不管是周六还是假期,都无法阻止小C一大早爬起来跟大家说一声:Merry Christmas~
等等,同样是节日,为什么就圣诞节搞特殊用merry,不用happy呢?
1.Merry or Happy?其实,“圣诞快乐”用merry 还是happy,是个语法问题。
Using “merry” or “happy” is actually a grammatical problem.
- grammatical /ɡrəˈmætɪkl/ adj. 语法的
二者虽然都是快乐的意思,但内涵略有差别:
The answer goes back to the connotation of the two words.
- connotation /ˌkɒnəˈteɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 内涵
“Happy”表示一种情绪,而“merry”是一种行为:
"Happy" is an emotional condition, while "merry" is a behavior.
I'm very happy for you.
我真为你感到高兴。
Eat drink and be merry
尽情的吃喝玩乐吧。
2.英美大不同但英国女王在每年在圣诞致辞中,都会用Happy Christmas。
Queen Elizabeth of the UK uses “happy Christmas” in her Christmas speech.
因为在英式英语中,merry还有“微醺”的意思,所以它往往和下层社会的饮酒与粗鄙联系在一起,不符合女王的地位。
In the UK, “merry” is associated with the drinking and rowdiness of the lower classes.
- rowdiness /ˈraʊdinəs/ n. 粗鄙
在王室的带领下,英国人也就更喜欢用happy了。
The royal family adopt “Happy Christmas” as their preferred greeting and others take note.