Every Chinese five year old knows the word “bukeqi” and knows that it means “you’re welcome”.
每一個五歲的中國孩子都知道這個詞“bukeqi不客氣”，也知道這個詞用英語說就是“you’re welcome”
The five year old or any illiterate Chinese does not know the meaning of “bu or ke or qi.
It is perceived as one word.
但是，每一個五歲的孩子或是不識字的人可能都不知道“不”、“客”、“氣”這三個字分別代表什么意思，他們會認為這就是一個詞。
Every 10 year old Chinese knows how to write the characters 不客氣 “bu ke qi” and knows that the characters mean “no guest air”.
每一個10歲的中國孩子都知道怎樣去寫“bu or ke or qi（不客氣）”這三個漢字并且也知道這個詞的意思就是“no（不） guest （客）air（氣）”
Few Chinese have thought about why they use the three characters “no guest air”
幾乎沒有中國人思考過他們為什么用這三個字“no（不） guest（客） air（氣）”
This is because most Chinese spend their lives “blindly”! memorizing thousands of characters and character combinations and never, ever asking why.
我想那是因為大多數中國人一輩子都只是在盲目地記幾千個字和詞而且從來不曾問過為什么。
I figure all characters and character combinations must be logical and have been searching for the logic for many years.
我發(fā)現其實所有的字和詞都一定是有邏輯的，并且這么多年以來我一直在尋找其中蘊含的邏輯。
After thinking about the characters for a while,I came to the conclusion that it must mean “不要用客人的口氣”
(no, want, use, guest, person, s, mouth, wind) or (don’t talk like a guest) or as the English would say (make yourself at home) or (you are welcome).
在思考了這個詞一會之后。我忽然想到一個結論，這個詞的意思是說“不要用客人的口氣”
（no（不）, want（要）, use（用）, guest（客）, person,‘s（人的）mouth（口）, wind（氣）
或者說(don’t talk like a guest) 或是就像英語當中常說的(make yourself at home) 或 (you are welcome).
I tell all my Chinese friends of my discovery and they all say: “I never thought of that”.
我把我的發(fā)現告訴我所有的中國朋友，他們都說：“哦，我從來沒有想過原來可以這樣理解”
It is like in English, we say “Don’t jump the gun” but most people probably never stop to think what it means.
就像在英語中，我們常說“Don’t jump the gun” 但是大部分的人都未停下來思考一下這是什么意思。
It means like when we are in a race, we do not want to start before the gun is fired.
它其實在表達在比賽當中，每個選手不應當在鳴槍前搶跑。
Other examples are “hold your horses” or like “keep your britches on” or “keep your shirt on”. We can figure these out without actually knowing the etymology.
還有些類似的表達如“hold your horses” 或者 “keep your britches on” 或者 “keep your shirt on” 我們并不一定要知道它們的詞源也可以知道它們的意思。
But we have to think about it.
但是我們還是要思考一下。
“Keep your shirt on”. When two men would fight, they would take off their shirts so their cloths would not get torn.
“Keep your shirt on” 其實說的是當兩個男人準備打架時，他們會脫掉他們的襯衫，這樣他們的衣服不會被撕破。
“Hold your horses”. In the old days, you needed to hold your horses so the horses would not run away with your buggy.
“Hold your horses” 在古時候，你需要把你的馬拴起來，這樣的話，你的馬才不會牽著馬車一起跑掉。
Some examples:
一些例子：
比如：
The light is still red. Don’t jump the gun.
現在還是紅燈呢，先別急著走。
Hold your horses, the scooter is not charged yet.
別急著用，車還沒充好電。
Keep your shirt on, we’re not there yet
別著急，我們還沒到呢。
Keep your pants on, you have not won the lottery yet.
先別那么激動，你又不是中了大彩票。
“Knock on wood” is one that you cannot figure out unless you actually know the history.
“Knock on wood” 這個表達，除非你真的了解它的歷史，不然你是永遠猜不出它的意思的。
It seems to date to pagan times when a person would knock on a spirit tree to let the tree spirit know that he has been thanked for good luck.
這個可能要追溯到異教徒時期，一個人會敲打精靈樹來讓樹里的精靈知道他在為精靈樹所賜的好運表示感謝。
For example :
比如說，
My business is going well ,knock on wood
感謝上帝，最近的生意不錯。
We do not have many spirit trees any more. Except in China where we have the “Chinese banana tree ghost” 芭蕉鬼
現在我們再也沒有精靈樹了。不過在中國的一些地方倒是有一些芭蕉樹鬼。
The banana ghost is a kind of female tree spirit that has the ability to help Chinese gamblers to win lotteries and mahjong games.
芭蕉樹鬼是一種藏在芭蕉樹里的女鬼，她們具有特別的能力可以幫助一些投機商人做投機取巧的事或是幫助他們贏牌。
but she does not like to help gamblers. She usually has to be coerced. Superstitious gamblers will stick pins in a banana tree and tie strings around her until she uses her magic to help them win.
但是其實她們很不愿意去幫助這些商人，她們常常是被迫這樣做的。那些迷信的商人會把釘子釘在芭蕉樹上并且把繩子繞在樹干上直到她愿意用她的魔法去幫助他們。
Poor banana ghost.
可憐的芭蕉鬼。
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