“山姆大叔”的由來

張超

Uncle Sam is well known as the nickname of the United States. The name of Uncle Sam and its image can be seen in many newspapers， magazines and books in America. Uncle Sam is usually described as a serious elderly man who has white hair， a goatee1， and a top hat and wears a swallow-tailed coat2.

眾所周知，“山姆大叔”是美國的綽號。在美國，許多報紙、雜志和書籍上經(jīng)?？梢钥吹缴侥反笫宓拿旨捌湫蜗?。山姆大叔通常被描繪成留著白發(fā)，蓄著山羊胡，身穿燕尾服，頭戴一頂高禮帽，神情嚴肅的老人形象。

Uncle Sam， the nickname of America came into being during the American-British War of 1812. At that time， there was an inspector3 of army supplies named Sam Wilson in New York City. He was honest and hard-working. The local people all liked him a lot and called him “Uncle Sam”. Sam was in charge of marking the food， which was provided for the army， with the mark of “E.A.-U.S.”.

“山姆大叔”這一綽號出現(xiàn)在1812年的美英戰(zhàn)爭時期。當時在紐約市有一個名叫山姆·威爾遜的軍隊供應品的檢驗員。他為人誠實，做事勤快，當?shù)厝硕挤浅Ｏ矚g他，稱他“山姆大叔”。山姆負責在供應軍隊的食品上戳上“E.A.-U.S.”的標志。

One day when a governor4 visited Sams factory， he saw the mark and asked what it stood for. One of the workers explained， “‘E.A. is the abbreviation5 of a businessmans name， and ‘U.S. refers to ‘the United States.” Then the worker added just for kidding， “‘U.S. is also the abbreviation of ‘Uncle Sam！” Since then， more and more American people got to know “Uncle Sam”.

一天當州長參觀山姆的工廠時，他看到了“E.A.-U.S.”的標記，便問是什么意思。一個工人解釋說，“‘E.A.是一個承包商的名字，‘U.S.是美國的縮寫?！苯又@個工人開玩笑地說，“‘U.S.也是‘山姆大叔的縮寫！”從那以后，“山姆大叔”名聲大振。

In 1961， the American Congress6 accepted Uncle Sam as the national symbol of the United States.

1961年，美國國會同意了將“山姆大叔”作為美國的象征。

1. goatee n. 山羊胡子

2. swallow-tailed coat 燕尾服

3. inspector n. 檢查員

4. governor n. 州長；省長；總督

5. abbreviation n. 省略，縮寫

6. congress n. 國會；代表大會