Alsatian的词源
英文词源
- Alsatian
- Alsatian: [17] Alsatian has been around since at least the late 17th century (although in early use it generally denoted not the Franco-German border province of Alsace but a no-go area in London, near the banks of the Thames, where criminals, vagabonds and prostitutes hung out, which was nicknamed ‘Alsatia’ because of the real Alsace’s reputation as a harbour for the disaffected).
It really came into its own, however, during World War I. A breed of dog known as the ‘German sheepdog’ or ‘German shepherd dog’ (German deutscher Schäferhund) had been introduced into Britain, but understandably, between 1914 and 1918 its stock fell considerably. When it was reintroduced after the war it was thought politic to give it a less inflammatory name, so it became officially the ‘Alsatian wolf-dog’ (even though it has nothing to do with Alsace, and there is no element of wolf in its genetic make-up).
It continued to be called the German shepherd in the USA, and in the latter part of the 20th century that usage crept back into Britain.
中文词源
法国地名Alsace, 一战时割让给德国。该犬并非产自Alsace, 因一战避讳提起德国,以Alsatian代之。
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版:Alsatian 词源,Alsatian 含义。