英语词汇earmark的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

earmark. Back in the 16th century English farmers began to notch their own identifying marks in the ears of their sheep and cattle to prevent them from being stolen. This practice didn’t always work, for many thieves were adept at altering ear- marks, but the animal earmark was so common that it soon gave its name to any kind of identifying mark and, figuratively, to something, such as money, marked or set aside for some special purpose. Incidentally, thieves who altered an earmark ran the risk of being sent to prison where they would be earmarked—slitting the ears of pilloried criminals, earmarking them, was as common as nose-slitting or earmarking animals in those days.

词汇	earmark
词源	earmark. Back in the 16th century English farmers began to notch their own identifying marks in the ears of their sheep and cattle to prevent them from being stolen. This practice didn’t always work, for many thieves were adept at altering ear- marks, but the animal earmark was so common that it soon gave its name to any kind of identifying mark and, figuratively, to something, such as money, marked or set aside for some special purpose. Incidentally, thieves who altered an earmark ran the risk of being sent to prison where they would be earmarked—slitting the ears of pilloried criminals, earmarking them, was as common as nose-slitting or earmarking animals in those days.
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