【英语学习】【WOTD】coin of the realm 释义/词源/示例

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coin of the realm podcast

coin of the realm noun phrase [KOYN-uv-thuh-RELM]

Definition

1: the legal money of a country
1: 一个国家的法定货币

2: something valued or used as if it were money in a particular sphere
2：被珍重或者使用的物品，在某个特定领域中就好像货币一样

Did You Know?

Coin of the realm gained currency in the English language during the 18th century as a term for the legal money of a country. Coin is ultimately from Latin cuneus, meaning “wedge,” and entered English, via Anglo-French, in the 14th century with the meaning “cornerstone” or “quoin.” By the latter part of that century, the word was being exchanged as a name for a device or impress stamped on flat pieces of metal used as money and, by extension, for the money itself. Realm entered English in the 13th century with the meaning “kingdom.” Its spelling is an alteration of Old French reiame, which is based on the Latin word for “rule” or “government,” regimen. In time, realm was generalized as the name for any sphere or domain, and coin of the realm came to signify something having value or influence in a particular sphere.

词源词根演化：
cuneus (Latin “wedge”) —> (“cornerstone” or “quoin”) —> coin (n.)
regimen (Latin “rule” or “government”) —> reiame —> realm (n.)

英语中的名词短语coin of the realm在18世纪获得了表示“一个国家的法定货币”的含义。coin最终来自于拉丁cuneus，意思是“wedge 楔子”，在14世纪通过盎格鲁-诺曼语（Anglo-French）进入英语，意思“cornerstone 奠基石”或者“quoin 拱顶石”。同世纪后期，这个词用于指代一种设备或者压刻在金属片上的铭刻(impress)，这样的金属片可以当货币使用，随后通过词义扩大，coin也用来指代货币。 realm在13世纪进入英语，意思是“kingdom 王国”，写法是古法语reiame的变体，基于拉丁单词regimen（“rule 统治”或“government 政府”）。不久，realm的词义就扩大成了指代任何的圈子或者领域。组合在一起，coin of the realm也开始表示“在某一特定领域具有价值或者影响力的事物”

Examples

• “The coin of the realm changes from one country to the next, so travelers may turn to digital transactions through services like PayPal.”
  当旅行者从一个国家到另一个国家时，货币系统也可能会发生改变，所以需要通过使用类似PayPal提供的数字交易服务。

• “The ‘game’ is to see who ultimately will rule from the Iron Throne. This addictive game often plays out like a suspenseful succession of high-stakes chess moves… . There are kings and queens, knights and pawns maneuvering for position, forming strategic alliances on these fictional continents where danger, duplicity, deception and deceit are the coin of the realm.”
  《权利的游戏》会看谁最终能统治Iron Throne。这种令人上瘾的游戏玩起来常常很像国际象棋中令人匪夷所思的一系列高阶走棋动作…。在这块虚拟的土地上，有国王，王后，骑士以及士兵爪牙，他们在各自的位置上运作，形成战略联盟，在这里鸡鸣狗盗，阳奉阴违，尔虞我诈，才是通行的货币。

  注：addictive game：令人上瘾的游戏；duplicity：欺骗；deceit：欺骗，诡计