#1: Romantic 浪漫的

　　We associate this word with sweetness and love, but it emerged from the conquering powers of the Roman Empire。虽然我们一直把romantic这个词与“甜蜜、爱情”相联系，但是这个词却来自于罗马帝国的强大的征服力。

　　The expansion of ancient Rome created various dialects of Latin called "romans." (These evolved into Italian, French, Spanish, and others – the Romance languages。)古罗马帝国的扩张致使了各种拉丁方言的诞生，这些方言被称作"romans"。(现在这些方言演变为了意大利语、法语、西班牙语等等罗曼语系。)

　　"Romans" were used to write popular stories involving chivalric or courtly love, and such tales became known as romances。当时人们用"Romans"语言来写包括骑士时代或宫廷式爱情故事在内的各种流行小说，而这些故事后来就被称为romances了。

　　If we describe Rome today as a "romantic" city, we're using a word that has travelled a long way to come home。如果现在我们用"romantic"这个词来形容罗马的话，那我们可是把这个词从远方带回了它的故乡呢。

　　#2: Valentine 情人；情人节礼物

　　Christianity has more than one martyr named Valentine, and the one, true Valentine is uncertain。基督教的殉教者中绝对不止一个人叫Valentine，而这个真正的Valentine究竟是谁并不确定。

　　Romantics favor the tale of the third-century Roman emperor and priest Valentine. Supposedly, Valentine had fallen in love with his jailer's daughter, and shortly before his death sent a letter to her "from your Valentine."浪漫主义者们喜欢三世纪罗马帝王与牧师Valentine的故事。据说，牧师Valentine同监狱狱卒的女儿相爱了，在自己临死前不久，他给了女孩一封信，上面写着“来自你的Valentine”。

明晃晃的奸情

　　#3: Amour 奸情

　　In 2010, a poll of linguists rated amour

　　– the French word for "love," simple and sweet – the most romantic word in the world. In English, the word gains drama and loses innocence.2010年语言学家们开展了一次投票，amour这个意为“爱情”的法语单词被选为世界上最浪漫的单词，因为它简单又甜蜜。可是到了英语里，这个词被赋予了更多戏剧感，而丧失了原本的纯真。(这个词真冤啊！)

　　#4: Adonis 美少年

　　In Greek mythology, the beautiful young Adonis was beloved by both Persephone and Aphrodite, so Zeus decreed the young man should divide his time and attention between the two goddesses。在希腊神话中，美少年Adonis同时受到冥界王后Persephone以及爱与美的女神Aphrodite的爱慕，最后宙斯命令Adonis要分配时间和精力给两位女神。

　　He was later killed by a wild boar – an attack that may have been arranged to avenge another of Adonis' romantic intrigues.Adonis后来被一头野猪杀死，这一次的袭击可能是有人安排，为了替另一个与Adonis私通者报仇。

　　#5: Aphrodisiac 催欲的；春药

　　Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love (who was infatuated with Adonis) gave the Greeks the words 'aphrodisia' (heterosexual pleasure) and 'aphrodisiakos' (a gem with aphrodisiac powers)。

　　从热恋着Adonis的希腊爱神Aphrodite的名字衍生出了两个希腊单词：aphrodisia(性快感)和aphrodisiakos(春药)。

　　其实aphrodisiac这个词也不一定就是那么猥琐的啦，比如可以这么用：

　　To me, one of the most successful attributes of an aphrodisiac meal are colors, aromas, tastes and textures that wake up the palate and challenge the mind. – Amy Reiley于我而言，能激起人欲望的菜肴最成功的一些特性在于它那能挑拨味蕾、动摇思想的色香味和口感。– Amy Reiley

　　#6: Infatuation 醉心

　　An infatuation, by definition, is an emotion that shouldn't be taken too seriously. The word's etymology makes the same point. It traces back to the Latin for "foolish" or "silly," as does another insulting term: fatuous。从定义上来说，infatuation所表达的这种感情是不能太当真的。从词源学来说也是如此。追究infatuation的起源会发现，它同另一个侮辱人的单词fatuous(愚昧的)一样，都是来自于拉丁语中某个表达“愚蠢，糊涂”意思的单词。

　　究竟什么是infatuation，什么是love？有人给了这样的形容：

　　Infatuation is like a roller coaster ride – crazy, scary and somewhat fun, while love is something more down to earth, less exhilarating, less dramatic but more real.Infatuation就像坐过山车，刺激、心慌、又有些兴奋；而love不像infatuation这样漂浮，它没那么令人振奋、没那么扣人心弦，但却更加现实。

　　#7: Casanova 风流汉

　　In the 1700s, Giacomo Girolamo Casanova was a spy, a clergyman, a gambler, and apparently a man of charm. He was also a writer. His autobiographical musings about his more than 100 lovers made his name a byword for a man who loves too much。在18世纪，Giacomo Girolamo Casanova是一个间谍、教士、赌徒，一个极富魅力的男人。另外他还是一个作家，他在自传中诉说了自己与100多位恋人之间的故事，使得他的名字成为了多情男人的代号。

单相思的娃伤不起

　　#8: Unrequited 没有回报的

　　Where there's unrequited, there's requited. So what does requite mean? To requite is to give or do something in return for something that another person has given or done。有unrequited那就有requite，那么requite这个词是什么意思呢？Requite意思是“为了回报另一人的付出而给他什么东西或为他做什么事”。

　　So 'unrequited love' suggests an imbalance: too much love paid out and too little paid back。所以'unrequited love'表达了一种不平衡：付出了那么多爱却没得到多少回应。

　　单相思的人不少，一直这样做没有结果的努力也不行，所以说摆脱一段感情的办法就是开始一段新的？

　　"... a good solution for unrequited love is, of course, new love." – Lucinda Rosenfeld解决无回报之爱的好办法毫无疑问就是开始一段新的恋爱。– Lucinda Rosenfeld

　　#9: Saccharine 甜得让人不舒服的，情感过分强烈而显夸张的

　　Boxes of candy covered with cupids and hearts might, for some people, have a saccharine quality – both in sentiment and taste。布满丘比特画像和心形的糖果盒对于某些人而言太过甜腻，无论是情绪上还是口感上。

　　For others, romantic and sugary excess is essential to Valentine's Day。当然也有人认为，情人节就应该过分浪漫过分甜。

　　Either way, saccharine comes from saccharum, Latin for "sugar." The word dates back to the 1600s. The calorie-free sweetener saccharin (without an e) arrived a couple hundred years later。不管怎样，saccharine这个词来源于拉丁语中的saccharum，saccharum的意思是“糖”。这个单词可以追溯到17世纪。数百年后一种零卡路里的甜味剂saccharin诞生了。

　　#10: Sweetheart 情人，爱人

　　The Greeks and Egyptians believed the heart was the center of the emotions. English speakers borrowed the idea, and sweet + heart has been a term of endearment – particularly for romantic love – since the Middle Ages. 希腊人和埃及人都相信，心是情感的中心。英语语言者借用了这一思想，于是从中世纪开始，sweet + heart就成为了一个表达爱意的词，尤其是浪漫的爱情。

　　(来源：沪江英语)