Marissa Laliberte著 张宁

See someone wearing a ring on their right index finger and you can bet theyre not married. A ring on the left ring finger， though， means that person is “taken”. The choice of wedding ring finger seems arbitrary1， but theres actually historical reason it became known as the “ring finger”， and why most people wear their wedding band on the left.

看到有人在右手食指上戴着戒指，你可以打赌他们没有结婚。而左手无名指上的戒指意味着这个人已经结婚了。选择无名指戴婚戒似乎是随意的，但事实上，无名指被称为“ring finger”，以及大多数人把婚戒戴在左手是有历史原因的。

History of the wedding ring finger左手无名指戴结婚戒指的历史

The wedding ring tradition dates back to ancient Egypt， as archaeologists2 have found evidence in hieroglyphics3 that brides would wear a ring. And other ancient cultures wore wedding rings as well. People have been slipping wedding rings on their left ring fingers since the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

戴结婚戒指的传统可以追溯到古埃及，因为考古学家们在象形文字中发现了新娘戴戒指的证据。其他的古代文化中也有戴结婚戒指的习俗。从古希腊人和古罗马人时代起，人们就一直把结婚戒指戴在左手的无名指上。

The reason the fourth finger was the wedding ring finger of choice？ Theres a touching explanation. In ancient times， it was thought that there was a vein in your finger on your left hand that ran straight to your heart. And the heart， of course， was thought to be the center of our emotions back then. So ancient Romans called this vein the “vena amoris”， Latin for “vein of love”.

選择第四根手指戴结婚戒指的原因是什么呢？对此有一个感人的解释。在古代，人们认为左手的这根手指上有一根血管直接通向你的心脏。当然，那时人们认为心脏是情感的中心。因此古罗马人把这条血管叫做“爱情之脉”，拉丁语叫做“爱情的血脉”。

Our knowledge of the human body has evolved greatly since then， of course. Most notably， we humans have no such vein， sadly. In addition， we know now that the heart is an organ for pumping blood—but that hasnt stopped us from continuing to talk about it in romantic， emotional contexts. Likewise， we still wear wedding rings on our fourth fingers！

当然，从那时起，人们对人体的认识已经逐渐形成。很明显，可惜我们人类并没有这样的血管。此外，现在我们知道心脏是一个输送血液的器官，但这并没有影响我们继续在浪漫的情感语境中谈论它。同样，我们的第四根手指上仍戴着结婚戒指！

Variations on the tradition传统的变化

Despite the prevalence4 of this wedding ring finger tradition， especially throughout Western cultures， not everyone follows it to a T5. Some cultures choose freedom and individuality when it comes to deciding for themselves which hand to wear it on. Couples from European countries such as Austria， Denmark， and Germany actually wear the rings on their right hand instead. People in India opt for a right-hand ring as well， because the left hand is considered unclean.

尽管婚戒传统盛行，尤其是在整个西方文化中，但并不是每个人都丝毫不差地遵循这一传统。在决定（婚戒）戴在哪只手上时，有些文化选择了自由和个性。来自奥地利、丹麦和德国等欧洲国家的夫妻实际上也会把戒指戴在右手上。印度人也选择右手戴戒指，因为他们认为左手是不洁的。

If anything， the variations on the wedding ring finger tradition show that even the most long-standing of marriage-related traditions dont have to be hard and fast6. But there are still some wedding etiquette7 rules experts think you should never， ever break.

如果说有什么不同的话，婚戒传统的变化表明，即使是最悠久的婚姻相关的传统也不一定是一成不变的。但是仍然有一些婚礼礼仪规则专家们认为永远不应该打破。