(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.
This program explores the origin and uses of popular words and expressions in American English.
Today we explain how a common body part -- the neck -- is used in many English expressions.
A pain in the neck is a common complaint. The neck muscles hurt. Turning the head from left to right is difficult. Even the smallest movement becomes painful. No matter how it got that way, a sore neck hurts.
"Pain in the neck" is also common expression in American English. We use this expression to describe something or someone that gives you an irritated, uncomfortable feeling.
You know, like the couple that comes into a movie theater late. While the important first few minutes of the movie play, they step over everyone to get to the only seats available – in the middle of the row. They take off their coats and bags, blocking people's view of the movie screen. Then as they eat popcorn loudly, they begin talking.
"This movie better be as good as the book," one says.
"I know," says the other. "We paid a lot for these tickets!"
And so did everybody else! And the audience wants to enjoy the movie, not listen to these two pains in the neck.
This expression is not used only for people. Certain activities and events can be a pain in the neck.
For some, washing the dishes is a pain in the neck. Maybe for you, attending long, boring meetings at work is a pain in the neck. For me, remembering all my passwords is a pain in the neck.
But let's get back to annoying people. Annoying people can make us angry, so angry that we may want to wring their necks.
This is a common threat to say when we are angry at someone, as in this example: "She stole my idea for a book. I could just wring her scrawny, little neck!"
Sometimes we take the time to describe the neck we want to wring.
There are many types of annoying people whose neck you may want to wring – especially annoying people on the road.
Let's say you are driving along a highway. Traffic is moving quickly at first. Then cars start slowing down, almost to a standstill. You wonder what could be causing the delay.
Then you see it: An accident on the other side of the road. The cars involved have been pulled away, and all that is left is some broken glass, parts of some cars and two police officers.
The problem now is that people are slowing down to stare – to rubberneck.
Rubberneckers look at the damage from the accident instead of the road. They drive slowly and cause traffic delays. Rubberneckers and traffic delays are both pains in the neck.
Sometimes when a person rubbernecks, he is actually sticking his neck out of his car window. But doing that is different from the idiomatic phrase to stick your neck out.
To stick your neck out has several meanings.
It means to take a chance or a risk. You can stick your out neck out by investing a lot of money in a risky business deal.
To stick your neck out also means to put yourself at risk for someone else. For example, you could say, "Look, I really stuck my neck out for you. I could lose my job because I lied for you!"
This phrase also means to give an opinion that other people may not like or that other people are scared to give.
For example, "She really stuck her neck out at the meeting for saying what she did. Her views may not be politically popular but they do make sense."
Now, if you are up to your neck with something, you are either busy or in a very difficult situation. If you are up to your neck at the office, you are so busy with work you have little time for anything else.
And if you are up to your neck in debt, you owe a lot of money. When that happens, you may have the bank breathing down your neck. They keep calling and sending you nasty letters demanding their money back.
So, now you know that the expression to breathe down someone's neck is not romantic – even though it might sound like it.
But did you know that to neck, as a verb, is romantic? It means to kiss passionately. This expression was more popular years ago. But people still know what you mean if you say you saw a couple necking in the woods.
By the way, the word "neck" makes a very common informal phrase when paired with the word "woods."
Neck of the woods means a certain area or region. If I say, "Caiden comes from your neck of the woods" it means Caiden grew up near you. I could also say, "Hey, yesterday I was in your neck of the woods. I was going to stop, but didn't have time."
And finally, neck and neck is a very close competition. Let's say two people are trying to win a scholarship contest. Both have great grades and test scores, both have great volunteer activities and both speak a foreign language. You could say that in the competition they are neck and neck.
Now, let's listen to a short dialogue using some of these expressions.
Here's a little background information. Max and Celia are in an MBA program. As a final semester project, they are in a sales competition with their classmates. Let's listen and see how they are doing.
CELIA: "Okay, Max, we have one week left until the end of the sales competition. What's our number today?"
MAX: "Let's see ... as of today we have sold 567 magazine subscriptions."
CELIA: "That number is too low! We are neck and neck with Thomas and Meredith's team. If we want to win, we have to do better. What are doing today to sell more subscriptions?"
MAX: "Well, I have a list of businesses to call."
CELIA: "I thought you did that yesterday! What else are doing today?"
MAX: "Look, it doesn't help to have you breathing down my neck like this."
CELIA: "You're right. Sorry to be a pain in the neck. I just really want to win."
MAX: "Hey, isn't Meredith from your neck of the woods?"
CELIA: "Yes, we grew up together in the same neighborhood and have always been competitive with each other."
MAX: "That explains why you want to win so badly. But I do too. Don't forget. I really stuck my neck out getting this list of businesses to call. I had to guarantee my dad that we would win before he would share his private contacts with me."
CELIA: "You're right. Okay, you call the businesses. Right now, I'm up to my neck in phone calls, too. Let's meet after lunch to see how things are going."
And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.
You are now officially up to your neck in neck expressions. And if we did not give you a pain in the neck, join us again next week for more American English!
I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
1.step over 走近（某地），接近（某人）;跨过······
He would dive under one obstacle, round another, and lightly step over a third.
他会从一个障碍的下面冲过去，绕过另一个，再轻轻地跨过第三个。
2.angry at 因······而发怒，生······的气
She had been very angry at the person who stole her new bike
她很生气有人偷走了她的新自行车。
3.be busy with 忙于
By the end of this month we will be busy with company's salary report.
这个月的月底我们又将忙于做出公司职工的工资报表。
4.private contacts 私人通讯录
There is a PC at home, containing private contacts like a family addressbook.
有一个家庭电脑，里面有私人联系簿，比如家庭联系簿。
参考译文
现在是VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目时间。
本节目探讨美语中流行词汇和表达的起源和用法。
今天我们解释一个非常普通的身体部位——脖子，“脖子”在许多英语表达中都有使用。
脖子疼是常见的病。颈部肌肉受伤，左右转头都很困难。即使最轻微的动作都会觉得疼。不管是怎么弄成那样的，脖子疼。
“讨厌的人或事”也是美语里的一个常见表达。我们用这个短语形容某事或者某人让你有愤怒或者不舒服的情绪。
你知道，就像去电影院晚了的一对情侣。当最重要的开头几分钟放过了，他们经过每个人去坐那仅剩的的座位——在一排中间的座位。他们脱掉衣服，放下包，挡住人们看屏幕的视线。然后当他们大声吃爆米花的时候，他们开始聊起来。
“但愿这部电影和书里写得一样好。”其中一个说道。
“我知道，”另一个说。“这些票花了我们不少钱！”
每个人都是花了很多钱！大家想看电影，而不是听这两个讨厌鬼聊天。
这个短语不限于用来形容人。某些活动和大事也很令人讨厌。
对于一些人来说，洗盘子是一件很讨厌的事。也许对你来说，你讨厌参加时间长又很无聊的工作会议。对我来说，记住我的所有密码令我很痛苦。
让我们回到讨厌的人的话题，讨厌的人会让人生气，气到可能想扭断他们的脖子。
当我们对一个人很生气的时候，这是一种常见的威胁的话，正如这个例子：“她在一本书中盗用了我的想法。我能扭断她那干瘦的小脖子！”
有时我们会花时间来描述“我们想要扭的脖子”。
有许多种类型的你想要扭断脖子的讨厌鬼，特别是在路上遇到讨厌的人。
比方说你正在公路上开车。开始交通很顺畅。慢慢车速开始慢下来，几乎停滞了。你想知道是什么导致了延误。
然后你明白了：路另一边出了交通事故。涉事车辆已经被拉走了，剩下的只有一些玻璃碎片，一些车的碎片和两个警察官。
现在的问题在于人们减速观望——看热闹。
看热闹的人看着事故造成的破坏景象而不是道路。他们慢慢开车导致了交通延误。看热闹的人和交通延误都令人很讨厌啊！
有时当一个人扭头观望的时候，实际上他的头探出了车窗，但是那个动作和习语“把你的脖子伸出来”不一样。
“把你的脖子伸出来”有几种意思。
一种是冒险。你在这笔风险很大的生意上投了很多钱，这是一种冒险。
第二种意思是为别人冒风险。例如，你可以说，“看，我真是为你冒了很大风险，我替你撒了谎，这会丢掉工作的。”
第三种意思是给别人提对方可能不喜欢或者提别人不敢提的观点。
例如，“她在会上直言不讳地说了自己的所作所为。她的观点也许在政治上不够受欢迎，但确实很有道理。”
现在，“如果你陷入或被卷入某事”，你不是很忙就是处境非常艰难。如果你“陷在”办公室代表你工作很忙，一点其他时间都没有。
如果你“陷入”债务意思是你欠了很多钱，那时，也许银行就该紧盯着你不放了。他们不断给你打电话并寄给你还钱的讨厌信件。
所以，现在你知道所以，现在你知道“breathe down someone's neck”这个短语不浪漫了吧——虽然听起来有点。
但你知道“neck”作为动词很浪漫吗？它的意思是深情地接吻。这个表达几年前比较流行。但当你说看见一对情侣在树林里深情亲吻，人们还是懂你是什么意思的。
顺便一提，单词“neck”与单词“woods”搭配在一起使用是一种非常常见的非正式短语。
“Neck of the woods”意思是某一地区。如果我说，“凯顿和你一个地方的”，意思是凯顿长大的地方离你很近。我也可以说：“嘿，昨天我去你住的那边了，我本来想停下（去看你），但我没时间。”
最后，并驾齐驱是一场势均力敌的比赛。比方说两个人都有想赢奖学金竞赛。两个人都成绩很好而且考试分数也很高，都有很好的志愿者活动经历，都会说一种外语。你可以说，在这场竞赛中，他们难分高下。
现在，让我们来听一段包含部分这些表达的短对话。
这是一点背景信息。马克斯和西莉亚都参与了MBA项目。作为最后一个学期的项目，他们和他们的同学之间进行一场销售比赛。让我们来听听并看看他们的表现吧。
西莉亚：“马克斯，我们离销售比赛结束还有一周时间。今天我们的销售目标是多少？”
马克斯：“让我看看······到今天为止，我们卖了567本杂志。”
西莉亚：“那个数字太低了！我们和托马斯与梅雷迪思的团队差不多。如果我们想赢，我们得做得更好。今天要做的就是卖出更多的杂志？”
马克斯：“嗯，我有一份要打电话的公司名单。”
西莉亚：“我以为你昨天打过了！今天还有什么别的事要做？”
马克斯：“看，你这样盯着我是无济于事的。”
西莉亚：“你说得对。对不起让你讨厌了。我只是太想赢。”
马克斯：“嘿，梅雷迪思不是你那片的吗？”
西莉亚：“是的，我们在同一个社区长大，总是彼此竞争。”
马克斯：“那就难怪你为什么那么想赢了。但我也很想赢。别忘了。我弄到这份公司名单可是冒了很大风险。为了让我爸分享他的私人通讯录给我，我不得不和我爸保证赢得这场比赛。”
西莉亚：“你说得对。好的，你给企业打电话。现在，我也要忙着打电话了。午饭后我们看看事情进展怎么样。”
到了《词汇掌故》的节目尾声了。
你现在正式忙于关于“脖子”的表达了。如果你不讨厌我们，下周我们一起学习更多美语表达！
我是安娜·马特奥。
