5個你在學校學過但其實是錯誤的「事實」：英語精讀講義

Number five,

第五，

Vikings.

維京人。

What would a Viking be without his trusty battle helmet and its impressive horns? 文法

如果沒有可靠的戰鬥頭盔和引人注目的牛角，還能叫維京人嗎？

The answer is a more historically accurate Viking.

答案是：那才是歷史上更真實的維京人。

Think for a moment about what wearing headgear like that into battle would mean.

試想一下，戴著那樣的頭盔上戰場意味著什麼。

The horns are just easy targets for your opponent to hit and knock off your helmet. 片語動詞

牛角只會成為對手容易擊中並打掉你頭盔的目標。

Or if you strap on your helmet, 片語動詞

或者如果你把頭盔綁得很緊，

now your opponent has a convenient lever with which to drag you to the ground 文法

你的對手現在就有了方便的槓桿，能把你拖倒在地，

and something to hold onto while slitting your throat. 片語動詞

甚至在割喉時有個順手抓著的地方。

Horned helmets are a terrible idea,

帶角的頭盔是個糟糕的主意，

which is why archaeologists have never found them at Viking battle sites 表達脈絡

這就是為什麼考古學家從未在維京人的古戰場發現過它們，

and there's no evidence that they were ever used. 片語搭配

也沒有任何證據表明它們曾被使用過。

It was poets and artists, 文法

其實是詩人和藝術家，

people not known for caring about facts and reality, 語氣意圖

那些以不關心事實和真相而著稱的人，

who gave the Vikings their silly hats during the late 1800s,

在19世紀末給維京人加上了這些愚蠢的帽子，

long after the Vikings could correct their misconceptions.

早已是在維京人無法糾正這種誤解很久之後了。

Number four,

第四，

Lady Godiva.

戈黛娃夫人（Lady Godiva）。

The story of this 11th century English noblewoman is that her mean husband,

這位11世紀英國貴婦的故事是，她那刻薄的丈夫，

the earl,

伯爵，

raised taxes on the townspeople of Coventry,

增加了考文垂鎮居民的稅收，

which Lady Godiva and not surprisingly the locals thought were too high.

戈黛娃夫人和當地居民理所當然地認為這太高了。

She badgered her husband and he conceded in exasperation to lower the taxes if she rode through the town naked,

她不斷糾纏她丈夫，他惱羞成怒地讓步說，如果她裸體騎馬穿過小鎮，就降低稅收，

assuming that she never would, 表達脈絡

他本以為她永遠不會這麼做，

but she did.

但她卻真的做了。

Because people don't like taxes,

因為人們不喜歡交稅，

even though they're how civilization is purchased,

儘管正是靠稅收買來了文明，

Lady Godiva's story lives on, 片語動詞

戈黛娃夫人的故事因此流傳下來，

notably in the Godiva logo and in popular songs.

尤其是在Godiva巧克力的標誌和流行歌曲中。

But while Lady Godiva was a real person and Coventry is a real town,

但是，雖然戈黛娃夫人確有其人，考文垂也是真實存在的小鎮，

there's no record of her nude ride from the time when it happened, 片語搭配

在這事發生的時候並沒有她裸體騎馬的記錄，

so we can safely assume the story is false. 片語搭配

所以我們可以有把握地假設這個故事是假的。

Just as with the Vikings,

就像維京人的情況一樣，

again,

再說一次，

poets and artists are to blame who made up the tale long after Lady Godiva's death. 講解

都要怪詩人和藝術家，他們在戈黛娃夫人死後很久才編造了這個故事。

Number three,

第三，

Napoleon.

拿破崙。

Famously,

眾所周知，

this tiny tiny general,

這位極其矮小的將軍，

perhaps to compensate for his short stature, 片語搭配

也許是為了彌補自己身材矮小的缺陷，

took control of France,

控制了法國，

greatly expanded its influence,

大大擴張了它的影響力，

and dubbed himself emperor. 用詞

並自封為皇帝。

Napoleon's official height was indeed 5 ft 2 in,

拿破崙的官方身高確實是5英呎2英吋，

but at the time French inches were longer than English inches,

但當時的法國英吋比英國英吋長，

so doing the unit conversion,

所以進行單位換算的話，

Napoleon's height should have been reported as 5 7 in England's imperial units, 文法

拿破崙的身高按英國英制單位應該報為5英呎7英吋（約1.70公尺），

which is short by today's standards 片語搭配

按今天的標準確實有點矮，

but was average or slightly above average in the early 1800s.

但在19世紀初，這是平均或略高於平均水平的身高。

However,

然而，

England,

英國，

with its eternal love of all things French,

憑藉其對所有法國事物無盡的「熱愛」，

didn't care and went with the Napoleon is so short LOL version of the story in newspapers and cartoons. 片語動詞

根本不在乎，直接在報紙和漫畫上大肆宣揚「拿破崙真是太矮了哈哈哈」的版本。

Meanwhile,

與此同時，

Napoleon was busy introducing the metric system to France and the wider world to standardize measurements

拿破崙正忙於向法國和更廣泛的世界引入公制，以標準化測量單位，

so this sort of confusion would never happen again.

這樣這種混淆就再也不會發生了。

And thankfully,

值得慶幸的是，

the whole world now uses metric,

現在全世界都在使用公制，

mostly, 語氣意圖

大部分國家吧，

sort of.

差不多。

Number two,

第二，

Roman vomit.

羅馬嘔吐室。

Ah, the Roman Empire.

啊，羅馬帝國。

So great and powerful but corrupted by decadence from within.

如此偉大而強大，卻被內部的頹廢所腐蝕。

And what could be a better symbol of that decadence than the vomitorium, 文法

還有什麼比嘔吐室（vomitorium）更能象徵這種頹廢呢？

where Romans,

在這裡，羅馬人，

after stuffing themselves with delicious foods,

在享用完美食之後，

could vomit them all up again to make room to feast anew. 片語搭配

會把它們全都吐出來，騰出肚子再大吃一頓。

Vomitoria are real,

嘔吐室（Vomitoria）是真實存在的，

but this idea of them is not,

但關於它的這種想法卻不是，

though the confusion is understandable because their name vomitorium seems to make their purpose so clear.

儘管這種誤解可以理解，因為它們的名字vomitorium似乎讓其用途顯得很明確。

Even if for some reason you know Latin,

就算不知為何你懂拉丁語，

perhaps because you live in a country that insists you waste hundreds of hours of your life learning a dead useless language,

也許因為你住在一個堅持讓你浪費幾百個小時去學一門已死無用語言的國家，

this knowledge still won't help you because the root word vomitum

這些知識也幫不了你，因為詞根vomitum

means to spew forth. 用詞

意思是「噴湧而出」。

So what is it really?

那麼它到底是什麼呢？

If you've ever been to a big stadium like, 文法

如果你曾經去過大型體育場，比如說，

say, the ones made by the Romans,

像羅馬人建造的那種，

you've already used a vomitorium.

你就已經用過嘔吐室了。

This is what the vomitoria are,

這就是嘔吐室的真面目：

the passageways that let lots of people enter or exit at once.

允許大量人群同時進出的通道。

The people are what spews forth in the vomitoria, 表達脈絡

在嘔吐室裡「噴湧而出」的是人，

not the contents of the people.

而不是人們肚子裡的東西。

Number one,

第一，

Columbus.

哥倫布。

There's so very much wrong with the common retelling of the story of Christopher Columbus 文法

在人們常講的克里斯托弗·哥倫布的故事中，錯得離譜的地方實在太多了，

that it's hard to know where to begin,

以至於很難知道從何說起，

but the biggest misconception is that everyone else thought the world was flat 表達脈絡

但最大的誤解是，其他人都認為世界是平的，

but Columbus was the only guy smart enough to know that it's round.

而哥倫布是唯一聰明到知道地球是圓的的人。

It makes a daring story,

這個故事聽起來很具冒險精神，

but knowledge of a spherical Earth goes back to at least 5000 BC. 片語動詞

但關於地球是球體的認知至少可以追溯到公元前5000年。

That's 6 and 1/2 thousand years before Columbus set sail. 片語搭配

那是在哥倫布啟航前6500年。

And that knowledge was never lost to Western civilization.

而且西方文明從未遺失過這一知識。

In 200 BC,

在公元前200年，

Eratosthenes calculated the Earth's circumference

埃拉托斯特尼計算出了地球的周長，

and his estimate was still well known and being used during Columbus's time.

而他的估算在哥倫布時代仍然眾所周知並被使用。

The argument Columbus had with Queen Isabella was not over the shape of the Earth, 文法

哥倫布與伊莎貝拉女王爭論的不是地球的形狀，

but of its size.

而是它的大小。

Columbus estimated the Earth was much smaller than Queen Isabella and her scientific advisers did, 文法

哥倫布估計的地球尺寸比伊莎貝拉女王及其科學顧問的估計要小得多，

which was why he thought he could make it across the empty Atlantic to India. 片語搭配

這就是為什麼他認為自己可以穿過空曠的大西洋到達印度。

But Columbus's size estimate was wrong,

但哥倫布對尺寸的估算是錯的，

again, just like Napoleon's height,

再說一次，就像拿破崙的身高一樣，

because of mixed up units.

也是因為搞混了單位。

However,

然而，

this mistake did send him west to become the first European to discover America, 文法

這個錯誤確實讓他向西航行，成為發現美洲的第一個歐洲人，

as long as you ignore the hornless Vikings who beat him by 500 years. 講解

只要你忽略早他500年到達那裡的沒戴牛角盔的維京人。