伦敦地铁站怪名字的由来

看看伦敦地铁站名字的起源无异于挖掘其各个地名的来历。一边乘着地铁一边逛，会有不少和语言相关的事实供你消磨时间。如下是语言学上最为有趣的一些站名。

Turnpike Lane登碧里站

Its a historical term for a toll gate， though it was originally a spiked barrier—thus a sense of pike meaning “a spiked staff or stick”.

“登碧里”是收费站的史称，尽管最初它指的是带刺的障碍物——因而pike有“带刺拐杖或棍子”之意。

Kings Cross St Pancras国王的十字圣潘克洛斯站

This tube station services Kings Cross and St Pancras National Rail stations. The former is now perhaps best known for being Harry Potters entrance to Hogwarts， but the king in question is King George IV （who reigned 1820-1830）， and the cross is a monument that was demolished in 1845. St Pancras was born around 289， and beheaded for his Christian faith when he was 14 years old.

这个地铁站监管国王的十字和圣潘克洛斯国家火车站。前者现在因作为哈利波特通往霍格沃茨的车站而广为人知，但引人热议的国王是指国王乔治四世（1820-1830年执政），而十字则指毁于1845年的一座纪念碑。圣潘克洛斯出生于289年左右，14岁时因其基督信仰而被斩首。

Hanger Lane汉格巷站

The lane is named after Hanger Hill. “Hanger” comes from the Old English “hangra”， meaning “a wood on a slope”.

这条巷子根据汉格山命名。“汉格”来自古英语“hangra”，意为“斜坡上的树林”。

Baker Street贝克街站

The most famous resident of Baker Street is， of course， Sherlock Holmes. You might think that it was named after a maker of cakes of pastries， but its namesake is actually William Baker， a builder who laid out the street in the second half of the 18th century.

贝克街最著名的居民自然是夏洛克·福尔摩斯。或许你觉得这名字是以蛋糕点心师傅的名字起名的，但事实上与它同名的是建筑师威廉·贝克，18世纪下半叶，贝克对这条街做了布局规划。

Bank班克站

Bank is named after the Bank of England. Incidentally， it was voted the most disliked tube station in 2013.

班克（英语中“银行”的音译为“班克”）取自英格兰银行。顺便一提，2013年班克站被投票选为最令人讨厌的地铁站。

Canary Wharf金丝雀码头站

Canary Wharf takes its name from a warehouse， built for the Mediterranean and Canary Islands fruit trade.

金丝雀码头的名字取自一间仓库，仓库是为地中海和金丝雀岛屿水果贸易而建。

Hainault海诺特站

This unusual name comes from the Old English “Hyneholt” or “Henehout” and means “wood belonging to a religious community”.

这个非同寻常的名字来自古英语的“Hyneholt”或者“Henehout”，意为“宗教社区的树木”。

Angel天使站

Its named after a former coaching inn on the Great North Road called the Angel， dating from the 17th century.

这个站名以过去一家在大北方路上名为“天使”的驿站而命名，可以追溯到17世纪。

Swiss Cottage瑞士小屋站

This area owes its unusual name to a local inn. The Swiss Tavern， built in 1803-1804， was in the style of a Swiss chalet—later renamed to the humbler Swiss Cottage.

这片地区名字独特是因为当地的一家小旅馆。“瑞士酒店”，建于1803至1804年间，是瑞士小木屋风格——后来重新命名为更低调的“瑞士小屋”。

Oxford Circus牛津环站

The oldest sense of circus is “a large building， surrounded with rising tiers of seats， for the exhibition of public spectacles” but in this instance， it is simply a “circular open space at a street junction”.

circus最古老的意思是“一幢大楼，由层层座椅围绕着，可以作展览和公开表演之用”，但在这里，它就是“十字路口圆形空地”的意思。