Mysteries of vernacular: Keister - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel

词源揭秘：Keister——杰茜卡·奥列克和雷切尔·蒂尔

翻译人员: Yixiong Zhu 校对人员: Jenny Yang

Mysteries of vernacular:

词源揭秘：

Keister,

“Keister”，

a person's buttocks.

人的臀部。

Though the modern meaning of keister

“Keister”的现代用法

refers somewhat indecorously

是用来有点无礼地指代

to a person's behind,

人的臀部，

the word's history does not begin with the rear end.

但这个词一开始并不是指“后面”。

Instead, it can be traced back

相反，它可以追溯到

to the Proto-Indo-European kista,

原始印欧语“kista”，

which described a woven container.

意思是指编织的容器。

Kista influenced the creation of words

“Kista”影响了很多词的创造，

like the Greek kiste,

例如希腊语的“kiste”，

meaning basket or box,

筐和盒子，

and later, the Latin cista,

以及后来的拉丁语词“cista”，

which meant box or chest.

指盒子和箱子。

In proto-Germanic, a sturdy, box-like container

在原始德语中，结实而像盒子的容器

was described by the word kista,

是用“kista”来表述，

which eventually gave us chest in English.

而这个词后来变成了英语的“chest”。

For every locked chest,

凡是上锁的箱子，

there is both a key and a lock pick,

相对应的总是一把钥匙和一把撬锁工具，

and the history of keister

而“keister”的历史

draws us into this world of petty crime

也将我们带入这个小违法的领域

and speculative etymology.

和推理词源学的范畴。

Keister may have come from the British dialect kist,

“Keister”有可能来自英国英语方言“kist”，

which was the northern form of chest.

也就是“chest”的北方版本。

In the underworld jargon of the late 1800s,

在19世纪后期的地下黑话中，

it referred to a burgler's tool kit that can be locked,

这个词是指能上锁的偷盗工具箱，

and by the early 20th century,

而在20世纪早期，

it meant safe or strong box.

它的意思是指保险箱。

Numerous theories about keister's connection

有很多理论能解释“keister”

to the buttocks abound,

和屁股的联系，

one being, that is courtesy of the slang sense,

其中一个是，在俚语中，

used by pick-pockets to describe

小偷用这个词来描述

the treasure of a rear trouser pocket.

裤子后兜里的东西。

Unfortunately, what isn't safe in your kist

很遗憾，在你“kist”中不保险的东西，

may not be safe near your keister either.

在你“keister”的附近可能也不保险。