“7-ELEVEn”的n为什么小写？答案你想不到…

大家有没有发现，7-ELEVEn便利店的Logo，最后一个字母n是小写的！ 

那为什么最后一个字母要小写呢？ 

回答这个问题前，小酱先带你简单了解下它的历史。 

它的前身是成立于1927年的“南大陆制冰公司”。

在那个家用冰箱还未普及的年代，一个雇员某天开始在冰店售卖鸡蛋、牛奶和面包等，使得这些基本的生活必需品得以保持低温，而受到附近居民的喜爱。 

In 1927, Joe Thompson, an employee of the Southland Ice Company in Dallas, Texas, began selling eggs, milk, and bread from a makeshift storefront in one of the company’s icehouses. These bare necessities were kept cold thanks to the ice Southland produced, and local residents liked the convenience of avoiding the crowds and aisles of a regular grocery store if they only had to pick up a few items. 

最初这个店被称为“图腾店”，放在店铺旁边的图腾柱成为便利店的标志。由于店铺的营业时间是从早上7点开始到晚上11点结束，所以1946年，南大陆制冰公司正式将店改名为7-Eleven，从而真正的揭开了便利店时代的序幕。 

By 1946, Southland had several shops under the names Tote'm and City Ice and wanted to give all of its stores a common name. It was Tracy-Locke Advertising that chose the famed “7-11” to reflect the stores new extended hours — 7:00 am to 11:00 pm—in order to capitalize on the post-World War II economic boom.

后来，由于越来越受欢迎，大多店改为24小时营业。 

但令人意外的是，后来“7-Eleven”的正式商标标记方式，却是 “7-ELEVEn”，结尾的n是小写的。

查阅资料后，小酱发现没有官方说法（ no official answer），但网上流传有几种解释：  

第一种说法来自维基百科。说是在注册时，美国的商标法中不允许数词作为商标来注册，为了规避法规，才做了修改。

第二种说法，最开始时便利店的营业时间是早上7点到晚上11点，小写n是为了提醒顾客eleven是指晚上（night）的11点。 

第三种说法是，因为7-11便利店的选址多在街角，小写的n更像街道转角，因而故意为之。

第四种说法是，公司总裁的妻子认为，如果Logo全部使用大写，似乎有点刺眼，所以她建议用小写的n，这样会使Logo更加“优雅”。这是7-11在德克萨斯州总部的公关总监玛格丽特·查比斯(Margaret Chabis)说的，但未经证实。 

The wife of the company’s president then thought that with all caps, it would seem a little harsh, so she suggested that the “n” should be in lower case. This will make the logo more “graceful”. This was allegedly told by Margaret Chabis, the PR Director at 7-Eleven HQ in Texas, but it is unverified.

最后一种，是在华人地区流传较广的说法。因为风水，大写的N的最后一划往外，表示会将钱财散出去，而小写n更加“平滑”，且结尾时是向内的，像个磁铁，会吸引钱财和运气进来。 

According to fengshui, since the store is often located in the corner of a street (in Singapore case, some of them in the corner of a shopping centre), the lowercase “n” is used as it is “smoother” and will, therefore, draw money or luck. 

那为什么不是用全部数字（7-11），或全部英文（Seven-Eleven）， 或者前面英文，后面数字（Seven-11）呢？

7-Eleven的官方回复是：The specific reason is unknown.Image

既然说到了便利店，小酱最后再总结一波与便利店相关的英语表达：

convenience store 便利店

24 Hours Convenience Store 24小时营业的便利店

chain store 连锁店

grocery store 杂货店

neighborhood market 社区超市

supermarket 超市

hypermarket 特大型超市

delicatessen 熟食店

green grocer 蔬菜水果店

clerk/shop assistant 店员

cash register 收银机

cashier 收银员

microwave 微波炉

receipt 收据，小票

cigarette 香烟

juice 果汁

plastic bag 塑料袋

sandwich 三明治

steamed bun 包子（也可以直接说Baozi）

battery 电池

lighter 打火机

potato chips 薯片

Please heat this up for me.

请帮我加热。

May I have a plastic bag, please?

请给我一个塑料袋好吗？

How much is it altogether?

这些东西一共多少钱？

Here is your change.

这是找您的钱。

Do you have any condiments for the hot dogs?

有热狗用的酱料吗？