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一转眼，Holliday season又要到啦！本周美国人就要迎来一年一度的感恩节(每年十一月的第四个星期四)

说起感恩节，大家是不是首先都会想到火鸡大餐呢，美国人对火鸡的热爱，在每年的感恩节这一天都会达到顶峰。但是究竟为啥，火鸡就这么成了感恩节餐桌上的主角？火鸡活体究竟长啥样?它们跟霸王龙是亲戚?土耳其(Turkey)又为啥躺枪了呢……

今天我们就来讲讲感恩节明星——火鸡，和它们的邻居老美不得不说的故(duan)事(zi)。

1.美国人有多爱火鸡?

It’s no secret that these huge birds earned so much love from the Americans. But how deep is their love? Let’s just look at the fact that there are 4 places in America named Turkey – Turkey, Louisiana, Turkey Texas, Turkey North Carolina and Turkey Creek Arizona. They even have 2 townships in Pennsylvania called Upper Turkeyfoot and Lower Turkeyfoot. Don’t be surprised if one day they put a sign on the border says, “Welcome to Turkeyland.”

火鸡深受美国人喜爱这已经不是什么新鲜事儿了，不过老美们到底有多爱这些大鸟呢?我们就拿下面这事儿来说说，美国有4个以“火鸡”命名的地方-路易斯安那的火鸡城，德州的火鸡城，北卡的火鸡城，还有亚利桑那的火鸡河。在宾州，他们甚至还有两个小镇，一个叫上火鸡脚镇，一个叫下火鸡脚镇。如果哪天他们在自己的边境竖个牌子写着，“欢迎来到火鸡乐园”，可不要被吓到哦。

2.富兰克林对火鸡的爱，恐怕是无人能及了

If you know a thing or two about America, you probably know that their national bird is bald eagle. But there is one person who had a big problem with that. Ben Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, wrote to his daughter that the bald eagle is “a bird of bad moral character”, whereas the turkey is “much more respectable”. I bet if he had his way, turkey would be their national bird.

如果你对美国有所了解的话，你大概知道秃鹰是他们的国鸟。不过，有这么一个人，对这个国鸟有很大的意见。这个人就是美国的开国元勋之一，本·富兰克林啦。他曾经在给女儿的信中写道，秃鹰是一种“道德败坏”的鸟，而火鸡才应该更“受人尊敬”呢。我猜如果当时富兰克林有路子的话，今天美国的国鸟可能就是火鸡了呢。

Tips：

1)know a thing or two的意思是知道一点，有所了解。

例如：If you know a thing or two about her, you wouldn’t have pissed her off.

如果你对她有所了解的话，你当初就不会惹毛她了。

2)have a problem with是对xx有意见，感到不满的意思。可不是对xxx有疑问哦。

例如：You have a problem with me or what?

你对我有意见还是咋地?(脑补东北腔)

3)have one’s way是有方法，有路子的意思。

3.所以为什么感恩节吃的不是牛不是羊也不是普通鸡，而偏偏是火鸡呢?

How come turkey became the traditional dish for Thanksgiving Day? The answer is quite simple – There’s just too many turkeys. When they first decided to celebrate this special holiday in 1621, turkey happened to be the most plentiful meat available.After all, these native birds roamed the Americas 10 million years ago.

火鸡怎么就成了传统的感恩节大餐了呢?答案其实很简单，因为火鸡实在是太，多，了。人们第一次庆祝感恩节的时候，是在1621年，然而恰好那个时候，数量最能满足感恩节大餐的肉类，就是火鸡肉了。毕竟，这些本地鸟，一千万年前就开始在美洲大陆上繁衍生息了。

4.土耳其跟火鸡到底有关系嘛?

Actually it takes some words to explain why turkey is named after Turkey. Back in the day, the Europeans were in love with the guinea fowls which were imported by Turkish merchants. As a results, the English named the birds turkeys. Later when the Spaniards came to America, they found a bird tasted like those guinea fowls. When they were sent to Europe, the English called them turkeys as well.Is it just me, or the English really are lazy at naming things?

要说起为什么火鸡在英语里跟土耳其同名，那还真是有的说了。很久很久以前，欧洲人爱上了一种叫珍珠鸡的食物，因为是被土耳其商人带进欧洲来的，所以英国人就把它们命名为turkey。后来西班牙人到了美洲，他们发现了一种跟珍珠鸡味道蜜汁相似的禽类(火鸡)，又把这种禽类带回了欧洲。英国大佬们就又把这种跟turkey味道很相似的鸟也叫做turkey了。难道只有我觉得，英国人在起名字方面有点太随便了吗?

Tips：

1)back in the day的意思是，在以前，在旧时候。类似的back in my day意思就是在我们那个年代，在我年轻的时候。

2)最后这一句很口语化，is it just me or……，意思是难道只有我这么想吗，你们难道不觉得……吗，常常是用作反问的，或者是提出自认为新鲜的观点。

比如：Is it just me, or Benedict Cumberbatch really looks like a beaver?

只有我觉得，卷福长得很像海狸吗?

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