Indian giver的词源

英文词源

Indian

"inhabit of India or South Asia," c. 1300 (noun and adjective); applied to the native inhabitants of the Americas from at least 1553, on the mistaken notion that America was the eastern end of Asia. Red Indian, to distinguish them from inhabitants of India, is first attested 1831 (Carlyle) but was not commonly used in North America. More than 500 modern phrases include Indian, most of them U.S. and most impugning honesty or intelligence, such as Indian giver, first attested 1765 in Indian gift:

An Indian gift is a proverbial expression, signifying a present for which an equivalent return is expected. [Thomas Hutchinson, "History of Massachusetts Bay," 1765]

Meaning "one who gives a gift and then asks for it back" first attested 1892.

中文词源

Indian giver：送礼给人后又索回的人；给人送礼并指望对方还礼的人

源自美国西北部印第安Kwakiuti部落的一种习俗。每逢送礼节部落里都要举行盛大仪式，人们互相交换礼品，并希望自己受到的比赠送对方的更加贵重，或至少能收到等值的礼物，否则按传统礼节可以名正言顺地向对方索回自己送出的礼物。Indian giver 在美国英语口语中喻指“送礼给人日后又索回的人”或“给人送礼并指望对方还礼的人”，相关短语Indian gift表示“送出去又被索回的礼物”或“指望别人还礼的礼物”，Indian giving表示“送礼而有指望还礼的习俗”或“送礼而又索回的做法”。

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：Indian giver 词源，Indian giver 含义。