103.If Anything Can Go Wrong, It Will “莫非”坏事真的发生了

103. If Anything Can Go Wrong, It Will“莫非”坏事真的发生了

【文章赏析】

墨菲定律（Murphy`s Law）据说是科学家及科技人员（Scientists and technologists）十分相信的法则，就是：如果有什么事可能出错的话，那就绝对会出错（If anything can go wrong, it will）。当你有了一丝怀疑，墨菲定律通常就表现出来了（Murphy`s Law usually when you have doubts），也就是说，一定会出差错。说的更白一些，就是“有可能出错的事就一定会出错（whatever can go wrong will go wrong）。”懂了吗？你是否也同意这种说法呢？

Have you ever tried hard to finish your homework, only to find that the teacher was sick the next day? Or have you spoken to someone you really like and then found out you had food in your teeth?

There is a name for this phenomenon: Murphy`s Law. It was named after Captain Edward Murphy, a U.S. Air Force engineer. In 1949, Captain Murphy cursed at one of his men who had made a mistake, and said,“If there is any way to do it wrong, he`ll find it.”

At that time, there was already an English saying:”If anything can go wrong, it will.” Someone who worked with captain Murphy renamed the saying Murphy`s Law. Shortly after, the term was used in an Air Force press conference and the name stuck ever since.

“莫非”坏事真的发生了

你曾经有过努力地把作业写完，第二天却发现老师生病了吗？或是和你真心喜欢的人说话，后来你却发现你的牙齿上有食物残渣？

这种现象有个名称：“墨菲定律”。它是以美国空军的一位工程师爱德华·墨菲上尉的名字命名的。1949年，墨菲上尉责骂一位犯了错误的下属，并且说：“只要有出错的可能，他就会出错。”

当时，已经有了一条英语的谚语，“如果事情有出错的可能，它就一定会出错。”墨菲上尉的一个同事将这条谚语重新命名为“墨菲定律”。不久，这个名称在一次空军记者招待会上被使用，从此这个名称沿用至今。