表達，神話和傳統的起源

我喜歡研究表達，神話和傳統的起源，儘管研究通常會提出更多的問題，而不是答案。

The origins of the idiom "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" are often attributed to nautical practices. Pirates and mariners of old would store their cannonballs in pyramids atop brass trays called "monkeys."

成語“足夠冷以將球從黃銅猴子凍結”的起源通常歸因於航海實踐。 Old的海盜和水手會將其砲彈存放在金字塔上的黃銅托盤上，稱為“猴子”。

As brass contracts more than iron with decreasing temperatures, the extreme cold would supposedly cause the cannonballs to roll off the monkeys.

隨著黃銅簽約的比降低的氣溫降低，據說極端的寒冷會導致砲彈從猴子上滾下來。

However, there are some discrepancies in this explanation.

但是，這種解釋存在一些差異。

Scientifically, while the thermal coefficients of brass and iron are indeed different, it seems unlikely that the brass could contract enough to dislodge the cannonballs.

從科學上講，雖然黃銅和鐵的熱係數確實不同，但黃銅似乎不可能收縮足以脫落砲彈。

Practically, storing cannonballs in this fashion, while perhaps efficient, seems a bit problematic as the pitching of a ship in high waves seems more likely to knock the balls off than freezing temperatures.

實際上，以這種方式存儲砲彈，雖然也許有效，但似乎有些問題，因為在高海浪中投球似乎比凍結溫度更有可能擊倒球。

Moreover, some skeptics claim that there is no evidence this arrangement of cannonballs was ever called a brass monkey.

此外，一些懷疑論者聲稱，沒有證據表明這種砲彈的安排被稱為黃銅猴。

Despite these inconsistencies, the idiom persists, perhaps due to its vivid imagery and the tendency of people to exaggerate or accept claims without fully examining their validity.

儘管存在這些不一致之處，但這個成語仍然存在，這可能是由於其生動的圖像以及人們在不完全檢查其有效性的情況下誇大或接受主張的趨勢。

Another curious tradition, Groundhog Day, is rooted in superstition and folklore.

另一個奇怪的傳統是土撥鼠日，植根於迷信和民間傳說。

On February 2, a groundhog is said to emerge from its burrow and, if it sees its shadow, we are in for six more weeks of winter. If it does not see its shadow, spring will arrive early.

2月2日，據說一隻土撥鼠從其洞穴中浮出水面，如果看到它的陰影，我們將冬天又呆了六個星期。如果看不到它的陰影，春天將提早到達。

This tale, specifically the date, originates from the Pennsylvania Dutch, who brought the concept of weather-prognosticating animals with them.

這個故事，特別是日期，起源於賓夕法尼亞州荷蘭人，後者帶來了與天氣相處的動物的概念。

One can perhaps understand the superstitions of our ancestors, as their very survival depended on the coming of spring when the winter stores of food were running low.

也許可以理解我們祖先的迷信，因為它們的生存取決於春季冬季食品量低的春季來臨。

Today, the tradition continues, but most people view it as a bit of harmless fun (at least I hope that's the case). It doesn't take a genius to see all the flaws in the concept of a furry soothsayer, not the least of which is that spring arriving early is highly subjective.

如今，傳統仍在繼續，但大多數人認為這是一種無害的樂趣（至少我希望是這樣）。不需要天才才能看到毛茸茸的占卜者概念中的所有缺陷，其中最重要的是，早期到來的春天是高度主觀的。

It is also subject to latitudinal variations.

它也需要緯度變化。

In Pennsylvania (and also southern B.C., coincidentally), groundhogs start coming out of hibernation around the beginning of February, but in Ontario, the rodents don't start emerging from their burrows until mid-March. Keep going north and the deep sleep can even last into April.

在賓夕法尼亞州（以及卑詩省南部），土撥鼠在2月初開始從冬眠中脫穎而出，但在安大略省，囓齒動物並未從洞穴中開始出現直到3月中旬。繼續向北走，深度睡眠甚至可以持續到四月。

There have been attempts to explain the phenomenon scientifically. We know that sunshine, which facilitates the seeing of shadows, is associated with cold in the winter. Therefore, cold at the beginning of February might mean more winter ahead.

試圖科學地解釋這種現象。我們知道，有助於看見陰影的陽光與冬天的寒冷有關。因此，2月初的寒冷可能意味著未來的冬季。

But explaining it scientifically depends on a degree of accuracy in the rodent-turned-meteorologist equation.

但是，科學解釋它取決於囓齒動物轉變為現象學家方程的準確性程度。

The most famous of all the groundhog forecasters is Punxsutawney Phil, a pseudo-mythical critter who has been foretelling the prolonging of winter or early coming of spring since 1887.

在所有土撥鼠預測中最著名的是Punxsutawney Phil，他是一個偽神奇的小動物，他一直預測自1887年以來春季延長的冬季或早些時候。

That is a good long sample size to accurately assess accuracy and Phil does not do well in that regard. Depending on the aforementioned subjectivity of what constitutes an early spring, experts give Phil an accuracy rating of between 20 and 40 per cent.

這是一個很好的樣本量，可以準確評估準確性，而Phil在這方面表現不佳。根據早春的上述主觀性，專家給Phil的準確度評級在20％至40％之間。

That's not even as good as what might be expected from flipping a coin.

這甚至不如翻轉硬幣所期望的那樣好。