英语词汇bull-s-eye的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

bull’s-eye. There are many plausible ways to explain this term, all of them based on a bull’s eye, which is about the same size as the small black spot at the dead center of a target. Bull’s-eye tar- gets were not used in ancient archery contests, as is commonly thought, but were introduced to England as targets in rifle and handgun competition. Perhaps the bull’s-eyes in them were simply named for their resemblance to a bull’s eye. But it is pos- sible that bull’s-eyes take their name from a British coin called the bull’s-eye, which was worth a crown, or five shillings. This coin was in circulation in the early 1800s, about the time bull’s-eye targets were introduced, and it would seem more log- ical to name the flat target centers after flat coins than after the round eye of a bull. As for the coin, it was so named in the late 17th century, possibly because the one-crown piece was often bet on the outcome of a bull-baiting contest; when one put money “on the bull’s eye” one was betting on the bull, just as to- day we are said to put a bet on a horse’s nose.

词汇	bull-s-eye
词源	bull’s-eye. There are many plausible ways to explain this term, all of them based on a bull’s eye, which is about the same size as the small black spot at the dead center of a target. Bull’s-eye tar- gets were not used in ancient archery contests, as is commonly thought, but were introduced to England as targets in rifle and handgun competition. Perhaps the bull’s-eyes in them were simply named for their resemblance to a bull’s eye. But it is pos- sible that bull’s-eyes take their name from a British coin called the bull’s-eye, which was worth a crown, or five shillings. This coin was in circulation in the early 1800s, about the time bull’s-eye targets were introduced, and it would seem more log- ical to name the flat target centers after flat coins than after the round eye of a bull. As for the coin, it was so named in the late 17th century, possibly because the one-crown piece was often bet on the outcome of a bull-baiting contest; when one put money “on the bull’s eye” one was betting on the bull, just as to- day we are said to put a bet on a horse’s nose.
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