(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 in American English – where they come from and how to use them.
Today we leave the mainstream -- the majority. We go to the edge of society – to the lunatic fringe.
Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines lunatic fringe as "members of a political or social group or movement who have the most extreme or foolish ideas".
It is the radical part of a group or political party. Two other words that describe people who are part of the lunatic fringe are fanatics and zealots.
But now, let's look at the word "lunatic".
Lunatics are mentally unstable people or people who behave very foolishly. The root of lunatic is "luna," Latin for "moon." The Old French "lunatique" means "insane." The Online Etymology Dictionary explains that in the late 13th century, people who were mentally unstable were thought to be affected by changes of the moon.
Now, the word "fringe" has several meanings.
For example, fringe can be a decorative border. Curtains, pillows, tablecloths and clothing are all things that can have fringe. This meaning goes back hundreds of years.
Fringe can also mean to be on the outer edge of something. For example, the family lived on the fringe of a national park. This is an actual area where their property meets the park.
But you can also be on the fringe of something that you can't physically touch. For example, my friend who lives in Los Angeles has worked on the fringe of the entertainment industry for many years.
Fringe theater is theater that is experimental in style or subject matter. There are fringe theater festivals all over the world. One difference between fringe festivals and traditional arts festivals is the way performers are chosen. Usually, traditional festivals include a selection process. However, most fringe festivals do not. It is usually a first come, first served process.
As a result, you can see some strange and different theater performances at a fringe festival. They are definitely not mainstream.
The term comes from Scotland's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. According to the festival's website, it dates back to 1947.
That year, eight uninvited theater groups came to perform at the recently formed Edinburgh International Festival. They weren't part of the official festival. But this did not stop the performers. They performed on the fringe, or edge, of the official festival.
That is the meaning of fringe that is part of today's expression – lunatic fringe.
The Online Etymology Dictionary says that, in the late 1800s, "lunatic fringe" described a type of hairstyle for young women. Women with this hairstyle wore their hair straight across their forehead.
These days, in American English, we call the hair that falls over the forehead "bangs". There are several examples of writers in the late 1800s using the phrase "lunatic fringe" to mean a hairstyle.
However, word historians give former President Theodore Roosevelt credit for today's meaning of "lunatic fringe."
In 1913, shortly after a failed attempt to become president again, Roosevelt wrote about an art exhibit of painters. These artists painted in ways no one had seen before. At the time, they were the "lunatic fringe" of the art world.
This paragraph is from Roosevelt's writing titled, "History as Literature".
"... we have to face the fact that there is apt to be a lunatic fringe among the votaries (loyal followers) of any forward movement. In this recent art exhibition the lunatic fringe was fully in evidence, especially in the rooms devoted to the Cubists and the Futurists, or Near-Impressionists."
We cannot guarantee that Theodore Roosevelt was the first to borrow this expression from a women's hair salon and use it in another type of salon -- one where important conversations of the day take place.
But he does get the credit for making lunatic fringe more mainstream.
And that's the end of this Words and Their Stories.
I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
1.a selection process 筛选过程
Under the new civil service legislation, assistant ministers and deputy state secretaries are hired through a competitive selection process, paving the way for continuity in civil service.
根据新的公务员法，助理部长和副部长的任命将通过竞争性的选拔程序，为行政事务的延续性铺平了道路。
2.first come, first served 先到先招待；先来后到；先到的先招待；近水楼台先得月
The rule in the restaurant is first come, first served.
餐馆的规矩是先到先招待。
3.give credit for 相信······具有(某种优良品质);称赞;认可
I do give credit for Cotto for wanting to fight Martinez, but it's pretty obvious that Arum won't bless this fight because of how good Martinez is.
我的确相信库托真的想同马丁比赛，但是相当明显，阿鲁姆不渴望这场比赛，因为他知道马丁内兹有多棒。
4.get the credit for 获得荣誉
Soldiers usually win the battles and generals get the credit for them.
士兵们赢得战斗，而将军们获得荣耀。
参考译文
这里是VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目。
我们的节目探讨美式英语里的常用表达：它们出自哪里以及怎样使用。
今天我们脱离主流群体，也就是大多数人。我们聊聊社会边缘——极端分子团体（lunatic fringe）。
韦氏词典网络版将“lunatic fringe”定义为“有最极端或者愚蠢想法的政治成员或者社会组织或者运动团体”。
极端分子团体是一个团体或者一个政治党派的激进分子部分。另外两个形容这些极端分子团体成员的词是“fanatics（狂热信徒）”和“zealots（狂热分子）”。
现在让我们来看看单词“lunatic（狂人）”。
“lunatic”是精神错乱的人或者行为极其愚笨的人。“lunatic”的词根是“luna”，拉丁语是“月亮（moon）”的意思。古法语里，“lunatique”意思是“精神失常的”。在线词源词典解释说，那是因为13世纪晚期，精神失常的人被认为是受月亮变化的影响。
再来说说单词“fringe”，它有好几个意思。
例如，“fringe”可以表示“缘饰”。窗帘、枕头，桌布和衣服都是可有缘饰的事物。这个意思可以追溯到几百年前。
“fringe”也可以表示“在某事物的边缘”。例如，这个家族住在一个国家公园的边上。是他们的房屋与公园相接的一片实际区域。
但你也可以处在一些身体接触不到的边缘。例如，我那住在洛杉矶的朋友一直在娱乐业外围工作了很多年。
“fringe theater（实验戏剧）”是在形式或者主题方面进行实验的戏剧。世界各地都有艺穗节（fringe theater festivals）。艺穗节和传统艺术节日的一个区别是所选择的表演方式的不同。通常，传统艺术节日包括一个选拔流程（a selection process）。但是，大部分实验戏剧没有这个环节。它们一般是先到先得（first come, first served）的流程。
因此，你能在艺穗节上看见一些新奇的戏剧表演，绝对不是主流表演形式。
这个短语出自苏格兰的爱丁堡艺穗节。依据艺穗节的网站，这个短语源自1947年。
那年，八个未受邀的戏剧团体在刚成立的爱丁堡国际艺术节上进行表演。他们不是官方节日表演的一部分。但这难不倒那些表演者。他们在官方节日表演的外围表演。
这也是我们今天的表达——“lunatic fringe（极端分子团体）”里“fringe”的意思。
在线词源词典显示，在18世纪晚期，“lunatic fringe”是年轻女子的一种发型。这种发型的女人，她们的前额头发梳得直直的。
现如今的美语里，我们把垂在额头的头发称为“刘海（bangs）”。19世纪晚期有好几个作家使用短语“lunatic fringe”表示发型意思的例子。
但是，文字学家称赞了前总统西奥多·罗斯福关于“lunatic fringe”现在意思的的用法。
1913年，在试图连任总统失败后不久，罗斯福写了一本关于画家艺术展览的书。这些画家的画法前所未见。在当时，他们是艺术世界的边缘人物。
下面这段摘自罗斯福题为为“History as Literature”的作品。
“······我们不得不面的这样一个事实：任何先进运动中都有接近于狂热分子的的信徒（忠实的拥护者）。在最近的艺术展览中，狂热展现得淋漓尽致，尤其体现在立体派和未来主义者，或是印象派的专用展览室内。”
我们不能保证西奥多·罗斯福是第一次将这个表达从女人的发型沙龙借用到另一个沙龙上——一个一天之中的重要谈话都在这里进行的沙龙。
但他确实因为让“lunatic fringe”这个表达变得更为主流而得到了赞誉。
今天的《词汇掌故》节目就到此结束了。
我是安娜·马特奥。
