VOA慢速英语2011--Words and Their Stories: How the 'Rx' Sign Came to Be

Words and Their Stories: How the 'Rx' Sign Came to Be

词汇典故：RX标志起源始末

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

现在是美国之音慢速英语词汇典故节目。

Every week at this time, the Voice of America tells about popular words and expressions used in the United States. Some of these words and expressions are old. Some are new. Together, they form the living speech of the American people.

每周这个时候，美国之音都会讲述美国常用的词句。这些词句有些很古老，有些比较新。它们共同构成了美国人们的日常生活用语。

Our story today is very old. It goes back about five-thousand years. It is about a sign that is used to represent some words.

今天我们讲述的故事就非常古老。它可以追溯到大约5000年前，和代表某些单词的一个标志有关。

We see this sign on drug stores and whenever we visit a doctor to get an order for medicine. It also appears on bottles of pills and other medicines.

我们在药店，或找医生开处方单都会看到这个标志。它也会出现在药瓶底部。

The sign is formed by a line across the right foot of the letter "R." It represents the word "prescription¹." It has come to mean "take this medicine."

这个标志是由右下角被一条直线贯穿的字母R组成。它代表“处方”这个单词，也意味着“服用此药”。

The sign has its beginnings five thousand years ago in Egypt. At that time, people prayed to Horus, the god of the Sun. It was said that when Horus was a child, he was attacked by Seth, the demon² of evil.

这个标志起始于5000年前的埃及。当时，人们向太阳神荷鲁斯祷告。据说，当荷鲁斯年幼时，受到了邪恶之魔赛特的袭击。

The evil Seth put out the eye of the young Horus. The mother of Horus called for help. Her cry was answered by Thoth, the god of learning and magic. Thoth, with his wisdom and special powers, healed the eye of Horus. And the child was able to see again.

恶魔赛特挖出了年轻的荷鲁斯的眼睛。荷鲁斯的母亲寻求帮助。她的哭诉得到了学问和魔法之神托特的回应。托特用他的智慧和神力，治好了荷鲁斯的眼睛。荷鲁斯得以重见光明。

The ancient Egyptians used a drawing of the eye of Horus as a magic sign to protect themselves from disease, suffering and evil. They cut this sign in the stones they used for buildings. And it was painted on the papyrus³ rolls used for writing about medicine and doctors.

古埃及人使用荷鲁斯之眼图案作为一个神奇的标志，来保护自己远离疾病、痛苦和邪恶。他们把这个标志刻在建房子的石头上。也画到用于记述药物和医生的莎草纸花名册上。

For thousands of years, the eye of Horus remained as a sign of the god's help to the suffering and sick.

千百年来，荷鲁斯之眼一直是神佑护痛苦和疾病的标志。

Long after the fall of the ancient Egyptian civilization, doctors and alchemists in Europe continued the custom of showing a sign of the gods' help and protection. But over the years, the sign changed from the eye of Horus to the sign for Jupiter, the chief god of the Romans. Jupiter's sign looked much like the printed number "four."

随着古埃及文明的衰落，欧洲的医生和炼丹术士传承了展示神之佑护标志的这一传统。但多年来，这个标志从荷鲁斯之眼变成了罗马主神朱庇特。朱庇特的标志看上去很像印刷体数字“four”。

That sign changed, also. Today, it is the easily-recognized capital "R" with a line across its foot.

这个标志也发生了变化。今天，它变成了更容易辨识的，被一条直线贯穿右下角的大写字母R。

The sign no longer offers heavenly assistance to the sick. It now means "take this medicine."

这个标志不再是为疾病提供神之佑护，它的意思就是“服用此药”。

(MUSIC)

This VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrator was Maurice Joyce. I'm Warren Sheer.
___

Editor's Note: One of our loyal website visitors has pointed⁴ out that there are two stories of where the term Rx may have come from. MedicineNet.com explains it this way:

编者按：我们的忠实网站访客之一曾指出，关于Rx这个术语的起源有两种解释。MedicineNet.com网站解释如下：

The symbol "Rx" is usually said to stand for the Latin word "recipe" meaning "to take." It is customarily part of the superscription (heading) of a prescription.

Rx符号通常认为代表拉丁语“recipe”，意思是“服用”。这是处方上标（标题）的惯用部分。

Another explanation for the origin of Rx is that it was derived⁵ from the astrological sign for Jupiter which was once placed on prescriptions⁶ to invoke⁷ that god's blessing⁸ on the drug to help the patient recover.

Rx起源的另一种解释认为，它源自朱庇特的星座标志，它曾用于处方上，来祈求神灵对药物的护佑，帮助病人康复。

1 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

2 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

3 papyrus   

n.古以纸草制成之纸

参考例句：

• The Egyptians wrote on papyrus.埃及人书写用薄草纸。
• Since papyrus dries up and crumble,very few documents of ancient Egypt have survived.因草片会干裂成粉末所以古埃及的文件很少保存下来。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。

7 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

8 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。