每日英語 #091: Happy and Merry

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"Happy" and "Merry"

In the U.S., it is common to hear someone wish a friend “Happy Birthday” or “Merry Christmas.” What do “happy” and “merry” mean?

在美國，人們通常會祝賀朋友“生日快樂”或“聖誕快樂”。那麼，“快樂”和“愉快”是什麼意思呢？

Both “merry” and “happy” are used in expressions to wish other people a good holiday or celebration. When we use it in this “context” (situation), both “merry” and “happy” mean the same thing. However, these two words actually have slightly different meanings.

“愉快”和“快樂”都用於祝願他人節日或慶祝活動愉快。在這種“語境”下（情境），“愉快”和“快樂”都意味著相同的意思。然而，這兩個詞實際上有略微不同的含義。

“Happy” means feeling or showing pleasure and “contentment” (being satisfied with one’s life or one’s situation). If you get a “promotion” (better, higher-level job) at work, you may feel happy. If you wake up to a beautiful day with good weather, you may feel happy.

“快樂”是指感覺到或表現出愉悅和“滿足”（對自己的生活或狀況感到滿意）。如果你在工作中獲得“晉升”（更好、更高級的工作），你可能會感到快樂。如果你醒來發現是一個美麗的晴天，你可能會感到快樂。

“Merry” means cheerful and “lively” (active; full of energy). While happy is used all the time these days, merry is considered an old-fashioned word that is most often found in older “literature” (books and other writings). If you read Charles Dickens or Louisa May Alcott, for example, you may come across sentences like these:

“愉快”意味著快樂和“活潑”（積極的；充滿活力的）。雖然如今經常使用“快樂”，但“愉快”被認為是一個過時的詞語，最常見於較早期的“文學”（書籍和其他著作）中。例如，如果你讀查爾斯·狄更斯或路易莎·梅·奧爾科特，你可能會遇到這樣的句子：

• “The streets were full of merry people celebrating the new year.”
  “街上到處都是慶祝新年的人們，充滿了愉快的氣氛。”
• “Everyone at the party had a merry time.”
  “聚會上的每個人都度過了一段愉快的時光。”

These days, the only time you’ll see or hear “merry” is in the phrase “Merry Christmas.” For most other holidays and celebrations, we use “happy,” such as in: “Happy New Year,” “Happy Halloween,” and “Happy Thanksgiving.”

如今，你會看到或聽到“愉快”的唯一時刻是在“聖誕快樂”這個短語中。對於大多數其他節日和慶祝活動，我們使用“快樂”，例如：“新年快樂”、“萬聖節快樂”和“感恩節快樂”。

重點單字

• Happy 快樂的 /ˈhæpi/
• Merry 愉快的 /ˈmɛri/
• Context 語境 /ˈkɒn.tɛkst/
• Contentment 滿足 /kənˈtɛnt.mənt/
• Promotion 晉升 /prəˈmoʊ.ʃən/
• Lively 活潑的 /ˈlaɪv.li/
• Literature 文學 /ˈlɪt.rə.tʃər/