BBC英语｜What's in a name?
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Hello and welcome to 6 Minute EnglishI’m Dan and joining me today is Neil. Hi Neil.
欢迎收听六分钟英语。我是丹，今天跟我一起主持节目的是尼尔。你好，尼尔。
Hi there, Dan.
你好，丹。
You’re a married man, Neil. When you were wed, did your wife change her family name?
尼尔，你是已婚男士了。当你结婚时，你的妻子更改她的姓氏了吗？
Yes she did.
她改了。
Was that her choice?
是她自己的选择吗？
Oh yes. She didn’t like her old name, so for her it was a win-win. How about you?
是的。她不喜欢她以前的名字，所以对她来说，这是双赢。那你呢？
Well, my wife wanted to keep her surname, but was forced to adopt mine because that was the law where we got married.
我的妻子想要保留她的姓氏，但她不得不采用我的姓氏，因为我们结婚的地方法律就是这么规定的。
Would you have thought about taking her name?
你有没有想过采用她的姓氏呢？
That’s what we’re talking about in this 6 Minute English. A husband taking a wife’s name after marriageAll that, six related words and our quiz question.
这就是我们本期六分钟英语要谈论的话题。婚后丈夫采用妻子的姓氏。还有六个相关的单词以及我们的问题。
OK. Let’s have the question.
让我们看看问题。
In which country has it been forbidden since 1789 for a citizen to change their name legally, even after marriage?Is it a) Japan b) France or c) Turkey?
哪个国家自1789年后就禁止公民在法律上更改姓名，即便是婚后？a) 日本， b) 法国，还是 c) 土耳其？
I’m going to go for b) France.
我选 b) 法国。
And we’ll see if you’re right later. Now, traditionally in the UK, when a man and a woman get married, the woman takes the man’s family name.And this replaces her maiden name.
我们之后看看你回答得是否正确。在英国，传统上，一男一女结婚后，女方要随男方的姓氏。以此代替她的娘家姓。
A maiden name is the surname a woman had before she was married.This all dates back to the Norman invasion of England, back in 1066.They introduced the idea that when a woman married a man, she became his property.As a result of this, she took his name.
娘家姓是指女性结婚前的姓氏。这追溯至1066年诺曼征服英格兰。他们引入了这个思想，即一个女人嫁给一个男人后，就成为了男人的财产。出于这个原因，她要随男方的姓。
These days, many women elect to keep their maiden name upon marriageor combine it with their new husband’s in some way, sometimes by making the name double-barrelled.
如今很多女性选择结婚后保留自己的娘家姓，或者和丈夫的姓结合起来，有时会采用双姓的方法。
A double-barrelled name is two names that are connected by a hyphen, such as Jones-Smith.
双姓是指两个姓氏用连字符连起来，例如琼斯-史密斯。
However, a growing number of couples in western culture are doing it differently.When they get married, the husband elects to take the wife’s surname.
然而，西方文化中越来越多的夫妇采取不一样的方法。当二人结婚后，丈夫选择采用妻子的姓氏。
In a BBC article about surnames and marriage, Rory Dearlove, formerly Rory Cook, talks about why he decided to take his wife’s surname. He said that he wasn’t really attached to his name anyway.To him it didn’t make any difference.
BBC一篇关于姓氏和婚姻的文章中，罗里·迪尔洛夫，之前名叫罗里·库克，讲述了他为何决定采用妻子的姓氏。他说他真的不喜欢他的姓。对他来说，改姓没有任何影响。
Well, he’s not alone. A recent study of 2000 UK adults by Opinium, a strategic insight agency, suggested that one in ten millennial men, currently between 18 and 34 years old, fall into this category.
不只是他一人这么做。战略分析机构Opinium针对2000名英国成年人最近做过一次调查，调查显示十分之一的千禧一代的男性，如今18岁至34岁之间，都属于这一类。
Charlie Shaw, a Tibetan Buddhist meditation instructor, who took his wife’s name when they married last year,said that it was an opportunity to acknowledge the unseen patriarchal bias and sexism in our society.
查理·肖，藏传佛教冥想指导师去年结婚时采用了妻子的姓氏，他表示，这是一个了解当今社会隐形的重男轻女和女性歧视的机会。
Patriarchal means controlled by men and a bias is the unfair support or opposition to a person, thing or idea.
重男轻女的是指由男性掌控，偏见是指不公平的支持或反对一个人，一件事或一种思想。
Many traditional societies were patriarchal.But modern UK society is less like that.Everyone is meant to be equal.
很多传统社会都是重男轻女。但现代英国社会很少这样了。每个人都是平等的。
Ah yes, but that’s the unseen part.And there’s the social view of things too.Rachel Robnett, a researcher at the University of Nevada surveyed a number of people in the US and UK,and found that the husbands of women who keep their maiden names are viewed as feminine, while the women are believed to wear the trousers.
没错，但这是看不见的部分。也和社会观有关系。蕾切尔·罗波纳特是内华达大学的一名研究员，对很多美国人和英国人进行了调查，并发现保留娘家姓的女性的丈夫通常被视为太娘，而女性则被视为掌权当家。
If you wear the trousers in a relationship, it means you’have the control and make the decisions for both people.
如果你在一段关系中掌权当家，这是指你掌控并为两个人做决定。
I wondered about that, so I went out into London and asked people what they thought about a man who took his wife’s name when they got married. Here’s what they said.
我很好奇这个，所以我走上伦敦街头，询问人们如果看待婚后丈夫随妻子的姓。下面是他们的看法。
I don’t think it’s a bad idea at all. My dad’s 55 and he took my mother’s surname. If people want to do it, then all the power to them.
我一点都不觉得这是个坏主意。我父亲如今55岁，他就采用了我母亲的姓氏。如果人们想这么做，这是他们的权利。
It’s each to their own really. It doesn’t hurt anybody.And it’s no different from a woman taking a man’s name.
这是他们自己的事。这并没有损害任何人。这和女方随男方姓没什么区别。
The only reason I think that anybody should take someone else’s surname if just for the creation of a family unit.But if it’s just out of principle, I don’t agree.
我认为一方随另一方姓的唯一理由是为了创建一个家庭。如果这只是出于原则，那我不同意。
It seems that the people I talked to are comfortable with the idea.
看起来我交谈的这些人对这一想法并无不适。
Yes. Most said that people are free to do what they want.One woman even mentioned the creation of a family unit.
没错。大多数人都说这是人们的自由去做想做的事。其中一名女士提到了创建家庭。
A unit is a group of people living or working together. A typical family unit would be two parents and some children. Well, that answers that question.People don’t seem to mind who takes who’s name.
unit是指一群人一起生活或工作。典型的家庭单位是一对父母和孩子。这回答了这个问题。人们似乎不介意谁随谁的姓。
Speaking of questions. How about our quiz question?
提到问题。我们问题的答案是什么呢？
Oh yes, I asked you in which country it’s been forbidden since 1789 for a citizen to change their name legally, even after marriage?a) Japan b) France c) Turkey
是的，我问你哪个国家自1789年后禁止公民合法更改姓名，即便是婚后？a) 日本 b) 法国 c) 土耳其
And I said b)France.
我选的是法国。
And you were spot on as usual, Neil.
你和往常一样，完全正确。
Let’s take a look at the vocabulary, shall we?
我们来看一眼单词吧？
First we had maiden name.This is a woman’s family name before she is married.My mother refused to give up her maiden name to my father when she got married.
首先我们提到娘家姓。这是指女性结婚前的姓氏。我的母亲在嫁给我父亲后拒绝放弃自己的娘家姓。
Then we had double-barrelled. A double-barrelled name is two names that are joined by a hyphen.Can you think of any famous examples?
之后我们提到双姓。双姓是指两个姓氏用连字符连起来。你能想到任何著名的例子吗？
Well, there’s the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker-Bowles for one.She’s married to Prince Charles – next in line to the English throne. Then we had patriarchal. If something is patriarchal, it is controlled by men.The feminine equivalent is matriarchal, controlled by women.
康沃尔公爵夫人卡米拉·帕克-博斯就是这样的例子。她嫁给了查尔斯王子，英国皇室第二继承人。之后我们提到重男轻女的。如果某事是重男轻女的，是指它由男性掌控。女性化对应的是母系氏族的，也就是由女性掌控。
Then we had bias. A bias is unfair support or opposition to a person, thing or idea.
之后我们提到偏见。偏见是指不公平地支持或反对一个人，一件事或一种想法。
Many fans are biased in favour of their football team.Then we had wear the trousers. If you wear the trousers, you have the control and make the decisions for both people. Do you wear the trousers in your marriage, Neil?
很多粉丝都偏向自己的球队。之后我们提到掌权当家。如果你掌权当家，这是指你掌控并为两个人做决定。在你的婚姻中，是你在掌权当家吗？
Oh, we both wear the trousers in my marriage, thank you Dan.Then we had unit. A unit is a group of people living or working together. Like the BBC Learning English team… or unit!
在我的婚姻中我们都是当家人。谢谢。之后我们提到unit。是指一群人一起生活或工作。就像我们的BBC英语学习团队！
And that’s the end of this 6 Minute English. Don’t forget to checkout our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages.And we’ll see you next time.
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。不要忘了查看我们的 Facebook， Twitter，Instagram 和 YouTube主页。下期再会。
Bye!
再见。