各類比賽中的“德比大戰”到底指什么？

英超賽場近日上演曼徹斯特德比大戰，結果曼城主場1比0戰勝曼聯，取得德比四連勝。體育比賽的報道中，我們經常會看到“德比”這個詞，它到底什么來歷，又是指什么呢？

In many countries the term local derby, or simply just derby means a sporting fixture between two teams from the same town, city or region, particularly in association football.

在很多國家，本地德比（local derby）或者德比（derby）都指來自同一個小鎮、城市或地區的兩支隊伍之間的體育比賽，尤多見于足球聯賽。

A soccer game between two rival teams is also sometimes referred to as a "derby." A derby is the soccer equivalent of the sort of game that is called a "crosstown rivalry" in North American sports.

兩支相互競爭的球隊之間的足球比賽有時也叫做德比。足球比賽中的德比相當于北美體育比賽中的“同城競技”。

The phrase most likely originated from The Derby, a horse race in England, founded by the 12th Earl of Derby in 1780, since at least as early as 1840 'derby' has been used as a noun in English to denote any kind of sporting contest.

德比這個說法很有可能來源于1780年第12世德比伯爵在英格蘭開創的賽馬活動The Derby。早在1840年時，德比一詞就在英語里用作名詞來指代任何一種體育比賽。

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen）