美国文化：与纽约紧密相连的九个词

 　1. Big Apple

　　1. 大苹果

　　The Big Apple actually began as a way to refer to the horse-racing circuit of New York City. According to the Oxford¹ English Dictionary (OED), it was used in the early 20th century to refer to 'something regarded as the most significant of its kind'. Soon, the term was being used with reference to the city itself. In 1970, the popularity of the term exploded, though, when it was part of a campaign led by Charles Gillett of the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau.

　　实际上大苹果最初是纽约城内赛马路线的代称。据牛津英语词典的说法，它在20世纪初期用来指代“被认为至关重要的某类事物”。很快它就与纽约城本身联系起来了。1970年，纽约观光局局长查尔斯·吉列特开展了一系列以“大苹果”为主题的城市宣传活动，这才使得该表达极为流行。

　　2. Broadway

　　2. 百老汇

　　Broadway, which figures into the dreams of every high school theater buff, refers specifically to thecluster of theaters on or close to Broadway in midtown Manhattan near Times Square, but more allusively² to show business at large. It's sometimes known as the 'Great White Way' due to the brilliant street illuminations and signage.

　　百老汇是每位高中戏剧迷做梦都想去的地方。它特指曼哈顿中城区百老汇大街和时代广场那一带的剧场区，不过百老汇更多地暗指整个演艺界。有时它因街区灯火阑珊、广告牌璀璨而被称为“不夜街”。

　　3. Empire City (and State)

　　3. 帝国城(和帝国州)

　　References to the empire city and the empire state – referring to New York and New York City's prominent reputations – date back to the first half of the 19th century. In recent years, the term Empire State has seen some lift thanks in part to Jay-Z, whose song with Alicia Keys, 'Empire State of Mind', was a #1 Billboard³ hit in 2009.

　　帝国城与帝国州分别道出了纽约州和纽约城的显赫名声，它们能追溯到19世纪上半叶。近年来，帝国州这一名称被提及的次数又有所增加，这还多亏了那首2009年登上美国Billboard榜首的歌——由美国嘻哈天王Jay-Z与艾丽西亚·凯斯合唱的《帝国之心》。

　　4. Murderers' Row

　　4. 杀手列阵

　　New York City, it turns out, has played host to both a literal and a figurative murderers' row. The first instance of murderers' row refers to the row of cells in a prison, originally in NYC's Tombs Prison, in which condemned⁴ murderers or other violent criminals are held. The figurative use of murderers' row comes from baseball slang, meaning a 'group of powerful hitters batting in succession for a particular team', notably⁵ the New York Yankees of the 1920s, which included Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

　　事实证明，无论是字面意义上，还是引申来讲，纽约城均是杀手列阵的驻扎点。头个杀手列阵原指纽约城的墓地监狱里关押死刑犯或其他暴力罪犯的囚牢。而其引申义则是棒球俗语，意为“接连为某支队伍效力的一群实力派击球手”，正像20世纪20年代家喻户晓的纽约洋基队中，队员包括贝比·鲁斯和卢?贾里格。

　　5. Tin Pan Alley⁶

　　5. 锡盘巷

　　Not actually referring to an alley or a street, Tin Pan Alley was the name given to a district in New York City, around Broadway and 28th Street, where many songwriters, arrangers, and music publishers were based. Some of the most noted⁷ composers of popular music during the first half of the 20th century worked here, including Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers. The term tin pan comes from slang referring to a cheap, 'tinny' piano, with reference to the constant piano-playing heard in the area.

　　Tin Pan Alley并非真的指一条小巷或街道，而是纽约城百老汇街道和第28号街附近区域的名字。那儿是众多歌曲作家、乐曲改编者和音乐版权管理人的聚集地。在20世纪上半叶，一些声名鼎沸的流行音乐作曲家都在这工作，其中包括欧文·柏林、杰罗姆·克恩、乔治·格什温、科尔·波特以及理查德·罗杰斯。“锡盘”原是指代廉价劣质钢琴的俗语，和这一区域中经常听到的钢琴演奏相关连。

　　6. Upstate

　　6. (美国一州远离大城市的)边远地区

　　In no US state does the word upstate carry so much of a connotation as in New York. In the state of New York, everything that is not New York City is sometimes referred to as upstate. In fact, quips about the Bronx being 'upstate' are heard so frequently as to count as a clichéd joke. The OED notes that the term is frequently used with reference to the New York state.

　　美国没有哪个州比纽约更能在upstate一词上承载如此多的内涵了。在纽约州，有时人们会把纽约城外的一切称作是upstate。实际上，像“布朗克斯区位列纽约城内的边远地区”这样的俏皮话被人说得如此频繁，现在都可算作是老掉牙的玩笑了。牛津英语词典标注着，upstate这词经常被用于介绍纽约州。

　　7. Wall Street

　　7. 华尔街

　　Though there is an actual 'Wall Street' in the downtown financial district of New York City, Wall Street is generally used today as a metonym for the wider world of American finance. In American politics, the term is sometimes used as the metaphorical⁸ counterpart of 'Main Street', referring both to small towns and small business interests.

　　尽管纽约城市中心的金融区的确有条街名为“华尔街”，但是华尔街如今通常被用来指代更广阔的美国金融世界。在美国政治这一范畴，“华尔街”有时被赋予的隐喻义，与代表小城镇和小企业利益的“商业街”(Main Street)相对立。

　　8. Madison Avenue

　　8. 麦迪逊大街

　　Another famous street in New York City, Madison Avenue became well known as the center of the advertising⁹ business in the US, and has since been used, like Wall Street, as a metonym for the US advertising business at large. The term 'mad men', a punning blend of 'Madison Avenue' and 'ad men', was popularized by the AMC television show Mad Men.

　　麦迪逊大街是纽约城内又一条闻名的街道，它作为美国的广告行业中心而广为人知。就像华尔街一样，麦迪逊大街被人提及时，通常指美国的广告业。而AMC的电视节目《广告狂人》捧红了‘mad men’这一表达，它是将“麦迪逊大街”与“广告人”相结合，具有双关的意味。

　　9. Ground Zero

　　9. 世贸大厦遗址

　　Although the term ground zero existed beforehand – referring to the 'point on the earth's surface directly above or below an exploding nuclear bomb' – it quickly came into use to refer to the site of the former World Trade Center following the terrorist attacks on September, 11 2001. In extended use, the term has been used to refer to any site of devastation¹⁰, disaster, or attack.

　　尽管ground zero这一表达先前就有，它意指“爆炸的核弹正上方或正下方的地球表面落点”。但在2001年9月11号的恐怖袭击后，它很快便用来指代世贸中心遗址。这个词组若引申来用，可以指任何遭受破坏、灾难或攻击的地点。

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 allusively   

adj.暗指的，影射，间接提到

参考例句：

• an allusive style of writing 引经据典的写作风格
• The young schoolboy can not understand the allusive conversation of intellectual men. 这个年轻的学生听不懂文人们引经据典的谈话。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

6 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

9 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

10 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》