为什么天王星（Uranus）的英文发音怎么念都很尴尬：英语精读讲义

Hello internet.

你好，互联网。

In my last video about Pluto,

在我上一期关于冥王星的视频中，

you may have noticed that I said aloud the names of every planet except one,

你可能已经注意到，我大声念出了除了一个以外的所有行星的名字，

this one.

就是这一个。

And that was no accident, 語法

这并非巧合，

but rather the result of careful script editing

而是仔细编辑文案的结果，

because where I grew up,

因为在我的家乡，

I learned that the name of the seventh planet is pronounced yoo-Rain-us.

我学到的第七颗行星的名字发音是 yoo-Rain-us。

Of course,

当然，

to a kid,

对一个孩子来说，

Uranus sounds an awful lot like your anus, 短語搭配

Uranus 听起来非常像 your anus，

which is how I and everyone else I knew

这就是为什么我和我认识的所有人

ended up saying the name, 短語動詞

最后都这样念这个名字，

which is funny when you're a child,

当你还是个孩子的时候这很有趣，

but becomes a bit of a problem when you grow up

但当你长大后，这就会变成一个问题，

and try to teach scientific facts about the planet.

特别是当你试着教授关于这颗行星的科学常识时。

For example,

例如：

Uranus has a ring around it.

Uranus 周围有一个环。

Astronomers have discovered a dark spot on Uranus.

天文学家在 Uranus 上发现了一个暗斑。

Uranus is a gas giant.

Uranus 是一颗气态巨行星。

Uranus is surrounded by methane.

Uranus 被甲烷包围。

There is a solution to this problem,

这个问题其实有一个解决方案，

the alternative pronunciation of the name which goes YUR-in-us.

也就是这个名字的另一种发音 YUR-in-us。

And most scientists in public roles do use this pronunciation. 語法

大多数担任公众角色的科学家确实使用这种发音。

But for me, YUR-in-us is still problematic.

但对我来说，YUR-in-us 仍然有问题。

Sure, it's better than your anus,

当然，这比 your anus 要好，

but it's still Uranus.

但它仍然是 Uranus。

And perhaps I'm just childish,

也许只是我比较幼稚，

but when someone else says YUR-in-us,

但当别人说 YUR-in-us 时，

I still hear Uranus in my head,

我脑海里听到的还是 Uranus，

and it just draws more attention to the unfortunate name. 短語搭配

这只会让人们更加注意这个不幸的名字。

The tragedy is it didn't have to be this way. 語法

悲剧在于，事情本不必如此。

The seventh planet from the sun is unique because it's the first planet we discovered.

距离太阳第七近的这颗行星很特别，因为它是我们发现的第一颗行星。

For all of human history,

在整个人类历史上，

the six closest planets were big enough or bright enough to see with just our limited simian eyes. 語法

最靠里的六颗行星由于足够大或足够亮，仅凭我们有限的灵长类眼睛就能看到。

But the next planet was too dim to see until our telescope technology got good enough 語法

但下一颗行星太暗了，无法直接看到，直到我们的望远镜技术足够先进，

for British astronomer William Herschel to spot it in 1781.

英国天文学家威廉·赫歇尔才在 1781 年发现了它。

Understandably, though, he didn't think he discovered a new planet

不过可以理解的是，他并不认为自己发现了一颗新行星，

since from the rise of modern humans 50,000 years earlier until that Tuesday,

因为从 5 万年前现代人类崛起，一直到那个星期二，

no one ever had. 語法

还从来没有人发现过新行星。

But discover it he did, 語法

但他确实发现了它，

and so choose a name he must.

因此他必须给它起个名字。

And Herschel, being the good subject of the crown that he was, 文化背景

作为王室的好子民，赫歇尔

christened his new planet the Georgium Sidus, 講解

将他的新行星命名为 Georgium Sidus，

which means the Georgian Star.

意思是“乔治之星”。

And the George in that Georgian Star was King George III,

而这颗“乔治之星”中的乔治，就是乔治三世，

the reigning monarch.

当时的在位君主。

While King George liked the name,

虽然乔治国王喜欢这个名字，

the rest of the world did not

但世界上的其他人并不喜欢，

and decided that perhaps Herschel wasn't the best guy to name the new planet after all, 短語搭配

他们认为也许赫歇尔并不是以自己名字命名新行星的最佳人选，

and quickly decided to come up with alternatives of their own. 短語動詞

并迅速决定想出他们自己的替代方案。

One suggestion was Neptune,

其中一个建议是 Neptune（海王星），

which is confusing to us now,

这在现在看来会让我们感到困惑，

but at the time the planet that would become Neptune had not yet been found.

但在当时，后来成为海王星的那颗行星还没有被发现。

A more obvious alternative was to name the planet Herschel

一个更显而易见的替代方案是将这颗行星命名为 Herschel（赫歇尔），

after the man who discovered it.

以发现它的人命名。

Even in Great Britain,

甚至在英国，

the name the Georgium Sidus proved a bit stuffy for some, 用詞

Georgium Sidus 这个名字对一些人来说也显得有些古板，

so variants like the Georgian planet or just Georgium were also used.

所以也使用了诸如 Georgian planet 或直接叫 Georgium 之类的变体。

Though never, as you might have heard, George.

不过，正如你可能听说过的那样，它从来没有叫过 George（乔治）。

Side note here,

这里顺便提一下，

while researching this video,

在为这个视频做研究时，

I found a lot of websites claiming that the seventh planet was almost named George,

我发现很多网站声称第七颗行星差点被命名为 George，

but I was never able to find a primary source for this. 用詞

但我始终没能找到这一说法的原始出处。

As best I could tell 短語搭配

据我所能判断的，

searching through documents from the time,

在搜索了当时的文献后发现，

no one ever suggested this name.

从来没有人提出过这个名字。

I checked with the Royal Institution,

我向英国皇家科学院进行了求证，

who since 1799 has been promoting science awesomeness

该机构自 1799 年以来，一直从伦敦的中心地带

from the heart of London

致力于推广科学的奇妙之处，

and whose videos you should now go watch,

你们现在也应该去看看他们的视频，

and they confirmed the name George was never on the table 習語

他们确认，George 这个名字从来没有被考虑过，

because to so casually refer to the king at the time would have been disrespectful. 語法

因为在当时，如此随意地称呼国王将是非常不敬的。

And disrespecting a monarch is never a good idea,

对君主不敬从来都不是什么好主意，

especially one who is slowly losing his mind from a genetic disorder.

特别是对一位因遗传病而逐渐失去理智的君主而言。

But that's a story for another time. 表達脈絡

不过那是另一个故事了。

Anyway, another real suggestion for the new planet's name came from Johann Bode,

不管怎样，关于新行星名字的另一个真正建议来自于约翰·波得，

who suggested the Greek god of the sky.

他建议使用希腊天空之神的名字。

When a colleague of Bode discovered the 92nd element in 1789,

当波得的一位同事在 1789 年发现第 92 号元素时，

he named it uranium to support Bode's choice

他将其命名为 uranium（铀），以支持波得的选择，

and try and end the debate. 語法

并试图结束这场争论。

Perhaps because these two were German,

也许因为这两个人都是德国人，

it might not have occurred to them how the word would eventually be corrupted in English. 短語搭配

他们可能没有想到这个词最终在英语中会被曲解成什么样。

Though it's also hard to know how English speakers in the 1780s and 90s

虽然也很难知道 1780 年代和 90 年代说英语的人

would have pronounced the name.

会如何念这个名字。

But since the word anus was in the language then,

但既然当时英语中已经有了 anus 这个词，

it seems unlikely that this particular pronunciation would have been popular.

那种特定的发音似乎就不太流行了。

It may also have been pronounced with a flat A to sound like yoo-RA-nus,

它也可能被发成短 A 音，听起来像 yoo-RA-nus，

or something more like the Greek name oo-RON-ohs.

或者更像希腊语名字的 oo-RON-ohs。

These names competed with each other over decades.

几十年来，这些名字一直在相互竞争。

For example, still in 1823,

例如，直到 1823 年，

the Encyclopedia Britannica lists the planet as Herschel,

《大英百科全书》仍将这颗行星列为 Herschel，

notes the alternative names,

并提到了其他备选名字，

and then proceeds to carefully word the rest of the article 用詞

然后在文章的其余部分仔细措辞，

to avoid naming the planet again.

以避免再次提到这颗行星的名字。

But you, dear modern viewer,

但现代的观众，亲爱的你，

know that eventually these alternatives faded and left this name triumphant. 習語

知道这些替代方案最终都消亡了，唯独这个名字留存了下来。

Which leaves someone like me with my terrible pronunciation

这就让像我这样有着糟糕发音的人，

longing for history to have taken a different path. 習語

渴望历史能走上另一条不同的道路。

The name Herschel might have made the planet sound a bit like a boring accountant

Herschel 这个名字可能会让这颗行星听起来有点像个无聊的会计师，

rather than the very interesting planet it actually is,

而不是它实际上那样一颗非常有趣的行星，

but this would still be a much better name than what we have.

但这仍然比我们现在的名字要好得多。

Neptune is obviously a fine planetary name,

Neptune 显然是个不错的行星名字，

though picking this might have just delayed the problem.

尽管选择它可能只会推迟问题的发生。

Finally, the Georgium Sidus is a bit awkward,

最后，Georgium Sidus 有点别扭，

and in sillier moments I wish that Herschel had just been more direct 語法

而在一些更无厘头的时刻，我希望赫歇尔能更直接一点，

and named it King George.

把它命名为 King George（乔治国王）。

Because how fun would that make it to teach kids the list of planets today?

因为如果今天教孩子们背诵行星列表时，那样该有多有趣？

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, King George, and Neptune.

水星、金星、地球、火星、木星、土星、乔治国王，和海王星。

In classrooms,

在课堂上，

such an unusual name would change the planet from a thing to avoid 語法

如此不同寻常的名字会把这颗行星从一个避之不及的话题，

to a starting point for discussions about what makes that planet different 短語搭配

变成探讨是什么让这颗行星与众不同的起点，

and how astronomy and our view of the universe change and progress over time.

以及探讨天文学和我们对宇宙的看法是如何随着时间推移而改变和进步的。

But my impractical dreams aside, 短語搭配

抛开我不切实际的梦想不谈，

we're stuck with this name, 習語

我们现在只能接受这个名字了，

which for me means choosing between the pronunciation which comes naturally

对我来说，这意味着要在自然但糟糕的发音，

and is terrible, or the unnatural awkward one

和不自然且别扭的发音之间做出选择，

which is still unsatisfactory.

而后者仍然不尽如人意。

So what's a man to do? 語氣意圖

那么，一个人该怎么办呢？

In the end,

到最后，

probably follow the lead of the Encyclopedia Britannica 短語搭配

也许只能效仿《大英百科全书》的做法，

and avoid the name when possible,

尽可能地避免提及这个名字，

which is a sad fate for the planet in our solar system

对于我们太阳系中这样一颗

with such an interesting story to tell.

有着如此有趣故事的行星来说，这真是一个悲惨的命运。

Uranus.

Uranus。

Uranus.

Uranus。

Uranus.

Uranus。

Uranus.

Uranus。

Uranus.

Uranus。

Seriously, people,

说真的，各位，

could we at least agree to switch the pronunciation back to the Greek Uranos? 語氣意圖

我们能不能至少同意将它的发音改回希腊语的 Uranos 呢？

It's clearly so much better.

那显然要好得多。