黑天鹅
2017-05-02
“黑天鹅”,英语译为blackswan。例如:1.在圆明园,有一对黑天鹅在湖面上优美地游来游去。In the Yuanmingyu⁃
an Park,there are a pair of black swanss wimming around gracefully on the lake.
17世纪以前,欧洲只有白天鹅(whiteswan)。欧洲人认为世上不存在黑色天鹅。例如:2.在古时,欧洲人理所当然地认为黑色天鹅是不可能的,或至少是不存在的。In old times,Europeans took it for granted that a black swan was impos⁃sible or at least nonexistent.
17世纪末,荷兰探险家WillemdeVlamingh等人在澳大利亚发现了黑天鹅,使人们认识到并非所有的天鹅都是白色的。例如:3.“黑色天鹅”这个名词基于一种古老说法,假定黑色天鹅是不存在的,但是在荒野中发现黑天鹅之后,这种说法就改写了。The term“blackswan”is based on an ancient saying which presumed black swans did not ex⁃ist, but the saying was rewritten after black swans wered iscovered in the wild.
“黑天鹅”现已成为表示具有重大意义的意外事件的代名词。“黑天鹅事件”译为BlackSwanevent。例如:4.2016年,世界人民目睹了一系列“黑天鹅事件”,像英国“脱欧”和特朗普当选总统。In 2016,the world witnessed a se⁃ries of Black Swan events like Brexit and the election of Donald Trump.▲
(本栏目供稿:王逢鑫教授)