表达，神话和传统的起源

我喜欢研究表达，神话和传统的起源，尽管研究通常会提出更多的问题，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."

成语“足够冷以将球从黄铜猴子冻结”的起源通常归因于航海实践。 Old的海盗和水手会将其炮弹存放在金字塔上的黄铜托盘上，称为“猴子”。

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

随着黄铜签约的比降低的气温降低，据说极端的寒冷会导致炮弹从猴子上滚下来。

However, there are some discrepancies in this explanation.

但是，这种解释存在一些差异。

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.

从科学上讲，虽然黄铜和铁的热系数确实不同，但黄铜似乎不可能收缩足以脱落炮弹。

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.

实际上，以这种方式存储炮弹，虽然也许有效，但似乎有些问题，因为在高海浪中投球似乎比冻结温度更有可能击倒球。

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

此外，一些怀疑论者声称，没有证据表明这种炮弹的安排被称为黄铜猴。

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.

尽管存在这些不一致之处，但这个成语仍然存在，这可能是由于其生动的图像以及人们在不完全检查其有效性的情况下夸大或接受主张的趋势。

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

另一个奇怪的传统是土拨鼠日，植根于迷信和民间传说。

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，据说一只土拨鼠从其洞穴中浮出水面，如果看到它的阴影，我们将冬天又呆了六个星期。如果看不到它的阴影，春天将提早到达。

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

这个故事，特别是日期，起源于宾夕法尼亚州荷兰人，后者带来了与天气相处的动物的概念。

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.

也许可以理解我们祖先的迷信，因为它们的生存取决于春季冬季食品量低的春季来临。

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，传统仍在继续，但大多数人认为这是一种无害的乐趣（至少我希望是这样）。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，早期到来的春天是高度主观的。

It is also subject to latitudinal variations.

它也需要纬度变化。

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.

在宾夕法尼亚州（以及卑诗省南部），土拨鼠在2月初开始从冬眠中脱颖而出，但在安大略省，啮齿动物并未从洞穴中开始出现直到3月中旬。继续向北走，深度睡眠甚至可以持续到四月。

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.

试图科学地解释这种现象。我们知道，有助于看见阴影的阳光与冬天的寒冷有关。因此，2月初的寒冷可能意味着未来的冬季。

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

但是，科学解释它取决于啮齿动物转变为现象学家方程的准确性程度。

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.

在所有土拨鼠预测中最著名的是Punxsutawney Phil，他是一个伪神奇的小动物，他一直预测自1887年以来春季延长的冬季或早些时候。

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.

这是一个很好的样本量，可以准确评估准确性，而Phil在这方面表现不佳。根据早春的上述主观性，专家给Phil的准确度评级在20％至40％之间。

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

这甚至不如翻转硬币所期望的那样好。