Mysteries of vernacular: Tuxedo - Jessica Oreck

字源探秘：Tuxedo - Jessica Oreck

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

譯者: Jephian Lin 審譯者: 盧 曉天

Mysteries of Vernacular

字源探秘

Tuxedo:

Tuxedo

men's evening wear for semi-formal occasions.

紳士在半正式場合時 穿的晚禮服

Tuxedo, surprisingly, has its roots

Tuxedo 這個字 令人驚訝地源自

in Native American history.

美國原住民歷史

The Delaware Indians of what is now

現今位於美國東北方的

the Northeast United States,

德拉瓦印第安人

were divided into three subgroups,

分為三個部族

distinguished by their animal totems:

可以用他們的動物圖騰來區分

the turkey,

火雞

the turtle,

海龜

and the wolf.

還有狼

Members of the tribe belonging to the wolf totem

狼圖騰的部族成員

were often referred to

常被用他們語言中

by the indigenous word for the four-footed canine,

代表四腳犬科動物的字 來稱呼

p'tuksit.

也就是 p'tuksit

In the 18th century,

在十八世紀

Europeans who settled in the former region of the P'tuksit

歐洲人踏入 P'tuksit 的領域時

Anglicized the name as "tuxedo"

將這名成英文化， 變成 tuxedo

and slapped it on a town in southeast New York.

然後傳到一個 紐約東南方的小鎮

Decades later, in the late 1800s,

幾十年過去，在 1800 年代末期

a lavish resort was constructed

一座華麗的俱樂部 建了起來

and christened "The Tuxedo Club".

並且被命名為 The Tuxedo Club

It was at The Tuxedo Club,

就是在 The Tuxedo Club

around the turn of the century,

大約在十八世紀末十九世紀初

when a dress jacket was required

那時幾乎每個場合

for almost every occasion,

都須要穿長尾禮服

that a brash young man,

但一位性急的年輕人

heir to an enormous tobacco fortune,

他繼承了一比可觀的菸草產業

caused a stir by flaunting tradition

並且反傳統地穿上

and donning a formal dinner jacket

沒有長尾的晚禮服

without tails.

因此造成了騷動

His bold fashion statement was quickly popularized

他的大膽行徑， 很快地傳開

and nicknamed tuxedo,

而且被稱為 tuxedo

which in modern America,

最後在美國北部

is the headache of high school prom attendees

成為高中畢業舞會 都會穿的一項麻煩

across the nation.

並傳遍全國。