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At lunch time, and sometimes at other times in the day, people in the UK often eat a ‘sandwich’. This consists of two pieces of bread and a filling. The bread is usually buttered, or spread with mayonnaise, and the filling is usually meat or cheese, often served with lettuce.
英国人通常会在午餐时间吃三明治,当然也有在别的时间吃的。三明治由两片面包中间夹着馅料,一般面包上会涂上黄油,或者蛋黄酱,而中间的馅料通常是肉或者奶酪,再放些生菜。

However, there are literally hundreds of different types of sandwiches, and each variation has its own flavour. Some of the most popular and famous sandwiches in the UK are: BLT (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato, usually served with mayonnaise), Ploughman’s (originating from a tradition amongst farm-workers, and containing Cheddar cheese, pickle and salad), Tuna, and Egg sandwiches.
三明治的种类有几百种,而每一种都有其独特的风味。在英国,吃得最多、最著名的几种三明治包括:BLT(也就是培根、生菜加西红柿,一般还要加上蛋黄酱)、庄稼汉(源自农场工人传统的做法,配料有切达奶酪、泡菜和沙拉酱),还有金枪鱼和鸡蛋三明治。

Sandwiches of all varieties are extremely popular, and quick and easy to eat. In fact, British people eat 2.8 billion each year – not bad for a population of only 60 million people! Today everyone eats sandwiches, but it was not always like that. Amazingly, the humble sandwich that we know today started life as a snack for England’s super-rich! The sandwich has a very interesting, and humorous, history!
因为三明治吃起来方便快捷,因此不管是什么种类的三明治都很受欢迎。英国人每年要吃掉28亿个三明治,对于人口仅6千万的国家来说这可不是盖的哦!今天的英国人都在吃三明治,但其实以前可不是这样的。不可思议的是,如今那么不起眼的三明治,原来只是英国富豪们的小点心,三明治还有一段有趣而又幽默的历史呢。

In 1762 the first written record of the word ‘sandwich’ appeared in the diary of the English author Edward Gibbons, who remembered seeing the wealthiest elite in the country eating ‘a bit of cold meat’ between pieces of bread. Gibbons did not think this was very appropriate behaviour for such men!
1762年,sandwich这个单词第一次出现在英国作家爱德华·吉本斯的日记上,他当时回忆到看见全国首富在吃一种夹在面包片中的一小片冷肉,吉本斯觉得这样的吃法很不好。

The snack was named after the Fourth Earl of Sandwich (an Earl was a wealthy aristocrat, who generally owned a lot of land and had political power). Sandwich was a frequent gambler, and was so addicted to gambling that he would often refuse to stop even to eat meals! To avoid having to stop gambling, the Earl of Sandwich asked the cooks at his gambling club to prepare him a meal consisting of beef between two slices of bread, so that he always had one hand free to play cards and gamble, and his hands wouldn’t become dirty from the meat.
这种小吃以桑威奇伯爵四世的名字命名(伯爵是富有的贵族,拥有大片土地同时拥有一定政治权利)。桑威奇惯赌,痴迷赌博甚至到了饭也不想吃的地步,为了不中断赌博,桑威奇伯爵就让赌博俱乐部的厨子为他准备两片面包中间加些牛肉来吃,这样他就可以空出一只手来玩牌,再也不用为了吃肉弄脏两只手了。

When other men saw what he was eating, they began to order ‘the same as Sandwich!’, and so the sandwich was born – beginning as a snack for some of the wealthiest men in England! It quickly became popular and widespread as a quick and easy food to eat.
其他人看到他这么吃法,也都开始点菜“来份跟桑威奇一样的!“于是三明治就这么诞生了,一开始它只是英国有钱人家的小吃而已,后来迅速流行起来成为各处都可吃到的便捷食品。

声明:双语文章中,中文翻译仅代表译者个人观点,仅供参考。如有不妥之处,欢迎指正。

Tricky Words

filling (n.) - the layer of food (e.g. cream, fruit) inside a sandwich or cake

mayonnaise (n.) - a thick creamy white sauce made from egg yolks, oil and vinegar, usually eaten with salads and cold food

cheddar (n.) -  a type of hard yellow to off-white British cheese

pickle (n.) - (British) a thick sauce made from vegetables or fruit which have been preserved in vinegar or salty water

elite (n.) - a small group of people who are the richest, the best educated or the most powerful and influential in a society

earl (n.) - a man with a very high social rank in the UK, bearing the title between a marquis and a viscount

addicted (adj.) - enjoy doing a particular activity so much that one is willing to spend as much time as possible on doing it

widespread (adj.) - happening or existing in many places, or among many people