一鸟在手，到底值多少？：英语精读讲义

Hey,

嘿，

Vsauce.

Vsauce。

Michael here.

我是 Michael。

And as they say,

正如俗话所说，

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 習語

一鸟在手，胜过双鸟在林。

What it means is that it's better to have a certain advantage 語法

这句话的意思是，拥有一个确定的优势

than to have nothing

总比一无所有，

except the possibility of a greater one.

只剩下获得更大优势的可能性要好。

But two birds in the bush,

不过，林中的两只鸟——

who calculated that?

这个数是谁算出来的？

What really is the value of a bird in the hand?

手里一只鸟到底值多少？

Well, according to Julian Baggini,

Julian Baggini 认为，

a bird in the hand is technically worth 2.48 birds in the bush.

严格来说，手里的一只鸟抵得上林中的2.48只鸟。

He calculated that number by looking at observations

他通过分析一些观察数据算出了这个数字，

from studies of what psychologists call loss aversion.

这些数据来自对心理学家所谓“损失厌恶”的研究。

Loss aversion is a name given to the tendency we humans have 用詞

“损失厌恶”这个名称，指的是我们人类的一种倾向：

to more strongly prefer to avoid losing something we have 語法

我们更强烈地希望避免失去已经拥有的东西，

than to gain something that we don't.

而不是去获得尚未拥有的东西。

In general, it's been shown that if someone loses $100, 語法

总的来说，研究表明，如果一个人损失了100美元，

they lose more satisfaction than someone who receives $100 acquires.

他失去的满足感，会多于另一个收到100美元的人所获得的满足感。

Researchers have been able to get more granular with loss aversion. 用詞

研究人员还对损失厌恶进行了更细致的分析。

In one study, they gave half of the participants something nice like a fancy mug,

在一项研究中，他们给一半参与者送了精美马克杯之类的好东西，

and the other half they gave nothing.

另一半参与者则什么也没得到。

Then, they asked the people with mugs

然后，他们请那些拿到马克杯的人

to come up with a value for the mug 短語動詞

给这个杯子估个价，

were they to sell it and never have it again. 語法

假设他们要把它卖掉，并且从此再也无法拥有它。

They also asked the people who never got a mug

他们也询问了那些从未拿到马克杯的人，

how much they would be willing to pay to have a mug. 短語搭配

愿意花多少钱买一个马克杯。

Now, the people who had never had one

结果，从未拥有过马克杯的人

estimated that the value of the mug would only be about $2.87.

估计它只值大约2.87美元。

But those who did have the mug and knew that they would never have it again if they sold it, 語法

但那些已经拥有杯子，而且知道一旦卖掉就再也拿不回来的人，

estimated its value to be about two and a half times larger,

估出的价值约为前者的两倍半，

around $7.

也就是大约7美元。

So, according to the evidence in a general sense,

所以，从总体证据来看，

having is actually slightly more than twice as good as not having. 語法

拥有一样东西，实际上比不拥有它好上略多于两倍。

But why just cover that aphorism?

不过，为什么只讲这一句格言呢？

Let's talk about some other literary terms because our language can do some pretty funny things,

再来聊聊其他一些文学术语吧，因为语言有时会玩出很有趣的花样，

and those things it does have specific names.

而这些花样都有专门的名称。

Let's begin with the blind date murderer,

先从“相亲杀人狂”说起。

a meme people create that starts off all scary and frightening, 表達脈絡

这是网友创作的一种网络梗，开头听起来又吓人又恐怖，

but then turns out to actually be nice and cuddly.

最后却发现其实非常友善又可爱。

For instance, I'm going to rip off your face.

比如：“我要把你的脸撕下来……”

Book status, you are so funny.

“……我是说，抄下你的 Facebook 动态，你太搞笑了。”

I'm going to cut you

“我要把你剪了……”

out some coupons for that pizza place you like.

“……不，是给你剪几张你喜欢的那家披萨店的优惠券。”

If you struggle, it'll only make it worse.

“你越挣扎，情况只会越糟。”

According to this fascinating article I'm sending you about quicksand.

“我是根据这篇正要发给你的、关于流沙的精彩文章说的。”

Many other memes use a similar structure,

还有许多网络梗也采用类似的结构，

and the reason it's funny is that it's an example of what is known as paraprosdokian.

它之所以好笑，是因为这正是所谓“逆转式结句”（paraprosdokian）的例子。

A paraprosdokian is a sentence or phrase you can use that begins one way, 表達脈絡

逆转式结句是一种句子或短语：开头先朝一个方向展开，

leading people to think a certain thing,

让人产生某种想法，

but then in the second half completely reverses or in some way changes that initial opinion.

后半段却彻底颠覆或以某种方式改变最初的理解。

I will eat your baby.

“我要吃掉你的宝宝……”

Carrots, if you don't want them.

“……我是说迷你胡萝卜，如果你不想吃的话。”

Syntactic ambiguity is when you can't figure out exactly what a sentence means 用詞

句法歧义，是指你无法确定一个句子到底是什么意思，

because the order of the words doesn't help.

因为词语的排列顺序帮不上忙。

It frequently occurs in newspaper headlines.

这种情况经常出现在报纸标题中。

For instance, police help dog bite victim.

比如标题“police help dog bite victim”。

Well, did the police help a person who had been bit by a dog, 語法

那么，究竟是警方帮助了一个被狗咬的人，

or did the police help a dog bite a victim?

还是警方帮着一条狗去咬受害者？

Free hat.

“Free hat.”

Are you giving away hats for free,

这是要免费送帽子，

or are you trying to get a guy named Hat out of jail?

还是要把一个名叫 Hat 的家伙从监狱里救出来？

Lexical ambiguity, 用詞

至于词汇歧义，

in my opinion,

依我看，

is often more fun.

往往更有意思。

This happens when a word has multiple meanings

当一个词有多重含义，

and figuring out which one is being used in a sentence

而你很难判断它在句子中用的是哪一种含义时，

is a challenge.

就会出现这种情况。

The word buffalo can mean a number of different things.

buffalo 这个词可以有好几种不同的意思。

It's the name of an animal, the name of a city,

它可以是一种动物的名称，也可以是一座城市的名称，

and it can also be a verb, which means to bully or confuse or baffle,

还可以作动词，意思是欺负、迷惑或难住某人，

as in, hm, this video buffaloes me. 用詞

比如：“嗯，这个视频 buffaloes me，真把我搞糊涂了。”

I tweeted about this a few months ago because buffalo has those three meanings,

几个月前我发推文谈过这件事。正因为 buffalo 有这三种意思，

it is possible to make a completely sensible and correct legitimate sentence

所以完全可以写出一个合情合理、语法正确的正规句子，

using only the word buffalo.

而且只用 buffalo 这一个词。

Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo. 表達脈絡

Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo.

You have to think about it for a long time for it to make sense,

你得琢磨很久，才能看懂这句话，

but what it's really saying is that bison from the city of buffalo,

但它真正表达的是：来自 Buffalo 市的野牛，

that bison from the city of buffalo bully,

受到其他 Buffalo 市野牛的欺负，

also happen to bully other bison from the city of buffalo.

同时也会欺负另外一些来自 Buffalo 市的野牛。

Tongue twisters.

绕口令。

All I have to say here is that the she inside she sells seashells by the seashore 文化背景

这里我只想说，“she sells seashells by the seashore”里的 she

is an actual she, not just some random girl.

确有其人，并不是什么随便编出来的女孩。

She most likely refers to Mary Anning, a British paleontologist

她很可能指的是英国古生物学家 Mary Anning，

who collected fossils from beaches nearby where she lived her entire life

她一生都住在海边，并在附近的海滩上采集化石，

and discovered the very first ichthyosaur skeleton when she was only 12 years old.

年仅12岁时就发现了世界上第一具鱼龙骨架。

Now, it's time for my favorite literary term,

现在，该说说我最喜欢的文学术语了：

tmesis.

tmesis，也就是插词法。

This word is great

这个词很棒，

because you get to spell it with a T and then an M and no vowel in between.

因为拼写时先写 T，接着就是 M，中间没有元音。

Tmesis is a figure of speech 表達脈絡

插词法是一种修辞手法，

when you stick a word inside another word.

指把一个词塞进另一个词中间。

For instance, why say absolutely

比如，为什么只说 absolutely，

when you could say abs-o-freaking-lutely.

明明还可以说 abs-o-freaking-lutely。

And why say you're welcome

又为什么只说 you're welcome，

when you could say you're wel-diddly-elcome?

明明还可以说 you're wel-diddly-elcome？

And of course, legend,

当然，还有 legen——

wait for it,

等一下——

dary.

——dary。

Finally, a spoonerism is a specific type of verbal mistake 用詞

最后，斯普纳式口误（spoonerism）是一种特定的口误，

where you switch the first two letters of two words.

说话时会把两个单词的首字母互换。

Many of us do this occasionally,

我们很多人偶尔都会犯这种口误，

but it's named after William Archibald Spooner, a reverend who did this a lot. 短語搭配

但它得名于牧师 William Archibald Spooner，因为他经常这样说错。

For instance, instead of saying that the Lord is a loving shepherd, 語法

比如，他本来想说“主是一位慈爱的牧羊人”（a loving shepherd），

he would tell everybody that the Lord is a shoving leopard.

却会告诉大家“主是一只推搡人的豹子”（a shoving leopard）。

He would get his murds wixed up.

他会把 words mixed 说成 murds wixed。

One of my favorite,

不过，我最喜欢的例子之一

however, comes from Sarah Palin.

来自 Sarah Palin。

When you spoonerize her name,

把她的名字做一次首音互换后，

she becomes Parah Salin.

她就成了 Parah Salin。

And as always,

一如既往，

wanks for thatching.

wanks for thatching——也就是“感谢收看”。