外刊听读 | 竖起大拇指有何深意？

Thumbs up means...well, thumbs up, right?

竖起大拇指意思是……好吧，就是竖起大拇指啊，对吧？

But it's not always been that way.

但情况并不总是这样。

In the Roman era, a thumbs up meant death for a gladiator.

在罗马时代，竖起大拇指意味着角斗士的死亡。

If the gladiator was to be spared, the referee would press the thumb to the top of the fist.

如果角斗士幸免于难，裁判员将拇指按在拳头上方。

If he flicked it up, it was bad news.

如果裁判竖起大拇指，那就是坏消息。

There's a common misconception that a thumbs down meant death back then.

当时有一种普遍的误解，认为拇指朝下就意味着死亡。

It's thought to have stemmed from this painting by Jean-Leon Gerome in 1872,

人们认为，这源于让·莱昂·杰罗姆于1872年创作的一幅画，

which shows a colosseum crowd with arms outstretched and thumbs pointing to the ground.

画中罗马竞技场的人群张开双臂，拇指指向地面。

He got it wrong.

他搞错了。

It's thought the positive meaning of thumbs up started with English archers in the Middle Ages.

人们认为竖起大拇指的积极意义始于中世纪的英国弓箭手。

A fist with thumb up measured the correct brace height of the longbow, so the gesture came to mean "All is well. Ready for battle."

大拇指朝上的拳头可以测量长弓的正确高度，所以这个手势的意思是“一切顺利，准备战斗。”

Another origin of the gesture comes from merchants in Medieval times.

这个手势的另一个来源是中世纪的商人。

They would seal a deal by licking their thumbs and pressing them together, so a thumbs up came to mean "done deal".

他们会通过舔拇指并将拇指按在一起来敲定交易，所以竖起大拇指的意思是“成交”。

Allied fighter pilots in World War Two used the gesture to indicate "chocks away" when they were ready for take-off,

二战中，盟军战斗机飞行员在准备起飞时用这个手势表示“离地”，

and it's thought that American GIs spread the gesture throughout Europe.

据认为，美国大兵将这一手势传播到了整个欧洲。

Even today, Italians call it "the American OK."

即使在今天，意大利人也称之为“美国式OK”。

Hitchhikers around the world hope to "thumb a lift" from passing traffic, but watch out in Greece, Sardinia and the Middle East,

世界各地的搭便车者都希望能通过竖起大拇指，在车流中“搭到便车”，但在希腊、撒丁岛和中东地区，要小心，

where a thumbs up sign is an insult and is more likely to get you into trouble than the next town.

在这些地方竖起大拇指是一种侮辱，而且相比旁边的城镇，这个手势更有可能让你陷入麻烦。

When a scuba diver gives a thumbs up, it means it's time to swim back to the surface.

当水肺潜水员竖起大拇指时，意味着是时候游回水面了。

This signal has been known to confuse beginners.

众所周知，这个信号会让初学者感到困惑。

A wiggled thumbs up means the number 10 in American sign language, while a flat palm under a thumbs up is the sign for "help."

在美国手语中，大拇指向上翘表示数字10，再把手掌平放在下面就变成了“救命”的手势。

In the 1990s, influential US movie reviewers Siskal and Ebert, used a thumbs up or thumbs down rating system on their TV show.

20世纪90年代，颇具影响力的美国影评人西斯克尔和伊伯特在他们的电视节目中使用了“大拇指向上”或“向下”的点评方式。

They even trademarked the phrase "two thumbs up".

他们甚至为“two thumbs up”这个短语注册了商标。

Now, thumbs up and thumbs down signs are everywhere on the internet.

现在，在互联网上，“thumbs up（赞）”和“thumbs down（踩）”的标志随处可见。

Hoping for your approval.

希望本视频得到您的认可。

Or otherwise.

或者提出不同的声音。

【特 别 声明】本公众平台除特别注明原创或授权转载外，其他文章均为转载，版权归原作者或平台所有，出于传递信息之目的，并没有任何商业目的。 本公号尊重知识产权，如无意中侵犯了您的权益，请及时联系后台，本公号将及时删除。

合集收藏

备考专辑： & &

语音单词：& & &

新闻英语： & &&

歌曲TED: & & & &

美文故事: & & & &

名字外教： & & & & &

微信公众号改版，订阅号消息不再按时间排序，为了防止迷路，希望小可爱们可以动动小小手点个“在看”或者将“小芳老师”添加到★“星标”☆中！让系统知道这是你喜欢看的公众号，这样我们就可以一直就可以永远幸福在一起啊！