词语掌故：圣诞老人(1/2)
概述：在孩子们的心中，“圣诞老人”这个词一定不会陌生。那么这个名字是从何而来的呢？Hints:
Santa Claus
Christmas
Saint Nicholas
St. Nick
Kris Kringle
Pelznickel
Dutch
Saint Nikolaas
sinterklaas
Pennsylvania
pelz
nickel
文章中有三处连字符，32秒后有两处破折号~
校对：夕夜碎流年
翻译&注解：panpanlu
组长：marrywhy
答疑：silvanus_ss
发音点评：唔哈哈哈哈哈哈
本期材料发音模仿地址：http://bulo.hujiang.com/menu/11885/item/709297/http://t1.g.hjfile.cn/listen/201212/201212190724494509937.mp3Santa Claus is someone who will remain in the hearts of children forever. He is the make-believe person who brings toys and other gifts to children at Christmas.
To grown-ups, he is a special symbol of goodwill and selfless giving. Santa Claus also has some other names: Saint Nicholas, St. Nick, Kris Kringle, Pelznickel.
Two of his names -- Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas -- both come from the Dutch who settled in New York long ago. The Dutch believed Saint Nicholas gave gifts to children. They honored this kindly saint with a yearly festival on December 6th.
The English-speaking people who lived nearby greatly enjoyed Dutch festivals. And they brought the saint and the custom of giving gifts into their own celebration at Christmas time. The Dutch spoke the name "Saint Nikolaas" very fast. It sounded like "sinterklaas." And so, when the English said this word, it sounded like Santa Claus.
West of New York, in Pennsylvania, many German farmers had also heard of SaintNicholas. But they called him Pelznickel. This word came from "pelz," meaning fur, and "nickel" for Nicholas. And so, to the Germans of Pennsylvania, Saint Nicholas or Pelznickel was a man dressed in fur who came once a year with gifts for good children.圣诞老人必将永存于每个孩子的心底。他其实是个虚构的人物，会在圣诞节给孩子们带去玩具和各种礼物。
对于那些成年人来说，圣诞老人是善意与无私付出的象征。圣诞老人也有几个别名：圣·尼古拉斯、圣·尼克、奇斯·克林格和皮尔斯尼克。
其中两个别名，圣诞老人和圣·尼古拉斯，来自于很久以前来纽约定居的荷兰人。他们相信圣·尼古拉斯带给孩子们礼物，并在每年的12月6日举办庆典纪念这位圣人。
住在附近的美国人也非常喜爱这个荷兰的庆典。他们把圣诞老人以及互赠礼物的习俗融入自己的圣诞节庆典中。荷兰人说“圣·尼古拉斯（Saint Nikolaas）”这个名字时的速度非常快，听上去就像“圣尼可莱（Sinterklaas）”。此外，如果是用英语读的话，听上去就非常像“圣诞老人（Santa Claus）”。
许多住在纽约州以西的宾夕法尼亚州的德国农民也都知道圣·尼古拉斯。但他们称之为皮尔斯尼克。这个词是由单词“pelz”（意为皮毛）和单词“nickel（尼克）”，即尼古拉斯，所构成。因此，对于那些住在宾夕法尼亚州的德国人来说，圣·尼古拉斯或者称为皮尔斯尼克的是一个身着皮大衣，每年会给乖孩子们发礼物的男人。
页:
[1]