听力文本

Hello and welcome to the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.

This is a program about the history of words and how we use them in conversation. Today we talk about the noun nitty-gritty.

Nitty-gritty is one of many rhyming compounds in the English language.

As with many rhyming compounds, nitty-gritty is informal. It is often used in casual conversation. It is a useful word that serves many purposes. When using it in a sentence, we often say "to get down to the nitty-gritty."

One meaning of nitty-gritty is the most important part or basic truth of any situation or subject. But, if you are not a fan of rhyming compounds or if you need to use a more formal word, you can use many other English expressions.

For example, nitty-gritty could be the heart and soul of a matter, the gist of a conversation or the essence of an argument. If you want to focus on only the most important part of a problem, you want to focus on the crux or core.

The nitty-gritty can also mean the bottom line or reality of a situation, as in this example:

The ideas behind planning a city are so interesting. I could talk about it all day!

I agree. But the city council needs to get down to the nitty-gritty. Washington, D.C. needs more apartments close to the Metro for young professionals moving here.

The nitty-gritty does not have to be part of a problem. Any matter or situation can have nitty-gritty.

The nitty-gritty can also mean the practical details that need to be finished. Used in this way, you can also say the nuts-and-bolts of a task or situation.

Here is another example.

We have talked about our vacation plans all week. Enough talk!

You're right. Now, let's get down to the nitty-gritty of booking flights and hotel rooms.

Nitty-gritty can also be used as an adjective. You can say someone is good at dealing with the nitty-gritty details of a problem.

In his song, "Jungle Gym," Jack Johnson sings about New York City being nitty-gritty. This song is from the 2006 movie Curious George.

It's a jungle gym The city's nitty gritty but it's so much fun We can take a ride go tell everyone It's a jungle gym.

As with many words, the origin of nitty-gritty is unclear. Even though it is commonly used, some word experts have debated about the political correctness of "nitty-gritty."

Some word historians say that nitty-gritty refers to the debris – or remains -- left on the floor of slave ships. This reference may make the word offensive to some people.

However, there is no written proof that nitty-gritty originated on the floors of slave ships. Many word historians say that the claim is an example of a mythical word origin trying to become fact.

British word experts have also researched the origins of "nitty gritty." Word historians on the British website The Phrase Finder say that nitty-gritty first appeared in 1937 as a musical composition. The song ‘That Nitty Gritty Dance' was copyrighted by Arthur Harrington Gibbs.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary says nitty-gritty was first used in 1956. The Online Etymology dictionary claims it was first used in the early 1960s, mainly by black jazz musicians.

But no one really knows for sure. What we do know is that these dates place the origin of the word long after slave ships and slavery in America.

We also know singer Shirley Ellis recorded "The Nitty Gritty" in 1963. It was a popular song and dance.

Let's listen to Shirley and get right down the real nitty-gritty. I'm Anna Matteo.

重点解析

1.serves many purposes 有多种用途
The tool serves many purposes.
这个工具有多种用途。

2.get down to 开始认真考虑
When you really get down to it, the noise and distractions aren’t really obstacles at all.
当你真正的开始认真考虑它的时候，嘈杂和干扰都不再是障碍。

3.not a fan of 不喜欢
I am not a fan of cold temperatures, but if she invited me over I would be booking my ticket straight away.
我并不喜欢低温，但如果她邀请我，我会立马订票的。

4.the gist of ...的要点
In this article, we kept this simple to convey the gist of the strategy.
在本文中，我们使用简单的代码来表达这种策略的要点。

参考译文

你好，欢迎来到VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目。

这是一档关于词语的历史及其在对话中的用法的节目。今天我们要来说一下nitty-gritty这个名词。

nitty-gritty是英语中许多的押韵复合词中的一个。

和许多押韵复合词一样，nitty-gritty是非正式用语。它常常在对话中使用。它还是有很多种意思的实用小短语。放在句子中时我们常常会说：“to get down to the nitty-gritty.”

nitty-gritty的一个很重要的意思就是事件最重要的部分，或者基本真理。但是，如果你不喜欢用押韵复合词，或者想要用更加正式的用法，你也能使用其他许多种英语表达。

比如，nitty-gritty可以指精神层面上的东西、对话的重点内容或者争议的焦点。如果你只想关注问题最重要的部分，你就是想要关注问题的症结或核心。

nitty-gritty还表示底线或者实际情况，比如在这个例子当中：

城市规划背后的理念非常有趣。我可以就这个话题说一天！

我同意。但是市议会也要认真考虑实际情况。华盛顿需要建设更多靠近地铁的公寓，以方便搬过来的年轻的专业人才。

nitty-gritty不一定用来指代一个问题的某部分。任何情况都可以用nitty-gritty来形容。

nitty-gritty还可以指需要完成的实践细节。或者你也可以用nuts-and-bolts of a task or situation来表达。

下面是另外一个例子。

我们整整一周都在说我们的周末计划。不要再说了！

你说得对。现在就落实到预定机票和宾馆的细节上来吧。

Nitty-gritty也可以做形容词。你可以形容某人很擅长处理问题上的一些细节。

在杰克·约翰森的歌曲《Jungle Gym》中，他唱到了纽约城市变得越来越细化。这首歌曲是2006年电影《好奇的乔治》的主题曲。

这是一个儿童攀登架。城市很大，但是很有趣。我们能开车告诉任何人。这里是儿童攀登架。

如同许多词语一样，nitty-gritty的起源很模糊。尽管这是很常用的短语，但是一些词汇专家对nitty-gritty的政治正确性存在争议。

一些词汇历史学家认为，nitty-gritty指的是奴隶船甲板上的碎片或是残余。该解释可能会使这个词冒犯到一些人。

但是，没有任何书面证据显示nitty-gritty的来源就是奴隶船的甲板。许多词汇历史学家表示，这种说法就是一个本身并不存在的词的起源，试图变为既定事实的一个例子。

英国词汇专家也研究了nitty gritty的起源。英国网站The Phrase Finder的一位词汇历史学家表示，在1937年，作为一首歌曲的曲目，nitty-gritty第一次出现。这首名为《That Nitty Gritty Dance》的歌曲版权归亚瑟·哈林顿·吉布斯所有。

韦氏词典表示，nitty-gritty第一次出现是在1956年。词源在线词典则声称，nitty-gritty第一次使用可以追溯到上世纪60年代，主要是黑人爵士音乐家在使用。

但并没有人确切知道哪一个是对的。我们只知道，这些时间点都是把这个词的起源，置于奴隶船和美国奴隶制出现以后。

我们还知道，1963年，歌手舍丽·艾丽丝录制了《The Nitty Gritty》。这是一首流行的舞曲。

下面让我们来欣赏一下舍丽的这首歌曲，了解一下真实的nitty-gritty。我是安娜·马特奥。