英国的街道名称（英国的街道名满是脏话）

原文标题：Street namesSigns of the timesPlans to name Cambridge’s streets are following in a long tradition街道名称时代的印记剑桥街道的命名方式有着悠久的传统Memory LaneWhat do street names tell you about Britain?It is more monarchist but less sexist than you might think, and still changing记忆巷你可以从英国街道名称中发现什么？君主化更浓，但性别歧视更少，一直在变化

[Paragraph 1] ENGLAND’S GROPECUNT LANES are unusual. 英格兰的“狎亵巷”很独特。Not because of their name: in the earthy medieval era, streets were often named after professions—after butchers and bakers and candlewick-makers—so it is unsurprising that the supposedly oldest profession had several streets commemorating it. 并不是因为它们的名字独特：在粗俗的中世纪时代，街道通常以屠夫、面包师和烛芯制作者等职业命名。因此，用一些街道名来纪念传说中最古老的职业，这种情况屡见不鲜。In Oxford, it squeezed cosily between University College and Oriel; in Shrewsbury, it ran into Fish Street. In London, naturally, there were several. 在牛津，“狎亵巷”挤在大学学院和奥利尔之间；在什鲁斯伯里，这条巷连接上了“鱼街”。伦敦自然也有几条“狎亵巷”。

[Paragraph 2] But what is unusual about these streets is that they have gone. 但奇怪的是这些街道名都已经消失了。In Oxford, citizens now walk down the more decorous Magpie Lane; in Shrewsbury, one might still enjoy Grope Lane—but on the whole smuttier street names have vanished; Britain has been cleansed of its old-fashioned filth. 在牛津，市民们现在走在更高雅的“喜鹊巷”；在什鲁斯伯里，人们可能仍然喜欢“乱摸巷”，但总的来说，下流的街道名称已经消失了；英国已经清除了旧时的污秽用语。

[Paragraph 3] Street names are telling. 街道名称能说明一切。Run your eye down a list of British streets and it quickly becomes clear that, among the Jesus Lanes and Queen’s Streets, the Trafalgar Squares and Empire Roads, lie not merely streets and alleys but ideals: a cartography of ideology and aspiration. 仔细看看一系列的英国街道名称，如耶稣大道和皇后大道、特拉法加广场和帝国大道，你很快就会发现名称不仅代表了大街小巷，还包含了理想：一门关于意识形态和抱负志向的学问。

So it is significant that Cambridge University has announced that next year it will name new streets after black alumni and abolitionists after its research found it had been “implicated in enslavement in a number of ways”. 剑桥大学宣布，明年将以黑人校友和废奴主义者的名字命名新街道，这一举措意义重大。因为该大学的研究发现，这些街道“在许多方面与奴役有关”。

[Paragraph 4] People rarely consider street signs, says Maoz Azaryahu, professor of cultural geography at the University of Haifa, but that does not mean that they do not matter. On the contrary: “It only means that they are successful.”海法大学文化地理学教授毛兹·阿扎里亚胡称，人们很少看路标，但这并不意味着名称无关紧要。相反，“这就意味着他们成功了。”Their job is to introduce “official ideology into aspects of everyday life.” 路标的作用就是将“官方意识形态”引入日常生活的方方面面。That they do so subconsciously is far from a weakness. “This is their real power: that we don’t pay attention to them.” 潜意识里的影响绝不是缺点。“这是他们真正的力量：我们没有留意的力量。”

[Paragraph 5] Politicians have long understood this. In Berlin in 1945, at the end of the war, the Russian-dominated city hall met for the first time. 政治家们早就明白这一点。1945年，在二战结束时的柏林，以俄罗斯为主的首脑们首次举行了会议。“The city was in ruins, bodies in the canals,” says Mr Azaryahu, yet they discussed “what to do with Nazi street names.” 阿扎里亚胡先生说：“这座城市已成废墟，尸横遍野”。但他们讨论了“如何处理纳粹街道名”。

Walk through Europe and you walk through streets whose names have been overwritten so often they are part place, part palimpsest. 当你游览欧洲的时候，会看到更改过的街道名，它们部分代表位置，部分含有多重意义。In Paris, the Place Royale became a Place de la République; in Germany, Adolf Hitler Platzes spread—then vanished; in Berlin, streets ran towards the Berlin Wall with one name, and emerged on the other side with another. 在巴黎，皇家广场变成了公共广场；在德国，以“阿道夫·希特勒”命名的地点曾广为流传，不久就消失了；在柏林，通向柏林墙的街道是一个名称，另一边则出现了另一个名称。

[Paragraph 6] When academics analysed 4,932 street names in four cities (London, New York, Paris and Vienna) last year, certain national traits became clear. 去年，学者们分析了4个城市（伦敦、纽约、巴黎和维也纳）的4932条街道名称，某些民族特征变得清清楚楚。While bohemian Parisians might stroll along Avenue Victor Hugo (artists are Paris’s most commemorated profession), London’s streets tend to toady to the monarchy and the military. 波西米亚的巴黎人可能会走在维克多·雨果大道上（艺术家是巴黎最值得纪念的职业），而伦敦的街道则倾向于迎合皇室和军队。

London is also inward looking: in cosmopolitan Vienna, nearly half of street signs commemorate foreigners; in insular London, only 15% do; though in melting pot New York it is merely 3%. 伦敦是向内看的：在国际化的维也纳，近50%的路标是纪念外国人的；在狭隘的伦敦，这一比例只有15%；然而在“大熔炉”纽约，这一比例仅为3%。

[Paragraph 7] Not all names are political. Many, like gravestones, simply commemorate what lies dead underneath: the Meadow Streets and Grove Roads. 并非所有的街道名字都有政治意图。许多名称，像墓碑一样，只是为了纪念逝去的人和物：如“草甸街”和“果园路”。Others are pure whimsy: in north London a burst of classical enthusiasm has led to residents living on Achilles Road, Ajax Road and the surely inauspicious Agamemnon Road. 其他名称纯粹是天马行空：由于居民们热爱古希腊罗马文化，伦敦北部有“阿喀琉斯路”、“阿贾克斯路”和不吉利的“阿伽门农路”。

Others were proudly imperial: Rudyard Kipling named London’s Empire Way; in south London you can pass from Khyber Road to Cabul Road or walk along Jamaica Road. 其他名称则表现出了帝国自豪感：鲁德亚德·吉卜林命名了伦敦的“帝国之路”；在伦敦南部，你可以穿过“开伯尔路”到“卡布尔路”，或者沿着“牙买加路”漫步。

[Paragraph 8] But mostly what marks Britain’s streets is stasis: many of London’s street names date back to 1600. This doesn’t mean that nothing has changed. 但英国街道名称主要代表着时间的停滞：伦敦的许多街道名可以追溯到公元1600年。但这并不意味着什么都没变。By the 1980s, 40% of London’s streets were being named after women—all of them, not merely a body part. 到20世纪80年代，伦敦40%的街道名与女性相关，但不仅仅是某个身体部位。

But changes tend to happen by accretion, not revolution: layer upon linguistic layer is added, each layer almost imperceptibly burying the last; an undisturbed archaeology of ideals. 但变化往往是因为积累的量变，而非革命剧变：添加一层又一层的语言用词，每一层几乎都不知不觉地覆盖了上一层；这是未受干扰的理想考古学。And next year in Cambridge, a new layer will be put down.明年，剑桥将添加新一层用词。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量687左右）原文出自：2022年11月26日《TE》Britain版块。

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Irene

本文编辑校对: Irene仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）英国的街道名称。在中世纪的英格兰，道路名称是随着时间逐渐出现的，有时取名自附近的树木或河流、道路尽头的农场或是转角处的旅馆。街道名称也可能源自路上发生的事，“狎亵巷”便是个例子。又或许以职业命名，例如肉铺、铁匠铺、市场；有些街道名称来自它通往何处，例如通往伦敦的“伦敦路”，“教堂街”、“磨坊巷”、“车站路”等。

【重点句子】（3 个）Their job is to introduce “official ideology into aspects of everyday life.” 路标的作用就是将“官方意识形态”引入日常生活的方方面面。Walk through Europe and you walk through streets whose names have been overwritten so often they are part place, part palimpsest. 当你游览欧洲的时候，会看到更改过的街道名，它们部分代表位置，部分含有多重意义。But changes tend to happen by accretion, not revolution.但变化往往是因为积累的量变，而非革命剧变。

自由英语之路