今天是母親節。大家都知道母親節是向母親表達愛意的日子，但你知道母親節的起源嗎？關於母親節你了解多少呢？
1. THE DAY WAS FIRST SUGGESTED BY A FAMOUS POET.
母親節最初是一位著名詩人提議的。
The woman who first proposed Mother's Day in 1870 was the same woman who wrote the lyrics to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." After the Civil War, writer Julia Ward Howe suggested a Mother's Day to recognize peace and protest war. She organized annual events in Boston to honor mothers, but despite her work, nothing official came of her efforts.
1870年最先提議設立母親節的女性就是為《共和國戰歌》寫詞的人。在美國內戰結束後，作家朱莉婭·沃德·豪伊建議設立母親節來讚頌和平、抗議戰爭。她在波斯頓組織了幾場向母親致敬的年度活動，但儘管她付出了努力，這些活動都沒有被官方保留下來。
2. THE FOUNDER FOUGHT BACK.
母親節的創立者反過來要廢除這一節日。
Although Julia Ward Howe first suggested a day for mothers, Anna Jarvis (who had no children of her own) campaigned for a national day of observance for moms, in remembrance of her own mother, Ann Jarvis, who had spent years working to provide resources for poor mothers in West Virginia. Mother's Day became a designated holiday in 1914, but within a few years, Jarvis became disgusted with how commercial the day had become and started a petition to rescind the holiday. (That clearly didn't come to pass.)
儘管朱莉婭·沃德·豪伊最先提議設立母親節，但安娜·賈維斯是倡議將母親節作為一個全國性節日來慶祝的人。安娜·賈維斯本人沒有小孩，她的初衷是為了紀念她自己的母親，她的母親安·賈維斯花了很多年時間為西維吉尼亞州的貧困母親爭取資源。1914年，母親節成為了國家指定的節日，但幾年後，賈維斯開始厭惡這個節日變得商業化，於是她發起了一個廢除母親節的請願活動。（顯然請願沒有被通過。）
3. IT'S AN ACTIVE DAY ON THE PHONE LINES.
母親節這天通話數量大增。
Call volume in the US goes up 11 percent on Mother’s Day, and one study suggests that the more widespread use of cell phones has greatly increased the amount of contact adult children have with their mothers. So don't look like a slacker: Your mom definitely expects to hear from you, and not just with a text.
母親節這天美國的電話呼叫數量上升11%，一項研究顯示，手機的廣泛使用大大增加了成年子女和母親們的聯繫次數。所以不要偷懶：你媽媽肯定期待著接到你的電話，而不只是一條簡訊。
slacker[ˈslækər]: 偷懶的人
4. IT'S THE BUSIEST DAY OF THE YEAR IN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY.
母親節是餐飲業最繁忙的一天。
If you're thinking about taking your mom out to eat, you might want to consider which time of the day will have enough open tables. Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for restaurants, with some 80 million adults dining out (which tops even Valentine's Day). Nearly half of those people will be out for dinner, as opposed to lunch or brunch, so if you'd like to treat your mom to her favorite cuisine, perhaps go earlier in the day.
如果你想帶母親去下館子，你可能要考慮預約哪個時間才能訂到座位。母親節是餐廳一年中最繁忙的日子，約有8000萬成年人在外就餐（甚至超過了情人節）。其中近半數的人會出去吃晚餐，而不是午餐或早午餐，所以如果你想請媽媽去她最愛的餐廳，可能要早點去吃。
5. THE JEWELRY AND SPA SERVICES INDUSTRIES GET BOOSTS TOO.
母親節也會帶旺珠寶銷量及水療服務。
You know you need to get your mom a gift, but what to buy? According to the National Retail Federation, over $5 billion will be spent on jewelry (accounting for 35 percent of shoppers). Another 38 percent of consumers will purchase clothing, 15 percent get electronics, and 24 percent will spend $2 billion on personal services (like spa treatments) for their mothers. But if you want to let mom pick out her own gift, you aren't alone—45 percent of surveyed consumers said they planned to go the gift card route.
你知道母親節要給媽媽送禮物，但是買什麼好呢？根據美國零售聯合會的數據，人們會花費50億美元（約合人民幣354億元）用於購買珠寶，買珠寶送母親的人佔了35%。38%的消費者會為母親購買衣服，15%的人購買電子產品，24%的人會花費20億美元讓母親享受私人服務（比如水療）。但如果你想讓母親自己挑禮物，這麼做的不光只有你一個人——45%的受訪消費者都表示他們計劃送禮品卡。
6. THE FLOWER INDUSTRY IS THE BIG WINNER.
鮮花產業是母親節的大贏家。
Carnations quickly became the symbol of Mother’s Day (supposedly representing the tears of Mary when Jesus was crucified) when it began in 1914, and soon the floral industry promoted the idea of wearing a red carnation to honor a person's living mom or a white carnation to honor a mother who had passed. Although this tradition has faded, 76 percent of moms still hope to get flowers from their kids or loved ones on this special day. Their odds are good—Mother's Day is the number one day for floral sales, and the NRF's survey revealed that a whopping 67 percent of people were planning to buy flowers.
1914年設立母親節後，康乃馨很快就成為母親節的象徵，據說康乃馨代表著耶穌被釘上十字架時聖母瑪麗流下的淚水。不久鮮花產業就開始推廣一個做法：佩戴紅色康乃馨來紀念在世的母親，佩戴白色康乃馨來紀念過世的母親。儘管這一傳統已經消逝，76%的母親仍希望在這個特別的日子從孩子或愛人那裡收到鮮花。這個希望落空的可能性不大——因為母親節是鮮花銷量最高的一天，美國零售聯合會的調查揭示，多達67%的人計劃購買鮮花送給母親。
7. MOMS AROUND THE WORLD ARE RECOGNIZED WITH DAYS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
世界各國都有自己的母親節。
Many countries have a Mother’s Day, though they don't always fall on the second Sunday in May like it does in the US, Australia, China, Japan, and India. Flowers and gifts are a worldwide tradition for the day, but in Thailand parades are held and jasmine is commonly given as a gift. In Serbia, moms are tied up with rope or ribbon until they give sweets and gifts to their children.
許多國家都有母親節，不過不一定和美國、澳大利亞、中國、日本、印度一樣是五月的第二個星期日。在母親節送鮮花和禮物是全球的傳統，但是泰國人會舉行遊行，而且他們普遍送母親茉莉花作為禮物。在塞爾維亞，母親們會被用繩子或緞帶捆住，直到她們給孩子發放糖果和禮物。
8. MANY PEOPLE HONOR MULTIPLE MOTHERS IN THEIR LIFE.
許多人都會在這一天給多位母親慶祝節日。
You’re probably planning on sending your own mom a card, but are you going to send cards to other mothers as well? The average consumer buys 2.8 Mother’s Day cards, so most people are buying for more than just their own mom (like, say, for their grandmothers, wives, mothers-in-law, sisters, or friends). In fact, 57 percent of mothers says they』ve received Mother’s Day gifts from non-family members.
你很可能計劃給自己的母親送一張賀卡，但你是否也會送賀卡給其他母親呢？在這一天，消費者平均每人購買2.8張母親節賀卡，所以多數人除了給親生母親買賀卡外，還會給其他母親買賀卡（比如他們的奶奶、外婆、妻子、婆婆、嶽母、姐妹或朋友）。事實上，57%的母親表示，她們收到過非家庭成員送的母親節禮物。
9. STATISTICS SHOW DADS NEED TO STEP IT UP.
數據顯示，爸爸們需要做得更好。
While everyone knows you need to get something for your mother, 47 percent of moms think that dads should buy the mother of their kids a gift. Don’t hold your breath though, moms: Only 6 percent of dads agree!
儘管每個人都知道，你需要給自己的母親買禮物，但有47%的母親認為，爸爸也應該給孩子母親買禮物。不過媽媽們別太期待了：只有6%的爸爸同意這一觀點。
10. MOMS STILL COME OUT AHEAD FOR MOTHER'S DAY.
媽媽們贏了：母親節的消費額完勝父親節。
Even if fathers might not be the ones driving floral sales on Mother's Day, if there were a monetary competition between the parental appreciation days, mothers would win outright. On average, people spend $133 on Father’s Day compared to $196 on Mother’s Day.
即使爸爸們可能不是讓母親節鮮花銷量大漲的人，但如果父親節和母親節有一場消費競賽，母親們會完勝。人們在父親節平均花費133美元，而在母親節平均花費196美元。
英文來源：Mental Floss
翻譯&編輯：丹妮
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