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单词本：蔬菜之洋葱

05 September 2016

1 onion

洋葱应该也算是一种葱吧。小香葱叫 chives，大葱叫 leek，而洋葱却叫 onion，作为中国人，我觉得很恼火，为什么他们要给不同的葱取那么多不同的名字呢？

德语 die Zwiebel[`tsvi:bl](de)，法语 l(e)'oignon(fr)。其实有时候觉得法语德语的词性还是很讨厌的，法语有阴阳性，而德语居然还有中性。更麻烦的是，德语法语中同样的东西还可能不同性。比如洋葱，德语里是阴性，而法语里却是阳性。

  • Die Zwiebel hat mehrere Häute. 洋葱有好几层外皮。
  • La vie est comme un oignon, on retient toujours ses larmes en l'épluchant.(fr) 人生就像一个洋葱，人们泪汪汪的将它层层剥开。

到底还是邻国日韩的文字的感觉更熟悉些。日语洋葱叫玉葱（たまねぎ，tamanegi）(jp)，我记得日语鸡蛋叫玉子 (たまご，tamago)(ja)，所以，是不是可以推断日本人管白色的东西叫玉呢？而朝鲜语叫 양파（yangpa）(ko)，파：葱。看来和我们一样，洋葱是从西洋引进的，所以都叫洋葱。

另外，我找到了关于洋葱的 40 个事实：

  1. Onions are vegetables
  2. Onions are edible
  3. They make you cry…
  4. They make good dip
  5. Onions grow underground
  6. They taste bad raw
  7. They give you bad breath
  8. Onions come in 3 designer colours (red yellow and white)
  9. They can predict the weather in winter
  10. They go good in a BBQ
  11. They are not sweet
  12. Onions have layers
  13. If you chew gum while cooking them you wont cry
  14. They are about 30 calories
  15. They can be sliced, chopped and diced
  16. Onions are shallot‘s cousin
  17. They can be pickled
  18. Onions are like ogres
  19. They can be peeled
  20. They are highly water based
  21. Onion breath can be cured with some parsley
  22. Onion in Japanese is onion
  23. If you leave them out in the sun for too long they start to grow roots
  24. They are eaten heaps in Libya
  25. The heaviest onion was 10 pounds and 14 ounces
  26. Onions don’t grow on the moon
  27. Onion spelled backwards is noinO
  28. They are not like cakes
  29. Onion is pronounced UN-YIN
  30. If onion was a number it would be 151491514
  31. An onion can make a bland sauce
  32. Onions has 3 vowels
  33. Onions have skins
  34. Onions don’t like garlic
  35. there are nice deep fried as rings
  36. Onion rhymes with bunion
  37. Onions make really bad gifts…
  38. Alliumphobia is the fear of smelling onion and garlic
  39. Onions wont stop vampires…
  40. Onions should NEVER be juiced

1.1 to know one's onions

形容某人在某一方面很在行：

  • That car salesman certainly knew his onions, didn't he? 那个汽车销售一定（对汽车销售）很在行，不是吗？

那么问题又来了，为什么“知道自己的洋葱”是很在行的意思呢？根据我的调查，是因为一百多年前，有一个叫 Charles Talbut Onions 的人，他参与了牛津英语词典（Oxford English Dictionary）编撰，是位单词专家，后来不知道为什么就有 to know one's onions 的说法，用来形容某人在某一行业很在行的意思。欲知详情，请点击附录链接阅读。

1.2 traiter qn aux petits oignons

精心照顾某人。把某人放到小洋葱里（层层呵护）？法国人的浪漫气息体现在在日常生活中啊。

  • Je les traite aux petits oignons.(fr) I give them total care. 我精心照顾他们。

1.3 Occupe-toi de tes oignons

管好自己的事情。管好自己的洋葱？Mind your own business.

2 Summary

这次学习了洋葱的英法德写法，并且尝试性的扩展到了日韩的单词学习。感觉有点心有余而力不足啊……

I feel that, in vacabulary study, I am not the one who knows his onions, but I will try to learn as many as possible.