(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Hello and welcome to another Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
Each week we tell the story of words and expressions used in American English.
Today, we talk about two phrases that were ripped from the headlines, meaning they both came into the language from news events that were covered extensively in the press.
The first is Stockholm syndrome. Stockholm is, of course, a big city in Sweden. Syndrome is a condition.
Stockholm syndrome is a type of brainwashing, a psychological condition. It describes a situation where a person held captive develops positive feelings toward their captors.
This expression comes from a failed bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden. In August of 1973 bank robbers held four employees captive in the bank for six days.
In time, the captives developed a strong connection with their captors. One captive allegedly said she was afraid the police would try to rescue them and endanger the captors.
You may hear the phrase Stockholm syndrome in news reports where kidnapped people refuse to leave their captors after living in captivity for a long time. Fearing for their lives, these people have learned how to survive the best way they can. Connecting with their captors is their coping mechanism.
We also use Stockholm syndrome to describe people who stay in unhealthy and sometimes even abusive relationships.
A famous example of Stockholm syndrome here in the U.S. relates to a wealthy heiress named Patty Hearst. In 1974 a group called the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Hearst, the 19-year-old grand-daughter of a wealthy newspaper owner.
Several weeks after her kidnapping, Hearst helped her captors rob a bank in California. Then she ran from authorities. Finally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Hearst, and lawyers charged her with armed bank robbery.
Hearst said she was a victim of brainwashing. She claimed she was abused by her captors and afraid for her life. Many professionals said she suffered from Stockholm syndrome. The court, however, did not agree. She was sentenced to 35 years in jail, but she only served two.
With help, people who are brainwashed can unlearn this coping mechanism. However, recovery is much more difficult for those who have drunk the Kool-Aid.
Let's say someone believes in something with all their heart and soul. That something can be a social cause, a political movement or the person in charge. If they are so wrapped up in the cause, movement or person – to the point where they are unable to think for themselves – we say they have drunk the Kool-Aid.
But what is Kool-Aid and how does drinking it relate to brainwashing?
Kool-Aid is a flavored, sweet drink that was once very popular with American children. However, to drink the Kool-Aid is to accept the beliefs of another person or organization completely.
This expression comes from a very dark, disturbing event that happened in 1978.
An American named Jim Jones was operating a utopian community in Guyana, South America called Jonestown. But according to former members and eyewitnesses, Jonestown was not a utopia. It was a cult and a prison. Members were not allowed to leave nor were they fed properly. And Jones claimed the role of father figure over everyone.
Former members of the cult who managed to escape asked the U.S. government to get involved. So, U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan and several journalists went to Guyana to investigate. At the airport as the group was preparing to leave, a cult member shot at the group. On the runway, he killed Ryan, several journalists and a fleeing cult member.
Before the U.S. government could act, Jim Jones asked his followers to kill themselves by drinking a sweet, flavored beverage. The drink contained poison. More than 900 of his followers drank it -- some willingly, some forced.
The massacre led to the expression "don't drink the Kool-Aid."
As an historical note, the beverage that contained the poison was not actually Kool-Aid but another similar brand called Flavor-Aid. This detail, however, does not change the expression. Nor does its terrible origin stop people from using it.
In fact, in 2012 editors at Forbes included "drink the Kool-Aid" in that magazine's List of Most Annoying Business Jargon.
Despite the dark origins of both "drink the Kool-aid" and "Stockholm syndrome," they are both used today in serious and non-serious situations.
I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
1.coping mechanism 应对机制;应付机制;机能;应对机转;适应机制
But this final coping mechanism can no longer keep us going, either.
然而,这最后一个应对机制也无法再保证我们继续前行了
。2.be sentenced to 徒刑;被宣判为;判处了死刑;被判刑;宣判
He could be sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the most serious crime that he committed.
最严重的罪状可能使他被判处十年徒刑
。3.wrapped up in 全神贯注
He's too serious and dedicated, wrapped up in his career.
他太严肃、太专注,一心扑在事业上
。4.Business Jargon 商业术语;商业俚语;行话;商业行话
Many business books are heavier on jargon than on wisdom, executives often complain.
商界管理人员常常抱怨说,许多商业著作里的术语多过学问
。参考译文
这里是VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目
。每周我们都会给大家讲解美式英语里的单词和表达
。今天,我们要聊两个摘自标题的短语,这意味着这两个短语都出自媒体广泛报道的新闻事件
。第一个是斯德哥尔摩综合症(Stockholm syndrome)
。当然,斯德哥尔摩是瑞典的一个大城市 。综合征是一种症状 。斯德哥尔摩综合症是一种洗脑
。一种心理状态 。它描述的是被劫持者(captive)对劫持者(captors)产生积极情绪的状况 。这个表达出自瑞典斯德哥尔摩一次失败的银行抢劫案
。1973年8月,抢劫犯在银行挟持了四名员工并待了六天 。最终,人质和抢劫犯们随着时间的推移建立了牢固的情感联系
。据说一名人质曾说,她害怕警察会营救他们从而让抢劫犯置于危险境地 。你也许在新闻报道里听过这个词,报道中,被绑架者在遭受长时间囚禁后拒绝离开绑架者
。出于害怕丢掉性命,这些人清楚让自己存活下去的最佳方法 。和劫持者建立情感联系是他们的应对机制(coping mechanism) 。我们也用斯德哥尔摩综合症形容那些处在一段糟糕甚至有时遭受虐待的感情里的人
。美国一个有名的斯德哥尔摩综合症案例与一位名叫帕蒂·赫斯特的富有女继承人有关
。1974年, 恐怖组织“共生解放军”绑架了赫斯特,19岁的赫斯特是一个富有报社老板的孙女 。赫斯特被绑架几周以后,协助绑匪抢劫了加利福利亚的一家银行,随后潜逃
。最终,被联邦调查局逮捕,律师指控她持械抢劫银行 。赫斯特说她是被洗脑的受害者
。她声称自己被绑匪虐待,害怕被杀死 。许多专业人士说她患上了斯德哥尔摩综合症 。然而法庭不同意这种说法 。她被判入狱(be sentenced to)35年,但她仅服刑了两年 。被洗脑的人可以在人为帮助下解除这种应对机制
。但是,和那些盲目信仰(drink the Kool-Aid)的人相比,他们恢复起来要困难得多 。假设某人全身心信仰某事物
。这个某事物可以是一份社会事业,一个政治行动或者某个负责人 。如果他们对事业,行动或者某个人太专注——到了他们不在乎自己的程度——我们说他们是盲目信仰(drunk the Kool-Aid) 。但什么是“Kool-Aid”以及饮用它和洗脑有什么关联呢?
“Kool-Aid”是一种甜味饮料,一度很受美国孩子们的喜欢
。但是,“drink the Kool-Aid”是指完全接受另一个人或者一个团体的信仰 。这个表达出自1978年的一个非常黑暗和令人恐慌的事件
。一个叫吉姆·琼斯的美国人在南美洲的圭亚那创办了一个叫做琼斯镇的理想社区
。但根据前成员和目击者说,琼斯镇不是一个理想国,而是一个邪教和监狱 。成员们被禁止离开,饮食也不合理 。琼斯对宣扬每个人自己教主的角色 。成功逃离这个邪教的成员请求美国政府介入
。于是美国众议员利奥·瑞安和几个记者前往圭亚那调查 。当一行人在机场准备离开时,一个教派成员开枪射向了这些人 。在飞机跑道上,他杀死了瑞安和几个记者和一个逃跑的教派成员 。在美国政府行动之前,吉姆·琼斯让他的信众喝一种甜味饮料自杀
。饮料掺了毒 。900多名信众喝下了饮料——一些是自愿的,一些是被逼的 。这场集体式自杀导致了短语“don't drink the Kool-Aid(不要喝酷爱/不要盲目信仰)”的诞生
。据史料记载,有毒的饮料实际上不是“Kool-Aid”,而是另一种类似的叫做“Flavor-Aid”牌子饮料
。然而这个细节并没有改变这个短语的表达,而且它的可怕来源也没有妨碍人们使用这个短语 。实际上,2012年,《福布斯》的编辑们将“盲目信仰”列入了该杂志最烦人的商业行话清单
。虽然今天的这两个表达都有着黑历史,但是今天它们仍然在严肃和不严肃场合使用
。我是安娜·马特奥
。