The Big Apple: 「My Very Educated Mother Just Serve...

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/my _very_educated_mother_just_served_us_nachos_mercury_venus_earth_mars_jupi/

　　Pluto was declassified as a planet in August 2006. The mnemonic device for remembering the order of the planets from the sun had been 「My Very Educated Mother Served Us Nine Pizzas.」 With Pluto removed, the mnemonic went Tex-Mex with 「My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos.」 The 「nacho」 version became popular on August 24, 2006, but it had been mentioned in Google Groups in 2001.

　　Planet mnemonics have been used since at least the early 1900s.

　　Wikipedia: Planetary mnemonic

　　A planetary mnemonic is a phrase used to remember the planets (and sometimes dwarf planets) of the Solar System with the order of the words corresponding to the increasing sidereal periods of the bodies.

　　Nine planets

　　The traditional English-language mnemonic for many years was My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto). But, some people liked to use 「My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets」 or 「My Very Energetic Mother Jumps Skateboards Under Nana』s Patio」 (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto). Another mnemonic was My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto). However, MVEMJSUNP was made obsolete by the 2006 definition of planet, which reclassified Pluto (and Ceres and Eris) as dwarf planets.

　　Eight+ Planets

　　The International Astronomical Union suggested a revised mnemonic, My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos, for the eight planets recognized under the new definition.

　　Canada News, 8-24-2006

　　Pluto』s new status great way to teach kids about change in science, educators say

　　By JULIE SCOTT

　　TORONTO (CP) - So much for My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. The mnemonic that the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre uses to help kids learn the names of the planets no longer applies, now that Pluto has officially been kicked out of the club.

　　Trish Pattison, education co-ordinator at the Vancouver-based facility, says she and her colleagues have been trying to come up with a new mnemonic that eliminates the P.

　　「We might have to shorten that to Just Served Us Nachos or something,」 she said with a chuckle Thursday. 「That』s what we were talking about this morning.」

　　Radio Iowa

　　「My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us...Nachos」

　　by O. Kay Henderson

　　An Iowa State University professor is at the meeting where the world』s leading astronomers voted to demote the planet Pluto.

　　Iowa State University physics and astronomy professor Lee Anne Willson voted with the majority to change the definition of what a planet is. That makes Pluto a mere 「dwarf-planet.」 Willson』s at the International Astronomical Union in Prague and has emailed her faculty colleagues back in Ames, including Steve Kawaler. 「The basic shape of the solar system changed today,」 Kawaler says.

　　(...)

　　So, now that Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are the names of the planets in the Solar System, it means that sentence many of us memorized to remember the order of the planets is antiquated. 「It was My Very Educated Mother Just Served...Us Nine Pizzas,」 Kawaler says. Kawaler』s quick suggestion for a replacement word to end that sentence is 「Nachos.」

　　Newsday (NY)

　　Planet Pluto no more

　　BY BRYN NELSON

　　Newsday Staff Writer

　　August 25, 2006

　　Richard Binzel, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of the meeting』s planet definition committee, expressed relief that your fate has finally been decided.

　　And at least you fared better than Charon, which has been 「sent back to committee.」

　　Nevertheless, your absence will be keenly felt in the memorized mantras of students trying to keep their planets straight. Binzel proposed the slightly updated mnemonic device, 「My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos.」

　　Google Groups: sci.astro.amateur, sci.astro.planetarium

　　From: dennis jennings

　　Date: Sat, Jan 27 2001 8:51 am

　　you mean that 「My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzapies」 has to be redone to 「My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos and cheese」

　　15 October 1917, Warren (PA) Evening Mirror, 「Names of the Planets,」 pg. 8:

　　Mr. Ellison Hawkes in a little book about the stars tells how you can easily remember the names of the planets in the, proper order, beginning with the one that is nearest to the sun. He has made a sentence the words of which begin with the same letters as the names of the planets in this order. The sentence is: Men Very Easily Make Jugs Serve Useful Needs. The names of the planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

　　11 December 1929, Manitoba Free Press, 「Uncle Ray』s Corner,」 pg. 22:

　　Here is a way to remember the names of those planets in the order of their distance from the sun. Repeat this sentence: MEN VERY EARLY MADE JARS STAND UP NEATLY.

　　29 March 1933, Oakland (CA) Tribune, 「Strange as it Seems」 by John Hix, pg. 7:

　　It is as easy to remember the names of the planets in order of their distance from the sun, as to remember a name. VEM J. SUN represents Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune; Mercury being the nearest to the sun.

　　14 March 1934, Winnipeg Free Press, pg. 8:

　　Do you find it hard to remember the order of the planets in their distance from the sun?

　　If so, you may find it helpful to use a 「memory sentence.」 Here is such a sentence: 「Men Very Early Made Jars Serve Up New Potatoes.」

　　The initial letter in each word in that sentence is the first letter in the name of a planet. Thus we may write it this way: 「Men (Mercury), Very (Venus), Early (Earth), Made (Mars), Jars (Jupiter), Serve (Saturn), Up (Uranus), New (Neptune), Potatoes (Pluto).」

　　If you get the sentence clearly in mind, I think you will have little trouble in remembering the order of the planets, Mercury being closest to the sun and Pluto farthest away. There are two 「M』s」 but Men starts with 「ME,」 the same as Mercury; and Made with 「MA,」 the same as Mars.

　　A similar memory sentence, told to me by a friendly reader, was used in the old days before the planet Pluto was known. The sentence was, 「Mary』s Violet Eyes Made John Stay Up Nights. ["Plenty" was later added—ed.]

　　April 1942, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, vol. 36, 「Calendar Mnemonics and Mnemonic Calendars」 by C. E. White, pg. 133

　　In astronomy we have the name M. Vem J. Sun which assists in remembering the names of the planets and their order from the sun.

　　6 January 1961, Appleton (WI) Post-Crescent, pg. A12:

　　Mary Birgin of Kaukauna has her own means of remembering the planets, too. She does it this odd way.

　　Take the first letter of each word in this sentence, says Miss Birgin, and you』re okay:

　　Mark』s Very Extravagant Mother Just Sent Us Ninety Parakeets.

　　This should recall to you the planets in this order: Mars, Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

　　16 September 1966, Austin (MN) Daily Herald, pg. 4?

　　A SIXTH grade teacher in another city has an idea that some pupils and teachers may want to use. The major planets according to their distance from the sun are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. So to make it easy to remember this, all you have to do is remember the simple phrase: 「My very educated mother just served us nine pickles.」

　　Now the VOA Special English program WORD SAND THEIR STORIES.

　　現在是美國之音慢速英語辭彙掌故節目。

　　New York"s Nickname

　　紐約的別名

　　2012-02-05

　　A nickname is a shortened form of a person"s name.A nickname also can be a

　　descriptive name for a person, place or thing. Many American cities have nicknames.These can helpestablish an identity, spread pride among citizens and build unity.

　　別名是一個人名字的縮寫形式。也可以是一個人、地方或物品的描述性名稱。許多美國城市都有別名，這樣可以幫助創建一個城市的風格，在市民間傳播自豪感，建立團結。

　　A few years ago, some marketing and advertising experts were asked to name the best nickname for an American city.The winner was the nation"s largest city, New York.The top nickname was The Big Apple.

　　幾年前，一些市場和廣告專家受命於提名美國城市最佳別名。獲勝者是美國最大的城市紐約。最佳別名是The Big Apple（大蘋果）。

　　You might wonder how New York got this nickname. In the early nineteen seventies, the city had many problems. The number of visitors was falling. So a campaign was launched to give the city a new image.The head of the New York Conventions and Visitors Bureau decided to call the city, The Big Apple.

　　你可能會想紐約為何得到這麼別名。在20世紀70年代早期紐約存在諸多問題，遊客人數持續下降。所以紐約發起了一場展現城市新形象的運動。紐約會議與遊客管理局負責人決定把紐約稱之為大蘋果。

　　There are several explanations for where this name came from.Language expert Barry Popik studied the question and wrote about it on his website. He says John Fitz Gerald, a writer for a New York newspaper, used the name the Big Apple to

　　mean New York in the nineteen twenties.Mister Fitz Gerald wrote about horse races.He heard the name used by men who worked at a race track in New Orleans,Louisiana.

　　關於這個名字的來歷有幾種不同的解釋。語言專家 Barry Popik 對這個問題進行了研究，並在其網站上撰文談及這個名字的來歷。他表示，20世紀20年代，紐約一家報紙的記者約翰·菲茨·傑拉德（John Fitz Gerald）使用The Big Apple來指代紐約。傑拉德先生是賽馬專欄記者，他從路易斯安新奧爾良賽馬場工作人員那得知了這個名字。

　　Mister Fitz Gerald wrote: "The Big Apple. The dream of every lad that ever threw a leg over a thoroughbred and the goal of all horsemen.There"s only one Big Apple. That"s New York."

　　傑拉德寫道：「The Big Apple 是每個騎過純種賽馬的小伙的夢想，也是所有騎手的目標。這世上只有一個The Big Apple，那就是紐約。」

　　In horse racing, the expression meant "the big time," the place where large

　　amounts of money could be won.The Big Apple be came the name of a night club in the Harlem area of New York City in nineteen thirty-four.It also was the name of a popular dance and a hit song in the nineteen thirties.

　　在賽馬中，The Big Apple 的意思是 "the big time"，可以贏很多錢的地方。

　　1934年，The Big Apple 成為紐約哈萊姆區一家夜總會的名字，它還是 30 年代一個著名舞蹈和一首熱門歌曲的名字。

　　But it is not the only nickname for America"s largest city. Barry Popik"s website lists almost one hundred nicknames that describe New York. The best known are the Capital of the World. Empire City.Gotham. The City So Nice They Named it Twice. And the City That Never Sleeps. You can hear about the city in the song, "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra.

　　但是，這並不是美國這個最大的城市唯一的別名。Barry Popik的網站列舉了大約100個用來描述紐約的別名。其中最著名的是The Capital of the World(世界之都)，Empire City(帝國城)，Gotham(哥譚鎮)，The City So Nice They Named it Twice。還有The City That Never Sleeps(不夜城)。你可以在這首歌中了解紐約的情況，由Frank Sinatra演唱的"New York, New York"。

　　(MUSIC)

　　（音樂）

　　This program was written by Shelley Gollust. I"m Barbara Klein. You can find more WORDS AND THEIR STORIES at tingvoa.com.

　　本期節目由Shelley Gollust編輯。我是Barbara Klein。您可以登錄可可英語網站了解更多節目。

　　辭彙學習

　　1.wonder v. 想知道，想弄明白

　　I wondered what that noise was...

　　我納悶兒那是什麼聲音。

　　2.launch v. 開展（重大活動）；發起，發動（軍事襲擊等）

　　Heavy fighting has been going on after the guerrillas had launched their offensive...

　　游擊隊發起攻擊後，激烈的戰鬥一直持續不斷。

　　3.racetrack n. 跑道

　　4.hit n.成功而風行一時的事物

　　重點單詞

　　spread / v. 伸展，展開，傳播，散布，鋪開，塗撒 n. 伸展，傳

　　frank / adj. 坦白的，直率的，真誠的 vt. 免費郵寄，使自

　　popular / adj. 流行的，大眾的，通俗的，受歡迎的

　　identity / n. 身份，一致，特徵

　　priden. 自豪，驕傲，引以自豪的東西，自尊心 vt. 以 .

　　describe / vt. 描述，畫(尤指幾何圖形)，說成

　　offensive / adj. 令人不快的，侮辱的，攻擊用的 n. 進攻

　　descriptive / adj. 描述的，敘述的 [計算機] 描述性的

　　campaign / n. 運動，活動，戰役，競選運動 v. 從事運動，參加競

　　Barry Popik (born 1961) is an American etymologist who is recognized [by whom?] as an expert on the origins of the terms "Big Apple", "Windy City", and "hot dog".[citation needed] He is a consulting editor of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America and was described in The Wall Street Journal as "the restless genius of American etymology".

巴里·潑皮克(Barry Popik)（生於1961年）是美國的一個詞源學家誰是公認的 [是誰？] 作為「大蘋果」，「風城」　和「熱狗」的起源專家。[引文需要] 他是牛津食品與飲料百科全書的諮詢編輯，並在《華爾街雜誌》中描述為「美國詞源學不安分的天才」。