怪誕節(jié)日知多少

世界各地的節(jié)日不計(jì)其數(shù)，既有官方設(shè)立的全國性節(jié)日，也有民間自發(fā)的地區(qū)性節(jié)日。而美國有一些節(jié)日則純粹是為了讓人們有一個(gè)縱情放松的機(jī)會而設(shè)立。就像下面的這些怪誕節(jié)日。

We all know of the traditional holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving， Easter and St. Patrick's Day*， but did you know there is a special holiday or observance for just about any day or month of the year? Some of these holidays are really funny or just plain bizarre2). Decide for yourself.

我們都知道傳統(tǒng)的節(jié)日，例如圣誕節(jié)、感恩節(jié)、復(fù)活節(jié)和圣帕特里克節(jié)(*見文末編者注)，但是你知道一年中的任何一天或者任意一個(gè)月都會有特別的節(jié)日或慶?；顒用?這些節(jié)日中有的相當(dāng)有趣，有的則怪誕至極，就由你來評判吧。

International Talk Like

a Pirate Day

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is observed on September 19th every year and it's always a fun holiday to celebrate. This holiday encourages you to talk like a pirate all day. Refer to your friends or others as maties3). Or throw in random pirate language in your everyday speaking like ahoy4) or aye5) aye or arrrr6)! There is a whole new vocabulary to learn when talking like a pirate so make sure you are prepared by going to the official talk like a pirate day web site (http://www.talklikeapirate.com/).

國際“像海盜

一樣說話”日

每年的9月19日是國際“像海盜一樣說話”日，它一向都是一個(gè)十分有趣的節(jié)日。在這個(gè)節(jié)日里，你可以一整天都像海盜一樣說話。把你的朋友或者別人稱為“伙計(jì)”，或者在平時(shí)說話的語句中隨便插入海盜術(shù)語，像“啊嗬”、“是”、“啊”!如果想像海盜一樣說話，需要學(xué)習(xí)一整套的全新詞匯，那就上“學(xué)海盜說話”的官方網(wǎng)站(http://www.talklikeapirate.com/)好好準(zhǔn)備吧。

Go for Broke7) Day

Go for Broke Day is always observed on April 5th each year. Go for Broke Day is the day to put it all on the line， take a chance8)， place a bet， roll the dice9) and take a risk. It could be money or love. It could be taking a new job or initiating a risky project. Many of us go about our daily lives playing it safe， just floating through life and not really taking that many big chances. If you are overly conservative10) or hardly ever take chances， then this is the day to let loose11) and put it all out there. You just might have an exhilarating12) experience if you take a chance on something. If you can get up the courage to take a risk， then put it all out there and go for broke!

National Sarcastic13) Awareness Month

National Sarcastic Awareness Month is observed for the whole month of October in America. You can observe this wacky holiday by being as sarcastic as you can be. You will also be made aware of how sarcasm14) can affect others when you are being sarcastic with others or they are sarcastic with you. Some people take this type of humor nicely and others really don't care for it， so be careful with whom you choose to be sarcastic.

International Moment of Frustration15)

Scream Day

This holiday is observed on October 12th every year. On this day every year you can share your frustrations with all the citizens of the world. You are encouraged to go outside at twelve o'clock Greenwich Time and scream for a solid thirty seconds. Screaming can make you feel better when you are frustrated.

孤注一擲日

每年的4月5日是孤注一擲日。 這一天，你要傾己所有，冒個(gè)險(xiǎn)，賭一把，扔個(gè)骰子，搏一搏。你可以賭上金錢或者愛情，可以換個(gè)新工作，或者開始一個(gè)冒險(xiǎn)項(xiàng)目。我們很多人過日子求一個(gè)安穩(wěn)，隨波逐流，不愿意冒太大風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。如果你極度保守或者極少冒險(xiǎn)，那么這一天你就可以放開手去好好賭一把。如果你在某件事情上賭一把，或許還能有一次刺激的經(jīng)歷呢。 如果你能鼓起勇氣冒個(gè)險(xiǎn)，那就孤注一擲，賭一賭吧!

全國諷刺意識月

在美國，整個(gè)十月份都是全國諷刺意識月。你可以讓自己變得諷刺至極，來慶祝這個(gè)怪誕的節(jié)日。同時(shí)，當(dāng)你諷刺別人或者別人諷刺你的時(shí)候，你也會意識到諷刺是如何影響他人的了。有些人認(rèn)為這是一種不錯(cuò)的幽默，但有些人則很不喜歡，因此你要謹(jǐn)慎選擇諷刺對象。

國際為挫折尖叫日

每年的10月12日就是這個(gè)節(jié)日。每年的這天，你可以跟全世界的人們分享自己的挫折和失敗。你可以于格林尼治時(shí)間12點(diǎn)整到戶外尖叫足足30秒。在你遭遇挫折的時(shí)候，尖叫可以讓你感覺好過些。

National Whiners16) Day

National Whiners Day is observed on December 26th each year in America. As you can imagine， this is the day to whine about anything and everything in life or whatever. If you're a whiner， this will come easy for you. For someone who's not usually a whiner， find something that's annoyingto you and whine incessantly17) about it. You may not be able to change it， but you can gripe18) and whine your heart out about it today. Go ahead and whine because no one can blame you for whining like a baby today.

International Panic Day

International Panic Day is always observed on June 18th and is a day for everyone to be worried and concerned. There is no one reason that is provided for the panic， just that this is the day to observe widespread and mass panic. There is also a Panic Day that is observed in March.

Blame Someone Else Day

You can celebrate this day on the first Friday the 13th of the year. This is the day of the year where you can take every mistake you've ever made and put the blame on someone else. Find someone to blame for everything you've ever done poorly or started and never finished. Be careful though because remember others can blame you for their shortcomings this day too. Once this day passes it's all your fault again.

Have a Bad Day Day

Have a Bad Day Day is always observed on November 19th each year. Have a Bad Day Day is observed by encouraging people to wish other people to have a bad day. Instead of saying \"Have a good day!\" all the time， this is the one day a year when it's okay to instead say \"Have a bad day!\"

Get a Different Name Day

Get a Different Name Day is for people who do not like their name or the name that was given to them at birth. If you don't like your name， then this day is definitely for you. Take advantage of the day and change your name. Get a Different Name Day is actually a copyright holiday. Even if you like your name， you could still change it up on this day just for fun. Get a Different Name Day is observed on February 13th every year.

National Inane19) Answering Message Day

Observed on January 30th every year， this holiday encourages you on this day to bring an end to20) all of the mindless and endlessly long answering machine messages that annoy and waste the time of callers. Or， you could leave a long， drawn out21)， insane message on your machine this day. The choice is up to you.

全國抱怨日

在美國，每年的12月26日是全國抱怨日。你或許可以想象得到，這天中你可以抱怨生活中的任何事和所有東西。如果你本身就是一個(gè)喜歡抱怨的人，這對你來說很簡單。對那些不經(jīng)常抱怨的人來說，你得找到一個(gè)令你生厭的東西，然后不停地抱怨它?；蛟S你不能改變什么，但是這天你可以大發(fā)牢騷，拼命地抱怨一整天。試試看抱怨吧，沒有人會因?yàn)槟阆駛€(gè)小孩子一樣哼哼唧唧而責(zé)怪你的。

國際恐慌日

每年的6月18日為國際恐慌日，這天人人都可以擔(dān)憂、焦慮。這一天的恐慌無需理由，只不過這一天就是為了慶祝大范圍的群體恐慌而設(shè)立的。另外，三月份也有一個(gè)恐慌日。

責(zé)怪別人日

這個(gè)節(jié)日逢一年中第一個(gè)為13號的星期五舉行慶祝活動。每當(dāng)這天，你可以把自己曾經(jīng)犯過的錯(cuò)誤通通怪罪到別人身上。找到一個(gè)人，然后把那些你沒有做好的事情，或者開始做卻還沒做完的事情怪到他頭上。但是你要小心了，別忘了在這天別人也能把他們的過錯(cuò)怪罪到你身上。一旦這天過去，那些就又都是你的錯(cuò)了。

祝你倒霉日

每年的11月19日是祝你倒霉日。祝你倒霉日那天，你可以祝其他人這天過得糟糕。不同于平時(shí)都說“祝你今天過得愉快!”一年中只有這一天你可以跟別人說:“祝你倒霉!”

改名日

改名日是為了那些不喜歡自己的名字或者不喜歡出生時(shí)父母為自己取的名字的人們而設(shè)立的。如果你不喜歡自己的名字，那么這一天就絕對是為你而設(shè)的。好好利用這天，改掉自己的名字吧。改名日其實(shí)還是一個(gè)有版權(quán)的節(jié)日。即使你喜歡自己的名字，在這一天你依然可以為了好玩而改掉自己的名字。每年的2月13日就是改名日。

全國愚蠢留言日

每年的1月30日這天，你可以刪掉又蠢又長、煩人而且浪費(fèi)時(shí)間的電話留言，以慶祝這個(gè)節(jié)日。或者，你可以設(shè)置一個(gè)長長的、嘮嘮叨叨的、瘋狂的留言。這完全取決于你。

編者注

圣帕特里克節(jié)為3月17日，旨在紀(jì)念愛爾蘭守護(hù)神圣帕特里克。這一節(jié)日起源于愛爾蘭，美國從1737年3月17日開始慶祝。

公元432年，圣帕特里克受教皇派遣，前往愛爾蘭勸說愛爾蘭人皈依基督教。他從Wicklow (威克洛，愛爾蘭東部城鎮(zhèn))上岸后，當(dāng)?shù)貞嵟漠惤掏狡髨D用石頭將他砸死。但圣帕特里克臨危不懼，當(dāng)即摘下一棵三葉苜蓿，形象地闡明了圣父、圣子、圣靈三位一體的教義。他雄辯的演說使愛爾蘭人深受感動，接受了圣帕特里克主的洗禮。公元493年3月17日，圣帕特里克逝世，愛爾蘭人為了紀(jì)念他，將這一天定為圣帕特里克節(jié)。

美國人在圣帕特里克節(jié)這一天通常會舉行游行、教堂禮拜和聚餐等活動。美國的愛爾蘭人喜歡佩帶三葉苜蓿，用愛爾蘭的國旗顏色——綠、黃兩種顏色裝飾房間，身穿綠色衣服，并向賓客贈送三葉苜蓿飾物等。

Vocabulary

1.observance [Eb5zE:vEns] n. (對法律、風(fēng)俗、禮儀等的)遵守，奉行

2.bizarre [bI5zB:(r)] adj. 奇形怪狀的;異乎尋常的;怪誕的

3.maty [meItI] n. = matey [5meItI] n. <英口> 伙伴，好友

4.ahoy [E5hCI] int. 喂!啊嗬![水手招呼遠(yuǎn)處的人或船只的喊聲]

5.aye [aI] int. [常作aye aye] (海員等回答上級命令時(shí)說)明白

6.arrrr: 啊，海盜語言，常見于海盜題材的電影或科幻小說中。

7.go for broke: <美俚> 全力以赴;孤注一擲

8.take a chance: 冒險(xiǎn);投機(jī);還可以說成take chances。

9.dice [daIs] n. [單復(fù)同] 骰子

10.conservative [kEn5sE:vEtIv] adj. 保守的，守舊的;傳統(tǒng)的

11.let loose: <口> 任意說話(或行動)

12.exhilarating [I^5zIlEreItIN] adj. 令人高興的;使人興奮(或振奮)的;使精力充沛的

13.sarcastic [sB:5kAstIk] adj. 諷刺的，嘲笑的，挖苦的

14.sarcasm [5sB:kAzEm] n. 諷刺，嘲笑，挖苦

15.frustration

[frQ5streIFEn] n. 挫折，失敗;失望;失意

16.whiner [(h)waInE] n. whine的名詞形式;whine [(h)waIn] vi. vt. 哼哼唧唧地訴說，嘀咕;哭哭啼啼

17.incessantly

[In5sesntlI] adv. 不停地，連續(xù)地，持續(xù)不斷地

18.gripe [^raIp] vi. <口> (不停地)抱怨，發(fā)牢騷

19.inane [I5neIn] adj. 空洞的，無意義的;愚蠢的

20.bring an end to: 使終止

21.drawn out: 拉長的