Do You Have a 'Doppelgänger'?

Do You Have a 'Doppelgänger'?

　　And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.

　　English borrows from many other languages. And today we talk about a word that comes from German – doppelganger.

　　The word "doppelganger" comes from German folklore¹. The online dictionary Merriam-Webster describes the old story. All living creatures have a spirit who is invisible but exactly the same as the living person. But just because you can't see them, doppelgangers are not ghosts. They are sometimes described as "the spiritual opposite or negative of their human counterpart."

　　Even though the word comes from spiritual folklore, we use it in a very real way. When two people look very similar, we can call them doppelgangers.

　　English has other expressions that have a similar meaning. If someone looks like someone else, you can call them a look-alike, spitting image or mirror image.

　　Let's hear two friends use some of these expressions.

　　A: Were you at the airport yesterday?

　　B: No. I haven't been to the airport in over a year.

　　A: Are you sure about that?

　　B: I think I would know if I were at the airport. Why do you ask?

　　A: Well, if you weren't there, then I ran into your doppelganger. She was a mirror image of you!

　　B: Wow, I've heard about doppelgangers. But I didn't think I really had a look-alike out there in the world.

　　A: Well, you do. And they are on their way to Costa Rica.

　　B: I wish I could trade places with my doppelganger!

　　If you know someone who looks exactly like another person, you can also call them a dead ringer.

　　Experts say this expression comes from American horse racing², and usage began in the late 19th century.

　　Sometimes, racehorse owners would race a horse under a false name and pedigree. They did this to trick people who bet money on race results. These horses were called "ringers."

　　Here is how to use this expression in a sentence: My best friend in college is a dead ringer for George Clooney. When we're out in public, he gets asked for his autograph all the time.

　　In the expression "dead ringer," the word "dead" does not mean lifeless. In this case, it means exact or precise. It is a way to add emphasis, or highlight something. For example, if I am sure that my friend is right about something, I can say she is dead right. We can also say someone is "dead wrong" if they are most certainly wrong.

　　The next time you want to describe two people who look the same, you can choose any of these expressions.

　　And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. Until next time ...

　　Words in This Story

　　folklore – n. customs, beliefs, stories, and sayings of a people handed down from generation to generation

　　spirit – n. a force within a human being thought to give the body life, energy, and power

　　invisible – adj. incapable³ by nature of being seen: not perceptible by vision

　　ghost – n. the soul of a dead person believed to be an inhabitant of the unseen world or to appear to the living in bodily likeness⁴

　　negative – adj. extending or measured in a direction opposite to one chosen as positive

　　counterpart – n. one remarkably⁵ similar to another: a thing that fits another perfectly⁶

　　pedigree – n. lineage or line of ancestors of a person or animal: purity of breed recorded by an ancestral line

　　precise – adj. exactly or sharply defined or stated

　　emphasis – n. the act or fact of giving stress to a word or syllable when speaking: special attention or importance given to something

1 folklore   

n.民间信仰，民间传说，民俗

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• In Chinese folklore the bat is an emblem of good fortune.在中国的民间传说中蝙蝠是好运的象征。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

4 likeness   

n.相像，相似（之处）

参考例句：

• I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
• She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。

5 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。