人們是如何真的笑死自己的：英語精讀講義

No one knows when they'll reach the end of the road 慣用語

沒人知道自己何時會走到生命的盡頭，

and what kind of death they may be faced with. 片語搭配

以及可能面臨怎樣的死亡。

It could happen in an instant without warning 片語搭配

它可能在沒有任何警告的情況下一瞬間發生，

or it could be a long dragged out process 片語動詞

或者是經歷一個漫長而拖延的過程，

leaving a person with plenty of time to reflect on their life. 片語搭配

讓人有充足的時間去反思自己的人生。

Samuel Butler, an English author who lived in the 1800s,

生活在19世紀的英國作家塞繆爾·巴特勒，

once said,

曾經說過：

"If life must not be taken too seriously, 文法

「如果生活不必太當真，

then so neither must death."

那麼死亡亦是如此。」

This quote brings us aptly to today's topic 表達脈絡

這句話恰如其分地引出了今天的主題，

about an end that may be one of the better ways to exit the world. 慣用語

關於一種或許是離開這個世界更好的方式之一的終結。

Welcome to this episode of the Infographics Show,

歡迎來到本期《The Infographics Show》，

Death by Laughing.

笑死人的那些事。

A friend tells you a joke and you laugh.

朋友給你講了個笑話，你笑了。

Then they tell you a really funny joke and you laugh so hard you fall over. 文法

然後他們講了個非常搞笑的笑話，你笑得前仰後合。

And then there's the funniest joke of all,

接著是所有笑話中最搞笑的一個，

the one that made you laugh yourself to death. 文法

一個讓你笑到喪命的笑話。

This is, of course,

當然，這只是一種

just a figure of speech. 用詞

比喻的說法。

I mean, if you had really died laughing, 慣用語

我是說，如果你真的死於大笑，

you wouldn't be able to tell people about it,

你就沒法講給別人聽了，

as you'd be lying 6 ft under in a wooden box. 慣用語

因為你已經躺在木盒子裡被埋在六英尺深的地下了。

But can you really die from laughing?

但是你真的會因為笑而死嗎？

Actually, if you laugh hard enough, 文法

實際上，如果你笑得足夠劇烈，

then it is possible to kill yourself.

確實有可能把自己笑死。

It can happen due to stress on the body when in hysterical laughter. 用詞

這可能是由於在歇斯底里大笑時身體承受的壓力造成的。

Some of the ways include ruptured brain aneurysm,

其中一些情況包括腦動脈瘤破裂、

collapsed lung leading to suffocation,

導致窒息的肺塌陷、

heart attack, strangulated hernia which cuts off blood flow to vital organs, 片語動詞

心臟病發作、切斷重要器官血流的絞窄性疝氣、

asphyxiation, seizure, or stroke.

窒息、癲癇或中風。

None of those circumstances sound very funny at all.

這些情況聽起來一點也不好笑。

So, what about some real cases?

那麼，真實的案例又是怎樣的呢？

Ones where people have found themselves on the wrong side of the joke. 慣用語

在這些案例中，人們成為了笑話受害者的一方。

When we started to research online,

當我們在網上開始研究時，

we were surprised to find there were more than we had expected. 文法

我們驚訝地發現案例比我們預想的還要多。

We've looked at some of the more interesting cases

我們查看了一些比較有趣的案例，

to see what was discovered about the cause of death

看看關於死因，

beyond the joke that got these people laughing in the first place. 片語搭配

在最初讓這些人發笑的笑話之外發現了什麼。

Let's take a look.

讓我們來看看。

Five.

五。

Chrysippus was an ancient Greek philosopher,

克律西波斯是古希臘的一位哲學家，

a huge man. He lived more than 200 years before Christ

身材高大。他生活在公元前200多年，

and was known for his work in stoicism,

因其在斯多葛學派的工作而聞名，

an ancient school of philosophy of personal ethics.

這是一個關於個人道德的古代哲學學派。

This meant Chrysippus valued the qualities of his mind over everyday sensory pleasures, 片語搭配

這意味著克律西波斯看重自己精神的品質，勝過日常的感官愉悅，

which made the story of his death somewhat comical in itself,

這也讓他的死亡故事本身顯得有些滑稽，

as it involved plenty of alcohol beverages and a random donkey.

因為其中涉及大量酒精飲料和一頭隨機出現的驢。

It was at the 143rd Olympiad where the drink would have been flowing. 文法

那是在第143屆古代奧運會上，當時大概正開懷痛飲。

There are two accounts of the story. 用詞

這個故事有兩種說法。

In the first,

第一種是，

Chrysippus was a legless on strong wine and keeled over from laughter. 講解

克律西波斯喝烈酒喝得爛醉，然後笑得倒地不起。

Or was it too much wine?

還是說酒喝得太多了？

The second story is a bit more dramatic.

第二個故事則有點戲劇性。

Having seen a donkey chomping on figs, 文法

看到一頭驢在咀嚼無花果，

Chrysippus decided to give the creature some wine to wash the fruit down. 片語動詞

克律西波斯決定給這個動物喝點酒把水果順下去。

He found the incident so hilarious that he laughed himself to his grave.

他覺得這事兒太好笑了，以至於笑到命赴黃泉。

It's hard to properly verify such an old story, 文法

要準確核實這麼古老的故事很難，

but it's certainly an interesting one.

但這肯定是個有趣的故事。

Four.

四。

Next, we have the odd case of Damnoen Saen-um,

接下來，我們來看看達農·仙安的離奇案件，

a 52-year-old ice cream truck driver from Bangkok in Thailand

他是一名52歲的泰國曼谷冰淇淋車司機，

who died while laughing in his sleep.

在睡夢中笑著死去了。

Yes, you heard me right, in his sleep. 語氣意圖

是的，你沒聽錯，在睡夢中。

Thailand newspaper The Nation reported that Saen-um laughed for about 2 minutes before stopping breathing.

泰國報紙《The Nation》報導說，仙安笑了大約兩分鐘後停止了呼吸。

His wife tried to wake him up, but he continued to laugh.

他的妻子試圖叫醒他，但他一直在笑。

The autopsy suggested that a heart attack might have been the final cause of death. 講解

屍檢表明，心臟病發作可能是最終死因。

"I've never seen a case like this,

「我從未見過這樣的案例，

but it's possible that a person could have a heart seizure

但一個人有可能在睡夢中，

while laughing or crying too hard in their sleep,"

因為笑得或哭得太厲害而引發心臟驟停，」

said Dr. Somchai Chakrabhand, deputy director of the Mental Health Department.

精神衛生司副司長Somchai Chakrabhand醫生說。

Three.

三。

Thomas "Tommy" Frederick Cooper lived from 1921 to 1984.

托馬斯·「湯米」·弗雷德里克·庫珀生於1921年，卒於1984年。

He was a British comedian and magician who wore a red fez, 文化背景

他是一位戴著紅色菲斯帽的英國喜劇演員和魔術師，

which is a red cylindrical hat with a tassel named after the Moroccan city of Fez.

那是一種帶有流蘇的紅色圓筒帽，以摩洛哥城市非斯命名。

Cooper was a big man,

庫珀是個大塊頭，

standing at 6 ft 4 in and weighing more than 210 lb. 文法

身高6英尺4英寸，體重超過210磅。

On the 15th of April, 1984, this British comedian collapsed with a heart attack on live national television.

1984年4月15日，這位英國喜劇演員在全國電視直播中因心臟病發作倒地。

It may not have been technically the laughing that killed Cooper,

從技術上講，害死庫珀的可能不是笑聲，

but he was cracking jokes at the time and surrounded by laughter 片語搭配

但他當時正在講笑話，周圍充滿了笑聲，

as he was on stage in the midst of a comedy routine at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. 片語搭配

因為他當時正站在倫敦陛下劇院的舞台上表演喜劇。

The live audience and thousands of TV viewers thought it was part of his act 用詞

現場觀眾和成千上萬的電視觀眾以為這是他表演的一部分，

and so waited for him to get up, but it was soon clear that something was wrong. 文法

於是等他站起來，但很快情況就明朗了，出事了。

Two.

二。

To more recent times,

到了更近的時代，

in 2013,

2013年，

22-year-old Mangesh Pande visited a multiplex along with his girlfriend in the state of Vasai in India

22歲的曼格什·潘德和女友參觀了印度瓦賽邦的一家多廳影院，

to watch a Hindi comedy called Grand Masti.

去觀看一部名為《Grand Masti》的印地語喜劇。

Everyone loves a comedy,

每個人都喜歡喜劇，

but Pande loved it so much

但潘德太喜歡它了，

that he laughed himself all the way to a heart attack.

以至於他一路笑到了心臟病發作。

Pande was rushed to Cardinal Gracias Hospital, 片語搭配

潘德被緊急送往樞機主教格拉西亞斯醫院，

but died before the ambulance could get him to the emergency room. 文法

但在救護車將他送進急診室之前就去世了。

Rakesh Shah, director of KT Vision,

KT Vision的主管拉凱什·沙阿

explained that during the incident,

解釋了事件發生時的過程，

"I was at the box office

「我當時在售票處，

when one of our employees informed me about the incident.

我們的一名員工把這件事通知了我。

The youth was with his girlfriend and they were watching the 6 pm show of Grand Masti."

這名年輕人和他的女友在一起，他們當時正在看下午6點場的《Grand Masti》。」

Those who sat beside the youth said he was laughing his heart out. 慣用語

坐在年輕人旁邊的人說他當時笑得很開心。

According to Indian newspaper DNA,

據印度報紙《DNA》報導，

a police official from Manickpur Police Station

馬尼克普爾警察局的一名警官

said that a case of accidental death has been registered. 文化背景

表示，已按意外死亡案件立案登記。

One.

一。

And finally,

最後，

there's the case of UK citizen Alex Mitchell,

還有一個關於英國公民亞歷克斯·米切爾的案例，

who suffered heart failure after viewing the Ecky Thump episode of The Goodies in 1975. 講解

他在1975年觀看了《The Goodies》的Ecky Thump那一集後遭遇心力衰竭。

Maybe you've not heard of The Goodies.

也許你還沒聽說過《The Goodies》。

They're all made up of three British comedians, 片語動詞

它們完全由三位英國喜劇演員組成，

Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, and Bill Oddie,

蒂姆·布魯克-泰勒、格雷姆·加登和比爾·奧迪，

who wrote and performed comedy shows during the 1970s and early 1980s,

他們在20世紀70年代和80年代初撰寫並表演喜劇節目，

and funny enough to cause heart failure, it seems.

看起來，他們確實有趣到足以引起心力衰竭。

But this mystery further unfolded in 2012, 表達脈絡

但這個謎團在2012年進一步解開，

when Mitchell's 23-year-old granddaughter,

當時米切爾23歲的孫女

Lisa Cork,

麗莎·科克

had a near fatal heart attack

遭遇了近乎致命的心臟病發作，

at home on the Isle of Sheppey in the UK.

事發地點在英國謝佩島的家中。

She was diagnosed with Long QT syndrome, 片語搭配

她被診斷出患有長QT綜合症，

which doctors believe also could have caused Mitchell's death.

醫生認為這也可能是導致米切爾死亡的原因。

There are just a few cases of how some people have laughed themselves to death.

因笑而死的案例其實只有那麼幾個。

The ones we looked at stretch 2,000 plus years. 用詞

我們所查看的案例跨越了兩千多年的歷史。

One thing that seems certain 表達脈絡

有一點似乎是肯定的，

is that it's not actually the laughing and joking that causes someone's life to end, 文法

那就是導致人喪命的其實並非大笑和開玩笑，

but instead an underlying medical condition. 用詞

而是潛在的健康問題。

So, if you're fit and healthy,

所以，如果你身體健康，

it's probably safe to keep laughing hard at your favorite jokes.

繼續對你最喜歡的笑話開懷大笑可能是安全的。

Do you know of other strange and unlikely ways people have kicked the proverbial bucket? 慣用語

你還知道哪些人們一命嗚呼的離奇方式嗎？

Let us know in the comments.

在評論區告訴我們吧。

Also, be sure to check out our other video,

同時，請務必去看看我們的另一部影片，

What happens when you die?

《你死後會發生什麼？》

We hope you've enjoyed this episode of The Infographics Show.

希望你喜歡本期《The Infographics Show》。

Please remember to like,

請記得按讚、

share,

分享，

and subscribe.

並訂閱。