课上同学们针对话题“最喜欢的月份”展开热烈的讨论，而Laura最喜欢十月，因为万圣节就要来了…

Allysa: What month is it now? Allysa: 现在是几月份？

Laura: It is October. Laura: 现在是十月。

Allysa: My favorite number is ten. So the tenth month of the year is my favorite. Allysa: 我最喜欢的数字是十。所以一年中第十个月份是我最喜欢的。

Laura: October is my favorite, too. Because Halloween is in October. Laura: 十月也是我最喜欢的月份。因为十月份有万圣节。

起源

万圣节又叫诸圣节，在每年的11月1日，是西方的传统节日；而万圣节前夜的10月31日是这个节日最热闹的时刻。

The Halloween celebration comes from All Hallows Day or All Saints Day, the 1st of November. This was originally a pagan festival of the dead, but later became a holiday to honor Christian saints.

万圣节的庆祝活动来源于每年11月1日的All Hallows Day 或All Saints Day。它原先是异教徒们纪念死者的节日，但是逐渐演变成一个纪念基督圣者的节日。

The name Halloween comes from a contraction of All Hallows Eve , the day before All Hallows Day. On this night it was believed that the spirits of the dead would try to come back to life!

Halloween这个词来自于All Hallows Eve(夜晚)，All Hallows Eve是All Hallows Day前一天的缩写。人们认为在当天晚上，亡者的灵魂会重新复活!

万圣节不是Halloween！

“万圣节”的英文并不是Halloween啊！ Halloween的真正意思是“万圣节前夜”， 而“万圣节”的英文是：All Saints’ Day.

不信？咱们来看Wikipedia的词条：

Halloween or Hallowe’en (a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening), also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve, is a celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day.

从上面的解释中可以得知Halloween只是All Hallows’ Day（万圣节）的eve（前夜）! 所以准确来说，Halloween应该译成“万圣夜”而非“万圣节”。

但是在中文里，常常把万圣节前夜（Halloween）讹译为万圣节（All Saints’ Day），所以就逐渐形成了我们今天普遍提到的万圣节。