thank—ye—ma’am(路面)坑坑洼洼；(路面)横沟

【使用地区】：美国新英格兰地区各州

【释义】：

An American courtship term that dates back to nineteenth—century New England．Roads at the time had diagonal earthen ridges running across them that channeled off rainwater from the high to the low side and prevented washouts．Rural Casanovas driving their carriages along these rude roads made sure that they hit these ridges hard so that their female companions would bounce up in the air and bump into them．With the head of his sweetheart so close，the gentleman could steal a kiss，and usually expressed his gratitude with a thank—ye—ma’am，that expression becoming synonymous with a quick kiss or any hole in the road that caused riders to bump up and down．Preceded by wham(or slam)，bam，the term also means a quick act of coitus．Both meanings date back to the end of the nineteenth century．

这一美国求爱用语，可追溯到19世纪的新英格兰。当时道路上有横着的斜土垄，雨水通过沟道可以从高处流向低处，防止路面冲失。农村的多情绅士沿这些凹凸不平的路面上驾车时，定然要大力撞击这些土垄，这样他们的女伴会在座位上弹起来，撞到他们身上。情人的头靠得那么近，这位绅士可偷得一吻，然后就往往说声thank—ye—ma’am(谢谢你，女士。)表示谢意，这种说法逐渐变成“迅速一吻”和“路上使驾车者上下颠簸的洞”的同义词。这个表达方式用在wham(重打或slam撞击)bam(嘭!撞击声)后面时，还指“快速性交”。这两个意义都可追溯到19世纪末。