今天是母亲节。大家都知道母亲节是向母亲表达爱意的日子，但你知道母亲节的起源吗？关于母亲节你了解多少呢？

1. THE DAY WAS FIRST SUGGESTED BY A FAMOUS POET.
母亲节最初是一位著名诗人提议的。

The woman who first proposed Mother's Day in 1870 was the same woman who wrote the lyrics to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." After the Civil War, writer Julia Ward Howe suggested a Mother's Day to recognize peace and protest war. She organized annual events in Boston to honor mothers, but despite her work, nothing official came of her efforts.

1870年最先提议设立母亲节的女性就是为《共和国战歌》写词的人。在美国内战结束后，作家朱莉娅·沃德·豪伊建议设立母亲节来赞颂和平、抗议战争。她在波斯顿组织了几场向母亲致敬的年度活动，但尽管她付出了努力，这些活动都没有被官方保留下来。

2. THE FOUNDER FOUGHT BACK.
母亲节的创立者反过来要废除这一节日。

Although Julia Ward Howe first suggested a day for mothers, Anna Jarvis (who had no children of her own) campaigned for a national day of observance for moms, in remembrance of her own mother, Ann Jarvis, who had spent years working to provide resources for poor mothers in West Virginia. Mother's Day became a designated holiday in 1914, but within a few years, Jarvis became disgusted with how commercial the day had become and started a petition to rescind the holiday. (That clearly didn't come to pass.)

尽管朱莉娅·沃德·豪伊最先提议设立母亲节，但安娜·贾维斯是倡议将母亲节作为一个全国性节日来庆祝的人。安娜·贾维斯本人没有小孩，她的初衷是为了纪念她自己的母亲，她的母亲安·贾维斯花了很多年时间为西维吉尼亚州的贫困母亲争取资源。1914年，母亲节成为了国家指定的节日，但几年后，贾维斯开始厌恶这个节日变得商业化，于是她发起了一个废除母亲节的请愿活动。（显然请愿没有被通过。）

3. IT'S AN ACTIVE DAY ON THE PHONE LINES.
母亲节这天通话数量大增。

Call volume in the US goes up 11 percent on Mother’s Day, and one study suggests that the more widespread use of cell phones has greatly increased the amount of contact adult children have with their mothers. So don't look like a slacker: Your mom definitely expects to hear from you, and not just with a text.

母亲节这天美国的电话呼叫数量上升11%，一项研究显示，手机的广泛使用大大增加了成年子女和母亲们的联系次数。所以不要偷懒：你妈妈肯定期待着接到你的电话，而不只是一条短信。

slacker[ˈslækər]: 偷懒的人

4. IT'S THE BUSIEST DAY OF THE YEAR IN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY.
母亲节是餐饮业最繁忙的一天。

If you're thinking about taking your mom out to eat, you might want to consider which time of the day will have enough open tables. Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for restaurants, with some 80 million adults dining out (which tops even Valentine's Day). Nearly half of those people will be out for dinner, as opposed to lunch or brunch, so if you'd like to treat your mom to her favorite cuisine, perhaps go earlier in the day.

如果你想带母亲去下馆子，你可能要考虑预约哪个时间才能订到座位。母亲节是餐厅一年中最繁忙的日子，约有8000万成年人在外就餐（甚至超过了情人节）。其中近半数的人会出去吃晚餐，而不是午餐或早午餐，所以如果你想请妈妈去她最爱的餐厅，可能要早点去吃。

5. THE JEWELRY AND SPA SERVICES INDUSTRIES GET BOOSTS TOO.
母亲节也会带旺珠宝销量及水疗服务。

You know you need to get your mom a gift, but what to buy? According to the National Retail Federation, over $5 billion will be spent on jewelry (accounting for 35 percent of shoppers). Another 38 percent of consumers will purchase clothing, 15 percent get electronics, and 24 percent will spend $2 billion on personal services (like spa treatments) for their mothers. But if you want to let mom pick out her own gift, you aren't alone—45 percent of surveyed consumers said they planned to go the gift card route.

你知道母亲节要给妈妈送礼物，但是买什么好呢？根据美国零售联合会的数据，人们会花费50亿美元（约合人民币354亿元）用于购买珠宝，买珠宝送母亲的人占了35%。38%的消费者会为母亲购买衣服，15%的人购买电子产品，24%的人会花费20亿美元让母亲享受私人服务（比如水疗）。但如果你想让母亲自己挑礼物，这么做的不光只有你一个人——45%的受访消费者都表示他们计划送礼品卡。

 Photo by Karolina Bobek on Unsplash 

6. THE FLOWER INDUSTRY IS THE BIG WINNER.
鲜花产业是母亲节的大赢家。

Carnations quickly became the symbol of Mother’s Day (supposedly representing the tears of Mary when Jesus was crucified) when it began in 1914, and soon the floral industry promoted the idea of wearing a red carnation to honor a person's living mom or a white carnation to honor a mother who had passed. Although this tradition has faded, 76 percent of moms still hope to get flowers from their kids or loved ones on this special day. Their odds are good—Mother's Day is the number one day for floral sales, and the NRF's survey revealed that a whopping 67 percent of people were planning to buy flowers.

1914年设立母亲节后，康乃馨很快就成为母亲节的象征，据说康乃馨代表着耶稣被钉上十字架时圣母玛丽流下的泪水。不久鲜花产业就开始推广一个做法：佩戴红色康乃馨来纪念在世的母亲，佩戴白色康乃馨来纪念过世的母亲。尽管这一传统已经消逝，76%的母亲仍希望在这个特别的日子从孩子或爱人那里收到鲜花。这个希望落空的可能性不大——因为母亲节是鲜花销量最高的一天，美国零售联合会的调查揭示，多达67%的人计划购买鲜花送给母亲。

7. MOMS AROUND THE WORLD ARE RECOGNIZED WITH DAYS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
世界各国都有自己的母亲节。

Many countries have a Mother’s Day, though they don't always fall on the second Sunday in May like it does in the US, Australia, China, Japan, and India. Flowers and gifts are a worldwide tradition for the day, but in Thailand parades are held and jasmine is commonly given as a gift. In Serbia, moms are tied up with rope or ribbon until they give sweets and gifts to their children.

许多国家都有母亲节，不过不一定和美国、澳大利亚、中国、日本、印度一样是五月的第二个星期日。在母亲节送鲜花和礼物是全球的传统，但是泰国人会举行游行，而且他们普遍送母亲茉莉花作为礼物。在塞尔维亚，母亲们会被用绳子或缎带捆住，直到她们给孩子发放糖果和礼物。

8. MANY PEOPLE HONOR MULTIPLE MOTHERS IN THEIR LIFE.
许多人都会在这一天给多位母亲庆祝节日。

You’re probably planning on sending your own mom a card, but are you going to send cards to other mothers as well? The average consumer buys 2.8 Mother’s Day cards, so most people are buying for more than just their own mom (like, say, for their grandmothers, wives, mothers-in-law, sisters, or friends). In fact, 57 percent of mothers says they’ve received Mother’s Day gifts from non-family members.

你很可能计划给自己的母亲送一张贺卡，但你是否也会送贺卡给其他母亲呢？在这一天，消费者平均每人购买2.8张母亲节贺卡，所以多数人除了给亲生母亲买贺卡外，还会给其他母亲买贺卡（比如他们的奶奶、外婆、妻子、婆婆、岳母、姐妹或朋友）。事实上，57%的母亲表示，她们收到过非家庭成员送的母亲节礼物。

9. STATISTICS SHOW DADS NEED TO STEP IT UP.
数据显示，爸爸们需要做得更好。

While everyone knows you need to get something for your mother, 47 percent of moms think that dads should buy the mother of their kids a gift. Don’t hold your breath though, moms: Only 6 percent of dads agree!

尽管每个人都知道，你需要给自己的母亲买礼物，但有47%的母亲认为，爸爸也应该给孩子母亲买礼物。不过妈妈们别太期待了：只有6%的爸爸同意这一观点。

10. MOMS STILL COME OUT AHEAD FOR MOTHER'S DAY.
妈妈们赢了：母亲节的消费额完胜父亲节。

Even if fathers might not be the ones driving floral sales on Mother's Day, if there were a monetary competition between the parental appreciation days, mothers would win outright. On average, people spend $133 on Father’s Day compared to $196 on Mother’s Day.

即使爸爸们可能不是让母亲节鲜花销量大涨的人，但如果父亲节和母亲节有一场消费竞赛，母亲们会完胜。人们在父亲节平均花费133美元，而在母亲节平均花费196美元。