The origins of ‘fool’

Wednesday is April 1, when people in many countries worldwide celebrate the custom ( ) of “April Fool’s Day.” On this day, they play pranks ( ) on each other, the pranksters gleefully ( ) calling those hapless ( ) enough to fall for ( ) the joke an “April Fool.”

Nobody really knows for certain ( ) when, where or why the custom started. We have more certainty over the origins of the word “fool” itself, although some details remain unclear.

The word, which refers to ( ) a silly, stupid, or ignorant ( ) person, is thought to originate ( ) in the early 13th century, deriving ( ) from Old French fol, meaning a madman or insane person. The French word, in turn, comes from the Latin follis, meaning a leather bag or a bellows ( ) and, by extension later on, an empty-headed ( ) person.

Fool also referred to a rogue ( ) or a sinful ( ), wicked ( ) or lecherous ( ) person — around 1300, a “fool woman” meant a prostitute ( ), for example — and also a court ( ) jester ( ), a person whose purpose was to entertain ( ) the king and court, whether because they were pretending to be buffoonish ( ) or whether they actually were like that.

One theory is that the idea of the court jester “fool” derives from folles — the plural form of follis (bellows) — referring to the puffed cheeks of a buffoon.

It is unclear which sense came first, that of the idiot or the jester.

「愚人」的起源

下週三是四月一日，許多國家的人在這天都有過「愚人節」的慣例，互相捉弄，惡作劇的人樂不可支地把那些不幸被騙倒的人稱作「April Fool」（四月的愚人）。

沒有人能確知愚人節這習俗到底是在何時、何地或為何開始的，但我們對「fool」（傻瓜）一字的由來比較能夠掌握多，儘管有些細節仍不甚明瞭。

「fool」這個字，現今指的是傻氣、愚笨或無知的人，通常被認為是源自十三世紀初期的古法語字「fol」，意指瘋子或精神失常的人。而這個字又是源於拉丁文「follis」，意為皮製的袋子或風箱，後來引伸為腦袋空空的人。

「fool」亦指惡棍或有罪、惡毒或淫蕩的人──例如在西元一三○○年左右，「fool woman」指的是妓女，亦指弄臣，也就是在宮廷中負責娛樂國王和朝臣的人，無論這些弄臣是故意裝瘋賣傻，還是本來就如小丑般滑稽。

有一說則是認為，「fool」字的「弄臣」之意，是源於「folles」──即「follis」（風箱的拉丁文複數形）──指的是小丑鼓脹的臉頰。
「fool」一字是先有「傻子」之意，還是先有「弄臣」之意，我們並不清楚。

#高雄人 #學習英文 請找 #多益達人林立英文
#高中英文 #成人英文
#多益家教班 #商用英文
#國立大學外國語文學系講師

《支持創新創業─國發會新創企業主題館在COMPUTEX亮相》

照過來！照過來！每年的台北國際電腦展（COMPUTEX TAIPEI）是全球資訊業界關心的焦點，吸引許多國外買家與國際媒體參與。為了讓國內新創團隊有機會藉著這難得的國際性舞台與世界接軌，國發會於世貿三館以「預見未來 Meet the Future」為主題設置新創企業主題館，讓團隊們展示創新技術與趨勢產品，展露鋒芒。

國發會主委杜紫軍今天也到了展覽現場，他說，立法院經濟委員會趕在昨日將「公司法修正草案」初審通過，展現少見的立法效率，代表社會有共識，為新創事業提供更好的發展空間。他指出，修法讓閉鎖性公司可發行無面額股票、允許發行複數表決權特別股，讓新創事業多一種選擇，也可吸引外資投入。

本次參展團隊除以ICT產業、軟硬體整合及物聯網應用為主外，足以影響未來生活的產品或服務亦是重要徵選考量。杜主委一一走訪各團隊，仔細了解其idea與商品特色，他表示，此次參展的9個新創事業團隊表現都很棒，他非常為台灣這代年輕人感到驕傲，也對台灣未來充滿希望。

#國發會 ＃杜紫軍 ＃COMPUTEX ＃創新創業

德國與台灣情人間金錢觀念-恬恬與Fabian曾因付錢問題鬧笑話

第一次跟Fabian的旅行是去法國巴黎,當時他負責訂房間及付款,整趟旅程超級浪漫我們也越加甜蜜,結果一回到家這男人就把整趟旅程的費用明細寄給我,因為兩人要對分這筆金額！我聽到整個瞬間冷到,還覺得這男的也太計較了吧 :P

台灣:不知怎地我從國中時,很多男生就覺得應該要幫女友們付所有出遊的費用(錢跟爸媽拿的),我雖然一直都會說我自己付,但也養成了男生會主動幫我付費的習慣,所以第一次聽到Fabian這樣時我有點錯愕哈哈哈哈

西方或德國:普遍男女比較講求平等,兩方都有工作與經濟獨立多半會各自分攤費用,所以不會有誰付多誰付少的問題,也不會想對方不幫忙付就是小氣或計較的概念

經過那次旅行後,我跟Fabian溝通好,交通與住宿基本上都兩人平分,而平常吃喝玩樂的費用可能這次他出,下次我出這樣～所以我們從沒有因為金錢而吵架喔 :D

*以上案例非代表全體喔～
照片來自斯洛伐克,更多美景照可以去部落格看噢！
http://tina791115.pixnet.net/blog/post/109726658
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Deutsch lernen:
Die Männer müssen nicht in Deutschland für die Frauen bezahlen.
=在德國男生沒有必要幫女生付錢

1.der Mann=男生 複數die Männer
2.die Frau=女生 複數die Frauen
3.müssen=必須 müssen nicht=don't have to
4.für + Akkusativ
5.bezahlen=付錢
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Recently in German class we were discussing about how man and woman meet and how do they pay for their meals(pay separately or one person pays it all).

The first trip of Fabian and I was in Paris. He booked the accommodations and paid it already. During the trip it's really romantic and I felt we were closer. Once we got home, Fabian sent me an email stating how much was the cost of the accommodation and asked me to pay the half of it. I was a little shocked and felt that he was not too nice :P

Taiwan: When I was young, lots of guys thought they should pay for girls so they paid almost everything for girls (even if they got the money from their parents). Of course I always said I would pay for myself. But still, I somehow got used to the idea that guys might pay more for girls or sometimes all pay for girls.

Germany or other western countries: Couples normally pay separately. Especially when both have jobs and are financially independent. They won't fight about money too often or think who pay more or pay less.

After the trip to Paris, we discussed about it and now we never have any problems relating to paying :)