(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.
On this program we talk about common expressions and phrases in American English.
Today, grab your poles and bait. We are going fishing!
Fishing is a popular outdoor activity you can do in lots of different places. You can go ice fishing, deep sea fishing, or fly fishing in a river, to name a few examples.
Whatever type of fishing you do, the equipment is similar. In addition to a fishing pole, you will need a fishing hook, a fishing line and sometimes, a sinker.
But in conversation, we don't use the expression "hook, line and sinker" when we are talking about catching a fish. We use it to describe fooling someone who is easy to fool. In other words, they are gullible.
When people believe a story "hook, line and sinker," they accept it completely – even though it is a big, fat lie. Note that the expression usually begins with the verbs "buy" or "fall." For example, "he fell for my excuse hook, line and sinker," or, "she bought my story hook, line and sinker."
But what about people who are not so gullible? When something sounds even the slightest bit fishy, they do not believe it. The word "fishy" means "likely untrue." In other words, something that sounds fishy sounds like a lie. For this one, we also say smells fishy – a phrase I think is even better.
Now, if you tell someone a fish story, you are telling them a story that is so strange or surprising that it seems very unlikely to be true. It is an exaggeration. We tell others fish stories when we want to brag or show off.
This expression comes from the fact that people who fish often say their catch is bigger than it really was.
But fish stories don't have to be about fish. We can exaggerate about anything. Take my friend, for example. He loves to tell people about the time he was attacked by a swarm of bees. Each time he tells the story, the amount of bees and bee stings increase. At last count, it was a million bees and thousands of stings. It's his very own fish story.
Now, back to real fishing for a minute.
Let's say you are planning a long, complicated fishing tour. This is not just a one- or two-day trip. It is a fishing expedition. You are not sure what you will catch. But you are going to spend a lot of time and effort trying to catch something.
In conversation, a "fishing expedition" is very similar. A fishing expedition is a general search. It does not stick to a stated goal, but hopes to uncover useful evidence or information.
For example, if a police detective is on a fishing expedition, she may ask all the people who were near a crime in their neighborhood. She does not know if any of them are guilty or if they know anything. But she hopes one of them will give evidence about the crime.
Now, you can "fish" for many other things too.
A writer can fish around for a good story idea. She may ask many people lots of general questions about their lives before finding something interesting to write about.
And let's say your co-worker asks you a lot of questions about your personal life. He does not have a clear reason why. He just seems to be fishing around for information. It makes you more than a little uncomfortable.
And it should! That's the thing with this expression. When we go fishing for information or evidence or whatever, we do plan to use it. In fact, we can also fish for something to feel better about ourselves.
If I am fishing for compliments I want you to say something nice about me. So, for example, let's say I give you one of my homemade chocolate chip cookies. As you take a bite, you make sounds that show you really like it. Then I ask, "So, how are my cookies?" I know they taste great. I'm just fishing for compliments.
Usually people who fish for compliments annoy others. But in this case, you probably will not feel annoyed. After all, you get to eat a delicious cookie!
Speaking of delicious food, fried fish can also be very tasty. The fish is dipped into a batter and then fried in oil. The bigger the fish, the better!
Funny enough, the expression to have bigger fish to fry has nothing to do with cooking fish. This expression compares an important problem to a minor one. People who have bigger fish to fry don't have time to deal with a small fish ... I mean, problem.
Now, let's hear these expressions used in a conversation between two, um, co-workers, you could say.
Hey. Did you bring another flashlight? My batteries are low.
Of course. I always bring an extra one, just in case. But I also have extra batteries if you want those instead.
Just give me the flashlight.
Isn't it helpful that I'm so prepared?
Yes, it is. Now stop fishing for compliments and hand me the screwdriver. We have don't have much time to open this lock!
Hey, can I ask you something? Yesterday, Joe from the cafe asked me a lot of questions. I got the feeling he was fishing for information about our ... you know, job. Do you think he knows something?
Joe? He doesn't know a thing. What did he ask you?
He wanted to know what I did during the day and how I spend my nights. And then he asked me what I was doing tonight. It was weird.
Sounds like he was just on a fishing expedition. But you know, he also asked me about my plans tonight.
What did you tell him?
I told him I was going to a book club.
A book club? Really? And he fell for that?!
Yeah, he fell for it hook, line and sinker. Didn't doubt it for a minute.
You don't think that excuse sounds kind of fishy? I think it sounds very fishy.
What's so fishy about my going to a book club? Is it SO hard to believe I would belong to a book club?
No! It's just that ...
I do read, you know!!
You're right. You're right. I am sorry.
Thank you.
I didn't mean to judge you.
Look, just forget about it. Right now, we have bigger fish to fry.
What do you mean?
"This is the police! We have you surrounded! Come out with your hands up!"
Oh no! The police!
And that brings us to the end of Words and Their Stories.
If you liked this week's story about fish expressions and our conversation between two bank robbers, let us know in the Comments Section.
Don't worry. We're not fishing for compliments. We just want to know what type of stories you like!
I'm Bryan Lynn.
And I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
1.show off 炫耀
All right, there's no need to show off.
好了，没必要炫耀。
2.a swarm of 一群
A swarm of people encircled the hotel.
一群人围住了这个酒店。
3.take a bite 咬一口
I take a bite of my plum cake. take a bite on his way to a performance.
我咬了一口我的李子蛋糕。
参考译文
现在是VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目时间。
在节目中，我们会探索美式英语里的常用表达和词组。
今天，拿上你的鱼竿和鱼饵，我们去钓鱼！
钓鱼是一项很受欢迎的户外活动，你在许多地方都可以进行。比如，你可以去冰钓、深海钓鱼或者去河边飞蝇钓。
不管你选择哪种钓鱼方式，你所使用的装备都是类似的。除了鱼竿之外，你还需要一个鱼钩和一条钓鱼线，有时还需要一个铅锤。
但在对话中，我们在谈论捕鱼时不使用“hook, line and sinker（完全地）”这个表达。我们在描述愚弄某个好骗的人时才会用到这个表达。换句话说，他们容易上当受骗。
当人们“完全地”相信了一个故事，他们就完全接受了它——即便它是个巨大的谎言。注意，这个表达通常以动词“buy”或“fall”作为开头。例如，“他完全地相信了我的借口”或者“她完全地相信了我的故事”。
但那些不容易上当受骗的人呢？当一件事听起来有一点点可疑时，他们就不相信。“fishy”这个单词是“可能不真实”的意思。换句话说，听起来“fishy”的一件事就是指听起来像个谎言。对于这个单词，我们会用“smells fishy”——我认为这个词组更好一点。
现在，如果你和某人讲了一个“fish story”，这就是说你在讲一个非常奇怪或令人惊讶的故事，而且这个故事几乎不可能是真的。这是夸大其词。当我们想吹牛或炫耀时，我们会给别人讲“fish stories”。
这个表达来自一个事实：那些经常钓鱼的人在说他们抓到的鱼的重量时会夸大一点。
但“fish stories”里不是必须要有鱼，我们可以夸大任何事情。拿我的朋友举例，他喜欢把自己被一群蜜蜂攻击的事情讲给别人听。他每次讲故事时，蜜蜂和被蜜蜂蛰的包的数量都比上一次多了。他最后一次讲这个故事时说有100万只蜜蜂蛰了上千个包。这是他吹的牛。
现在说回真正的钓鱼。
比如说你在计划一次漫长而复杂的垂钓之旅。这不是一两天的旅程，而是一次垂钓探险。你不确定自己能抓到什么，但你要花一些时间努力抓到东西。
在对话中，“fishing expedition”与其十分相似，它是指全面搜索。虽然没有既定目标，但希望发现有用的证据或信息。
例如，如果一个警探在进行一次“fishing expedition”，她可能会询问所有接近犯罪现场的人。她并不知道他们中是否有人有罪或知道些什么，但她希望有人能提供犯罪证据。
现在，你也可以“fish（搜索、寻找）”许多东西了。
作家可以搜索一个好的故事构想。在找到可写的有趣内容之前，她可能会问许多人一些关于他们生活的笼统问题。
比如说，你的同事问了关于你个人生活的许多问题。他这么做没有明确的理由，只是在搜索你的信息。这让你很不舒服。
这应该是有理由的！这就是这个表达的问题。当我们去搜索信息、证据或其他东西时，我们的确在计划利用它。事实上，我们还可以寻找令我们自我感觉更好的东西。
如果我在“fishing for compliments（求夸奖）”，那就是指我想让你说我好话。比如我给了你一块我自己做的巧克力曲奇，你咬了一口时发出的声音表明你真的很喜欢吃。然后我问道：“我的曲奇怎么样？”我知道它们很好吃，我只是在求夸奖。
求夸奖的人通常会惹怒别人。但在这种情况下，你不会觉得觉得生气，毕竟你吃到了美味的曲奇！
说到美食，炸鱼是也是非常美味的。把鱼蘸上面糊，然后用油煎。鱼越大越好吃！
有趣的是，“to have bigger fish to fry”和鱼的烹饪没有一点关系。这个表达将重要的事情与小事进行对比。“have bigger fish to fry”的人没时间处理“小鱼”……我是说，问题。
现在，我们来听听两个同事（你可以这么说）在一段对话中用到的这些表达。
嘿，你多拿手电筒了吗？我的电池快没电了。
当然，我总是多带一个，以防万一。但我还有多余的电池，如果你想要的话。
给我手电筒就行。
我准备得这么充分是不是对你很有帮助？
嗯，现在不要求夸奖了，把螺丝刀递给我，我们没有多少时间开这个锁了！
嘿，我能问你个问题吗？昨天，咖啡馆的乔问了我许多问题，我感觉他在搜索关于我们职业的信息。你觉得他知道些什么吗？
乔？他什么都不知道。他问你什么了？
他想知道我白天干什么了、晚上都干嘛。然后他问我今晚做什么了，这很诡异。
听起来他在全面搜索，但你知道的，他也问我今晚有什么计划了。
你怎么和他说的？
我跟他说我要去读书俱乐部。
读书俱乐部？真的吗？他信了？！
嗯，他完全信了，一点都没有怀疑。
你不觉得这个借口有点可疑吗？我觉得这听起来很可疑。
我去读书俱乐部很可疑吗？很难相信我参加读书俱乐部吗？
不是！就是……
我读书的，你知道！！
你说得对，你说得对，抱歉。
谢谢。
我不是有意评判你的。
听着，忘掉它吧。现在我们有更重要的事要做。
你是什么意思？
“警察！你们已经被包围了！举手投降出来吧！”
哦不！警察！
这就是本期的《词汇掌故》节目。
如果你喜欢本周关于“鱼”的表达和两个银行抢劫犯的对话，请在评论区留言。
别担心，我们不是在求夸奖，我们只是想知道你们喜欢哪种故事！
我是布莱恩·林恩。
我是安娜·马特奥。
