disaster：都怪星星
When something goes terribly wrong, we call it a disaster. But the word itself contains an old idea: that our luck is controlled by the stars.
"Disaster" comes from the Italian word disastro. The "dis-" at the start means "bad" or "against", and "astro" means "star" – the same root you can see in "astronaut", "astronomy" and "asterisk", the little star-shaped symbol (*) on your keyboard. So a disaster was, quite literally, a "bad star".
Hundreds of years ago, many people in Europe believed in astrology. They thought that the positions of the stars and planets influenced events on Earth and in people's lives. If the stars were in a good position, things would go well. If they were in a bad position, terrible things might happen. A disaster, then, was a misfortune caused by an unlucky arrangement of the heavens.
"Disaster" isn't the only English word with this background. "Influenza", the full name for the flu, comes from the Italian for "influence". In the past, people believed that outbreaks of the disease were caused by the influence of the stars. And when we say someone is "ill-starred", we mean they're unlucky.
Today, very few people blame the stars when things go wrong. Scientists can explain earthquakes, storms and floods without looking at the night sky. But the words remain, carrying an old belief that the universe was quietly deciding our fate.
当事情糟糕透顶的时候，我们会说那是一场 disaster（灾难）。可这个词本身，藏着一个古老的观念：我们的运气是由星星决定的。
“disaster”来自意大利语单词 disastro。开头的“dis-”意思是“坏的”或“相反的”，“astro”意思是“星星”——在“astronaut”（宇航员）、“astronomy”（天文学）和“asterisk”（键盘上那个星形的小符号 *）里，都能看到这个词根。所以，disaster 的字面意思就是“坏星星”。
几百年前，欧洲很多人相信占星术。他们认为，星星和行星的位置会影响地球上发生的事，也会影响人的一生。如果星星的位置好，事情就会很顺利；如果位置不好，可怕的事情就可能发生。所以，disaster 就是由天象不吉利造成的不幸。
有这种背景的英语单词，不只“disaster”一个。“influenza”是流感（flu）的全称，它来自意大利语里的“影响”。过去，人们认为这种疾病的爆发，是星星的影响造成的。而当我们说某人“ill-starred”（星运不佳）时，意思就是这个人运气不好。
如今，很少有人会在出事的时候怪罪星星了。科学家不用观察夜空，也能解释地震、风暴和洪水。可是这些词留了下来，承载着一个古老的信念：宇宙正在悄悄地决定我们的命运。