online and to stores around the nation during the weekend after Thanksgiving, with 106 million Americans planning to make purchases online come the following Monday. Most of those shopping on Black Friday arrive at a civilized time, but many diehards take the tradition a step further and start the day at a gruelingly early hour. In rare cases, riots or deadly stampedes have even broken out among shoppers slavering to get a certain deal or a particular product. 2010年，美国零售联合会的一项调查显示，在感恩节后，全美大约有超过2亿顾客网购或到实体店购物，其中有1.06亿美国人打算在感恩节后第一个星期一网购。黑色星期五的购物时间迎合了大部分国民的需求，但也有些顽固分子早早地就冲到商场排队，让人筋疲力尽。其中不乏想要购买大量或特定商品的疯狂购物者，偶尔甚至会发生*或严重的踩踏事件。 2.Groundhog Day Prognosticating

2.土拨鼠日之时令预测 土拨鼠日之时令预测

Leave it to Americans to make their warm weather travel plans based on the machinations of a reticent rodent. Each year, groundhogs around the country -- but most notably Punxsutawney Phil of Punxsutawney, Penn. -- are paraded out to predict how many more weeks will transpire before spring is on the way.

你可能不会相信，美国人竟会根据一只土拨鼠的“小把戏”来制定春游计划。每年土拨鼠日这一天，美国的土拨鼠都会从洞穴里出来，“预测”春天还有多久到来，其中最的是来自宾夕法尼亚州旁苏托尼小镇的土拨鼠费尔。 It's either six more weeks of winter, or an early spring, depending upon whether the little critter in question sees his shadow or not. This tradition has been going on since the 1800s, despite (ahem) modest advances in weather prediction since that time. And speaking of measuring stuff by strange means, we've got one last weird American tradition for you on the last page. 春天会提早到来，或是冬天仍要持续六个星期，这得看小家伙能不能看到它的影子。虽说几百年来人类预测天气的技术稳步发展，但土拨鼠预报时令的传统从19世纪一直沿袭至今。 1.Inches, Teaspoons and a Ton of Bricks

1.英寸、茶勺和一吨砖头 公制单位

It's perfectly acceptable to use the metric system in the United States -- Congress originally authorized it in 1866 and has repeated those sentiments in the years since -- but tradition tells a whole other tale. Although the government now requires metric use in some public sectors and strongly encourages it in many private industries, the American public never really took to the system and largely dismissed it, making the United States the only industrialized nation where that's the case.

公制度量单位完全可以在美国通行——1866年美国国会首次批准使用公制单位，之后也多次推行公制——但我们所知的美国传统并非如此。尽管当今政府要求一些公共部门使用公制，也一直鼓励私营企业采用公制单位，但大部分民众并没有把公制系统当回事，相反地总是忽略它的存在。在这方面，美国确实是工业国家的一个特例。 In an effort to move the matter along, Congress even passed a Metric Conversion Act of 1975 and set up a U.S. Metric Board to take care of all the planning for the desired transition, but they apparently didn't empower the board with enough authority, and the American people essentially said, "meh" to adopting metric and continued on with their miles, pounds, ounces and all the rest. Similarly lackluster efforts since then have done little to get Americans to change their ways. 1975年，为了推行公制度量单位，美国国会通过了《公制转换法案》，并成立了美国公制委员会，专门负责公制单位转换。但显然，这个委员会还不够权威，公众打心底里对公制单位嗤之以鼻，依旧若无其事地使用英里、磅、盎司等传统单位。虽然政府一直努力推行公制单位，但收效甚微。

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