It is a yearly tradition that has become known as Black Friday.

這是一年一度的傳統，被稱為黑色星期五。

Where did this tradition come from?

這個傳統是怎麼來的？

Why does it have such an unusual name?

為什麼會有這麼一個不尋常的名字？

Christmas shopping was big business for most of the 20th Century, but it's only been rather recently that the phenomenon of Black Friday has existed.

在20世紀的大部分時間裡，聖誕購物都是大生意，但直到最近才出現了黑色星期五的現象。

The trend of launching the Christmas shopping season the day after Thanksgiving was probably started by the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

感恩節後一天啟動聖誕購物季的風潮，大概是由梅西百貨感恩節大遊行開始的。

Macy's is a large department store in New York City, and they used their yearly Thanksgiving Day Parade as a way of jump-starting the Christmas gift buying season.

梅西百貨是紐約市的一家大型百貨公司，他們把每年的感恩節遊行作為啟動聖誕禮物購買季的一種方式。

Other stores caught on to the trend, and thus, Thanksgiving Day became the day that the Christmas shopping season officially began.

其他商店也趕上了這股潮流，於是，感恩節成為聖誕購物季正式開始的日子。

Over time, it became an unwritten rule that stores would never start Christmas promotions before the day after Thanksgiving as most stores were closed on Thanksgiving Day.

久而久之，這就成了一條不成文的規定，商店絕不會在感恩節後一天之前開始聖誕促銷活動，因為大多數商店在感恩節當天都不營業。

However, recent years have seen major retail chains kicking off their Black Friday sales as early as 6 PM on Thanksgiving Day!

不過，近年來各大連鎖零售企業早在感恩節當天下午6點就啟動了黑色星期五的促銷活動!

There are multiple stories as to where the phrase "Black Friday" came from.

關於 "黑色星期五 "這個詞的由來，有多種說法。

The most widely circulated belief is that this is the day when most stores begin to turn a profit.

最廣為流傳的觀點是，這一天是大多數商店開始盈利的日子。

This comes from an expression that has existed for years.

這源於一個存在多年的說法。

A business that is showing a profit is known as "operating in the black."

呈現盈利的企業被稱為 "黑色經營"。

Whereas, a business that is in debt, or has not yet made more than it has spent, is referred to as "operating in the red."

而負債累累的企業，或者還沒有賺到比支出更多的錢，則被稱為 "虧本經營"。

The terms "black”and "red”referred to the color of ink used to indicate either profit or debt.

黑 "和 "紅 "是指用來表示利潤或債務的墨水的顏色。

While this is a clever explanation of the term "Black Friday," there is little evidence to support the claim.

雖然這是對 "黑色星期五 "的巧妙解釋，但幾乎沒有證據支持這一說法。

The true origin of the phrase probably comes from Philadelphia in the early 1960s.

這句話的真正起源可能來自於上世紀60年代初的費城。

The local police began to use the phrase to describe the horrific traffic and overcrowded sidewalks of the downtown shopping area on the day after Thanksgiving.

感恩節後的第二天，當地警方開始用這個詞來形容市中心購物區恐怖的交通和擁擠的人行道。

The term began to grow in popularity throughout the 1970s and eventually grew to be used worldwide.

這個詞在整個20世紀70年代開始流行，並最終發展到全世界使用。

It has become well known that Black Friday is "the busiest shopping day of the year."

眾所周知，黑色星期五是 "一年中最繁忙的購物日"。

However, this has not always been the case.

然而，情況並非總是如此。

In fact, in the 1990s, the day after Thanksgiving would frequently rank from 5th to 10th on the list of busiest shopping days.

事實上，在20世紀90年代，感恩節後的一天會經常在最繁忙的購物日排行榜上從第5名到第10名。

However, since 2004, Black Friday has assumed the top spot and will probably not relinquish it any time soon.

然而，自2004年以來，"黑色星期五 "已經佔據了榜首的位置，而且可能不會在短時間內放棄它。

It is estimated that over 225 million shoppers take to the stores each Black Friday and spend over $52 billion.

據估計，每年黑色星期五都有超過2.25億購物者到商店購物，花費超過520億美元。

This averages out to nearly $400 per shopper, just on this one day!

這平均下來，僅這一天，每位顧客就有近400元的收入!