礼仪英语：V字手势在美国文化中的3种含义.docVIP

礼仪英语：V字手势在美国文化中的3种含义 　　The palm-forward quot;Vsign, formed by raising and spreading the first two fingers, has three different meanings in American culture.手势 V掌 心向外, 竖起食指和中指, 并向两边展开, 这样就构成了一个V 形手势。V形手势在美国文化中有三个不同的含义。 　　Victory, Virijheid, VictoireThe most popular meaning of the quot;Vsign was invented in 1941 by a Belgian, Victor De Lavalaye. Wanting a symbol for resistance to the Nazi occupation, he came up with the single letter quot;Vquot;, which stood not only for his own first name, but also for English victory, Flemish virijheid, and French victoire.V形手势最为普及的一个意思是在1941年由比利时人维克托德拉维雷创造发明的。他伸出双指,作出字母V的手势来表示他对纳粹占领比利时的反抗。这个V不仅代表他的名字,而且还象征英语victory(胜利) 、佛兰芒语virijheid(胜利)和法语victoire(胜利)这三个单词。 　　The symbolism of the sign spread very quickly, and Winston Churchill used it constantly in public appearance. Thus throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the gesture meant simply quot;victoryquot;.这一手势的象征意义迅速地传播开来, 温斯顿 邱吉尔在公众场合就曾多次使用。因此, 在20世纪40年代和50年代, 这个手势只是表示 胜利的意思。The quot;Peace Signquot;The second meaning came in the 1960s. Because of its military implication, American antiwar protestors used the sign sarcastically against the arms, so that it became known as the quot;peace signquot;.V 形手势的第二个意思出现在20世纪60年代。由于这个手势含有军事方面的意思,美国反战者就讽刺性地用这个手势来反对战争, 于是, 这个手势开始被称为 和平的标志。 　　In the 1970s, the quot;Vsign, which had lost its military implication, was a common greeting among freedom lovers, acid heads, political radicals, and ultimately, young people in general. So by about the middle of the 1970s, it ceased to give clue to the user’s philosophy.20世纪70年代, V 形手势失去了军事方面的含义, 成为热爱自由的人、嗜用迷幻药的人、政治激进主义 者们见面问候时常用的手势, 并最终在广大年轻人流传开来。也就是说, 大约到20 世纪70 年代中期, 这个手势就不再表示使用者的人生观了。Resemble quot;Hornsquot;The third meaning is the oldest and least common. American children jokingly put quot;Vquot;, which resembles quot;hornsquot;, behind friends’ heads in group snapshot. They are unknowingly reproducing something that southern Europeans would find highly offensive. This mischief, called quot;horns of the Dev