【文稿】英语词汇小百科：AA制

Xiaohua：Hello and welcome to roundtable’s word of the week. 在头一次约会的时候，人们经常会为吃饭时谁来付账而苦恼，这个时候“going Dutch”不失为一个好方法。So everyone knows what “going Dutch” means, but where exactly does the phrase come from? John: Yeah, actually sometimes it’s just called going Dutch, but it also can be called a Dutch date, a Dutch treat, which apparently is the oldest form, and also doing Dutch. So there are two possible ways this could be used: each person pays their own expenses or the entire bill is basically divided evenly between all participants. In strict terms, “going Dutch” refers to the former that everyone pays their own expenses, and the latter is usually referred to as just splitting the bill. Xiaohua: 所以“going Dutch”其实是指在一餐聚会中，每个人付自己点的那部分食物的账单。还有一种方法呢，则是把账单的总费用平均摊到个人头上，这个时候呢，就叫做splitting the bill? John: Splitting the bill, that’s right. So looking at the history of this phrase, one person has suggested that going Dutch might actually originate from the concept of a Dutch door. So this is usually farm houses. The door is actually consisted of two equal parts. Xiaohua: Interesting. 为什么一定跟Dutch有关呢？有一种解释是说，荷兰人家里的门经常是双开门，对开的那种门，所以that’s why it’s “going Dutch”. John: Whereas the Oxford English Dictionary connects “go Dutch” and “Dutch treat” and other phrases actually coming from the 17th century when there was a bit tension between the English and the Dutch. Another example is a “Dutch courage”, so in that sense it’s used to basically be derisive, or it’s actually a bit of negative term Xiaohua: 这个说法我也听说过，就是说英国人其实当时对荷兰人是有很多偏见的，导致在以前的英语中，存在很多这种歧视或者嘲笑荷兰人的词汇。 John：Yeah. Another term that’s actually used almost primarily in China is AA. Interestingly enough this term does not necessarily originate in the English speaking countries. In fact it actually originates in Hong Kong. Xiaohua: 英语母语国家的人好像很少说AA制，但是在香港，在大中华地区，很多人都说，我们来AA吧。 John: Yeah. There’re actually a few different theories there, as to what exactly that means. Some people suggest that it’s actually the algebraic average. And there are other theories suggesting that it means all apart. Xiaohua：So basically if I say AA to a friend from an English speaking country, they most probably wouldn’t know what I am talking about. John: They are probably thinking you are talking about alcoholic anonymous, which is very, very different. Xiaohua: I see. So “going Dutch”, that’s our word of the week.