英语词汇santa claus的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

Santa Claus. Yes, Virginia, there was a Santa Claus, a real one—probably. The custom of giving presents at Christmas is based on the legend that St. Nicholas—a bishop of Myra in Asia Minor during the fourth century—gave secret dowries to three sisters who could not have been married otherwise and would have been sold into prostitution if it hadn’t been for his gener- osity. Nicholas, the story goes, was out walking one night when he heard the three sisters crying behind their curtained win- dow. On being told that their poor father could find no hus- bands for them and had to sell them to a brothel, our Santa Claus dug into his coat and threw three bags of gold to them, disappearing into the night before their father could thank him. A twist on the tale has the bishop turning three brass balls into bags of gold, which is appropriate for the patron saint of pawnbrokers. St. Nicholas is also the patron saint of the Rus- sian Orthodox church, Greece, Sicily, Aberdeen, scholars, travelers, sailors, thieves, and children, among other groups. Despite the lack of historical facts about him, he is no doubt the basis for our Santa Claus. The eve of his feast day, Decem- ber 6, is a children’s holiday when gifts are given in the Nether- lands and elsewhere, the custom calling for someone to dress up as St. Nicholas and present the gifts. The English who settled in New York borrowed both the saint and this custom from the earlier Dutch settlers, moving his day to Christmas, their own gift-giving day, and corrupting his name from the Dutch dia- lect Sint Klaas to Santa Claus. See father christmas.

词汇	santa claus
词源	Santa Claus. Yes, Virginia, there was a Santa Claus, a real one—probably. The custom of giving presents at Christmas is based on the legend that St. Nicholas—a bishop of Myra in Asia Minor during the fourth century—gave secret dowries to three sisters who could not have been married otherwise and would have been sold into prostitution if it hadn’t been for his gener- osity. Nicholas, the story goes, was out walking one night when he heard the three sisters crying behind their curtained win- dow. On being told that their poor father could find no hus- bands for them and had to sell them to a brothel, our Santa Claus dug into his coat and threw three bags of gold to them, disappearing into the night before their father could thank him. A twist on the tale has the bishop turning three brass balls into bags of gold, which is appropriate for the patron saint of pawnbrokers. St. Nicholas is also the patron saint of the Rus- sian Orthodox church, Greece, Sicily, Aberdeen, scholars, travelers, sailors, thieves, and children, among other groups. Despite the lack of historical facts about him, he is no doubt the basis for our Santa Claus. The eve of his feast day, Decem- ber 6, is a children’s holiday when gifts are given in the Nether- lands and elsewhere, the custom calling for someone to dress up as St. Nicholas and present the gifts. The English who settled in New York borrowed both the saint and this custom from the earlier Dutch settlers, moving his day to Christmas, their own gift-giving day, and corrupting his name from the Dutch dia- lect Sint Klaas to Santa Claus. See father christmas.
随便看	gooseberry fool goose egg goose pimples goosestep go out on a limb go over big go over like a lead balloon go over the top gop go peddle your papers gopher gopher state go quick plant gordian knot gordon bennett gordon setter gorgon gorgonzola cheese gorilla gorming go someone one better gospel bird gossamer gossip gotch-eared