為什麼天王星（Uranus）的英文發音怎麼唸都很尷尬：英語精讀講義

Hello internet.

你好，網路世界。

In my last video about Pluto,

在我上一部關於冥王星的影片中，

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

你可能已經注意到，我大聲念出了除了其中一顆以外的所有行星的名字，

this one.

就是這一顆。

And that was no accident, 文法

這並非巧合，

but rather the result of careful script editing

而是仔細編輯腳本的結果，

because where I grew up,

因為在我的家鄉，

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

我學到的第七顆行星名字發音是 yoo-Rain-us。

Of course,

當然，

to a kid,

對一個孩子來說，

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

Uranus 聽起來非常像 your anus，

which is how I and everyone else I knew

這就是為什麼我和我認識的所有人

ended up saying the name, 片語動詞

最後都這樣唸這個名字，

which is funny when you're a child,

當你還是個孩子的時候這很有趣，

but becomes a bit of a problem when you grow up

但當你長大後，這就會變成一個問題，

and try to teach scientific facts about the planet.

特別是當你試著教授關於這顆行星的科學常識時。

For example,

例如：

Uranus has a ring around it.

Uranus 周圍有一個環。

Astronomers have discovered a dark spot on Uranus.

天文學家在 Uranus 上發現了一個暗斑。

Uranus is a gas giant.

Uranus 是一顆氣態巨行星。

Uranus is surrounded by methane.

Uranus 被甲烷包圍。

There is a solution to this problem,

這個問題其實有一個解決方案，

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

也就是這個名字的另一種發音 YUR-in-us。

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

大多數擔任公眾角色的科學家確實使用這種發音。

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

但對我來說，YUR-in-us 仍然有問題。

Sure, it's better than your anus,

當然，這比 your anus 要好，

but it's still Uranus.

但它仍然是 Uranus。

And perhaps I'm just childish,

也許只是我比較幼稚，

but when someone else says YUR-in-us,

但當別人說 YUR-in-us 時，

I still hear Uranus in my head,

我腦海裡聽到的還是 Uranus，

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

這只會讓人們更加注意這個不幸的名字。

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

悲劇在於，事情本不必如此。

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

距離太陽第七近的這顆行星很特別，因為它是我們發現的第一顆行星。

For all of human history,

在整個人類歷史上，

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

最靠近的六顆行星由於夠大或夠亮，僅憑我們有限的靈長類眼睛就能看到。

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

但下一顆行星太暗了，無法直接看到，直到我們的望遠鏡技術足夠先進，

for British astronomer William Herschel to spot it in 1781.

英國天文學家威廉·赫歇爾才在 1781 年發現了它。

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

不過可以理解的是，他並不認為自己發現了一顆新行星，

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

因為從 5 萬年前現代人類崛起，一直到那個星期二，

no one ever had. 文法

還從來沒有人發現過新行星。

But discover it he did, 文法

但他確實發現了它，

and so choose a name he must.

因此他必須給它取個名字。

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

作為王室的好子民，赫歇爾

christened his new planet the Georgium Sidus, 講解

將他的新行星命名為 Georgium Sidus，

which means the Georgian Star.

意思是「喬治之星」。

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

而這顆「喬治之星」中的喬治，就是喬治三世，

the reigning monarch.

當時的在位君主。

While King George liked the name,

雖然喬治國王喜歡這個名字，

the rest of the world did not

但世界上的其他人並不喜歡，

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

他們認為也許赫歇爾並不是以自己名字命名新行星的最佳人選，

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

並迅速決定想出他們自己的替代方案。

One suggestion was Neptune,

其中一個建議是 Neptune（海王星），

which is confusing to us now,

這在現在看來會讓我們感到困惑，

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

但在當時，後來成為海王星的那顆行星還沒有被發現。

A more obvious alternative was to name the planet Herschel

一個更顯而易見的替代方案是將這顆行星命名為 Herschel（赫歇爾），

after the man who discovered it.

以發現它的人來命名。

Even in Great Britain,

甚至在英國，

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

Georgium Sidus 這個名字對一些人來說也顯得有些古板，

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

所以也使用了諸如 Georgian planet 或直接叫 Georgium 之類的變體。

Though never, as you might have heard, George.

不過，正如你可能聽說過的那樣，它從來沒有叫過 George（喬治）。

Side note here,

這裡順便提一下，

while researching this video,

在為這個影片做研究時，

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

我發現很多網站聲稱第七顆行星差點被命名為 George，

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

但我始終沒能找到這一說法的原始出處。

As best I could tell 片語搭配

據我所能判斷的，

searching through documents from the time,

在搜尋了當時的文獻後發現，

no one ever suggested this name.

從來沒有人提出過這個名字。

I checked with the Royal Institution,

我向英國皇家科學院進行了查證，

who since 1799 has been promoting science awesomeness

該機構自 1799 年以來，一直從倫敦的中心地帶

from the heart of London

致力於推廣科學的奇妙之處，

and whose videos you should now go watch,

你們現在也應該去看看他們的影片，

and they confirmed the name George was never on the table 慣用語

他們確認，George 這個名字從來沒有被考慮過，

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

因為在當時，如此隨意地稱呼國王將是非常不敬的。

And disrespecting a monarch is never a good idea,

對君主不敬從來都不是什麼好主意，

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

特別是對一位因遺傳病而逐漸失去理智的君主而言。

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

不過那是另一個故事了。

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

不管怎樣，關於新行星名字的另一個真正建議來自於約翰·波德，

who suggested the Greek god of the sky.

他建議使用希臘天空之神的名字。

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

當波德的一位同事在 1789 年發現第 92 號元素時，

he named it uranium to support Bode's choice

他將其命名為 uranium（鈾），以支持波德的選擇，

and try and end the debate. 文法

並試圖結束這場爭論。

Perhaps because these two were German,

也許因為這兩個人都是德國人，

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

他們可能沒有想到這個字最終在英語中會被曲解成什麼樣。

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

雖然也很難知道 1780 年代和 90 年代說英語的人

would have pronounced the name.

會如何唸這個名字。

But since the word anus was in the language then,

但既然當時英語中已經有了 anus 這個詞，

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

那種特定的發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,

它也可能被發成短 A 音，聽起來像 yoo-RA-nus，

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

或者更像希臘語名字的 oo-RON-ohs。

These names competed with each other over decades.

幾十年來，這些名字一直在相互競爭。

For example, still in 1823,

例如，直到 1823 年，

the Encyclopedia Britannica lists the planet as Herschel,

《大英百科全書》仍將這顆行星列為 Herschel，

notes the alternative names,

並提到了其他備選名字，

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

然後在文章的其餘部分仔細措辭，

to avoid naming the planet again.

以避免再次提到這顆行星的名字。

But you, dear modern viewer,

但現代的觀眾，親愛的你，

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

知道這些替代方案最終都消亡了，唯獨這個名字留存了下來。

Which leaves someone like me with my terrible pronunciation

這就讓像我這樣有著糟糕發音的人，

longing for history to have taken a different path. 慣用語

渴望歷史能走上另一條不同的道路。

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

Herschel 這個名字可能會讓這顆行星聽起來有點像個無聊的會計師，

rather than the very interesting planet it actually is,

而不是它實際上那樣一顆非常有趣的行星，

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

但這仍然比我們現在的名字要好得多。

Neptune is obviously a fine planetary name,

Neptune 顯然是個不錯的行星名字，

though picking this might have just delayed the problem.

儘管選擇它可能只會推遲問題的發生。

Finally, the Georgium Sidus is a bit awkward,

最後，Georgium Sidus 有點彆扭，

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

而在一些更無厘頭的時刻，我希望赫歇爾能更直接一點，

and named it King George.

把它命名為 King George（喬治國王）。

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

因為如果今天教孩子們背誦行星列表時，那樣該有多有趣？

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

水星、金星、地球、火星、木星、土星、喬治國王，和海王星。

In classrooms,

在課堂上，

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

如此不同尋常的名字會把這顆行星從一個避之不及的話題，

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

變成探討是什麼讓這顆行星與眾不同的起點，

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

以及探討天文學和我們對宇宙的看法是如何隨著時間推移而改變和進步的。

But my impractical dreams aside, 片語搭配

拋開我不切實際的夢想不談，

we're stuck with this name, 慣用語

我們現在只能接受這個名字了，

which for me means choosing between the pronunciation which comes naturally

對我來說，這意味著要在自然但糟糕的發音，

and is terrible, or the unnatural awkward one

和不自然且彆扭的發音之間做出選擇，

which is still unsatisfactory.

而後者仍然不盡如人意。

So what's a man to do? 語氣意圖

那麼，一個人該怎麼辦呢？

In the end,

到最後，

probably follow the lead of the Encyclopedia Britannica 片語搭配

也許只能效仿《大英百科全書》的做法，

and avoid the name when possible,

盡可能地避免提及這個名字，

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

對於我們太陽系中這樣一顆

with such an interesting story to tell.

有著如此有趣故事的行星來說，這真是一個悲慘的命運。

Uranus.

Uranus。

Uranus.

Uranus。

Uranus.

Uranus。

Uranus.

Uranus。

Uranus.

Uranus。

Seriously, people,

說真的，各位，

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

我們能不能至少同意將它的發音改回希臘語的 Uranos 呢？

It's clearly so much better.

那顯然要好得多。