(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, the VOA Learning English program, Words and Their Stories.
In the English language, some animals have come to represent human characteristics. Lions are brave. Foxes are tricky. And elephants are loyal, just to name a few.
Then there are chickens.
The English language has many chicken idioms and expressions. And, for the most part, none of them represent anything good.
For example, a chicken can describe someone who is scared or afraid. Children commonly tease each other about being chicken. They often use actual chicken noises to make the teasing even more descriptive.
The phrasal verb chicken out has a similar meaning. If you "chicken out," you decide not to do something because you are too scared.
For example, let's say you and your friends are at a party. They dare you to go on stage and sing with the band that is playing. "No problem," you say. You're not chicken, you tell yourself. But as you walk toward the stage, sweat starts dripping down your back. Your heart beats faster. Without realizing it, you are backing away from the stage and running toward the restroom.
You have chickened out.
There are other ways in English to insult someone using chicken expressions.
If you are running around like a chicken with its head cut off you are acting in a crazy way. You don't seem in control of your mind or body. This comes from the gruesome fact that sometimes when a chicken's head is cut off, its body can still run around before it dies.
You can use this expression in many situations. To use another party example, let's say you are planning a big party for a friend. You are in charge of inviting guests, choosing the food and drinks, decorations and entertainment. So, you are in charge of everything! You have a lot to do.
So, you ask your best friend, Christopher, to help. But he's not a big help. All he can think about is who he's inviting to the party. You see, his girlfriend is out of town. So, he invites a woman he's been dating secretly, Liza. You warn him that this could backfire. But he doesn't care.
The day of the party comes. And things start going wrong almost immediately.
The florist sends funeral flowers instead of the bright party flowers you ordered. The food you ordered is frozen and will not be ready for at least another day. The drinks are warm because you don't have enough ice. And the lead singer of the band is sick.
You run around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to fix all the problems. When the food delivery man hands you a bill for the food no one can eat yet, you tell him you can't read it. His handwriting is like chicken scratch. If someone is a really messy writer, you can compare their handwriting to the markings that chickens make on the ground with their feet -- we call that chicken scratch.
Finally, you calm down.
You ask a friend to buy more ice for you. You ask another friend to order some pizzas. And then you ask your Uncle Fred to sing with the rock band. He's older than they are, but he still sings really well.
"Well, I'm no spring chicken," he says, "but I'll do my best!"
If someone is old, we can say they are no spring chicken. This expression is informal and could be insulting. So, use it with care. Most importantly, we always use this expression in the negative. You would not call someone who is young "a spring chicken."
This leads us to another chicken idiom. This one is not an insult, but it does describe a bad situation.
What happens when your chickens come home to roost?
First, what is to roost? To roost means to settle down for rest or sleep. We usually use it when talking about birds. Chickens usually return to their homes to rest. When we say your chickens have come home to roost, we are saying that your past wrongdoings have returned to negatively affect you. In this expression, the chickens represent the things you did wrong in your past.
For this idiom, let's use your best friend Christopher. One of his "chickens" is that he's been secretly dating Liza. In fact, this "chicken" comes to the party. And so does his girlfriend -- the girlfriend he thought was out of town. She sees Christopher and Liza dancing closely together and demands to know what is going on!
His girlfriend yells at him. Then Liza yells at him. Then they both yell at him. It's awful. You could say to Christopher, "Well, I warned you. And now your chickens have come home to roost!"
But you don't say this. He's your friend. And nobody likes to hear, "I told you so."
Like we said earlier, we usually use "chicken" in a negative way -- well, except with this last example. You may have heard people ask: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
We ask this question when talking about a cause-and-effect relationship between two things where we don't know which happened first. What is the cause and what is the effect?
We often shorten it to simply chicken-and-egg. You can call something a chicken-and-egg situation or a chicken-and-egg problem.
Here is how to use it. Let's say you don't like math. You don't do very well in the subject at school. You could say, it's a chicken-and-egg kind of thing. You don't know which came first. Do you dislike math because you're not good at it? Or are not good at math because you don't like it?
This is a classic chicken-and-egg situation.
So, back to the party. People are enjoying the pizza, the drinks are cold and Uncle Fred is rocking out with the band. People are even having fun taking their picture with the "R.I.P." ribbons in the funeral flowers. Everyone is having a good time.
Well, everyone but Christopher. He's still busy dealing with his roosting chickens.
That's the end of this Words and Their Stories.
What does the chicken represent in your language?
Do they represent good things, bad or both? Let us know in the Comments Section!
I'm Jonathan Evans ...
... and I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
1.without realizing it 不经意的，不知不觉中
Everyday, without realizing it, I pass people whom I should know.
每一天，不经意的，我与我该认识的人擦肩而过。
2.be in charge of 负责，管理
He will be in charge of all hiring and firing at PHA.
他将负责公共房产管理局所有人员的雇用和解聘事务。
3.be no spring chicken 不年轻了;老大不小,不再年轻
I don't know his age, but he's no spring chicken.
我不知道他有多大年龄，但他决不是一个黄毛小子了。
4.I told you so 我曾告诉你;我早就说过;我告诉过你;告诉过你;我早就告诉过你
There will be certain people who'll say 'I told you so!'
一定有人会说：“我怎么跟你说来着！”
参考译文
现在是VOA《词汇掌故》节目时间。
在英语里，有些动物代表人的性格。狮子代表勇敢。狐狸代表狡猾。大象代表忠诚，仅列举几例。
然后还有鸡（chickens）。
英语里有很多和鸡相关的习语和表达。而且，大部分这些习语和表达代表好的事物。
例如，鸡可以形容某人受到惊吓或者感到害怕。孩子们通常会彼此嘲笑受到惊吓的孩子。他们经常发出鸡叫声以使他们的嘲笑更形象。
动词短语chicken out（临阵退缩）也有着类似的意思。如果你临阵退缩，你决定不去做某事因为你害怕。
例如，假设你和你朋友参加了一个聚会。他们激你去台上和乐队一起唱歌。“没问题，”你说。你告诉自己不要害怕。但是当你走向舞台的时候，你背上开始冒汗。你心跳加快。不知不觉，你从舞台上退了回来，跑向了洗手间。
你临阵退缩了。
英语里还有其他用“chicken”相关的表达的方式来侮辱人。
如果你像一只无头鸡一样到处跑的话，你正行为疯狂。你似乎无法控制自己的大脑或者身体。这个表达源于一个恐怖的事实：有时当一只鸡的头被砍掉后，在它死去之前，它的身体仍然能到处乱跑。
你可以在许多情境里使用这个表达。我们再用另一个聚会的例子，假设你正为你的朋友策划一场大型聚会。你负责邀请宾客，挑选食物和饮料，装饰和娱乐活动。所以，你负责一切！你有很多事要做。
所以，你请求你最好的朋友克里斯托弗来帮忙。但是他帮不了大忙。他脑子里想的都是他要邀请来参加聚会的那个人。你知道他女朋友出城了。所以，他邀请了一个他一直在偷偷约会的女人，丽莎。你警告他这可能引火上身。但是他不在乎。
聚会的日子到来了。事情几乎马上就开始出问题了。
花店送来了送葬花而不是你订的鲜艳的派对花。你订的是冰冻的食物，至少还要一天才能解冻使用。饮料是常温的，因为你没有足够的冰。而且，乐队主唱病了。
你忙得像无头苍蝇一样以求搞定所有问题。当食品送货员给你那些没人能吃的食物账单时，你告诉他你看不懂。他的笔迹像“鬼画符（chicken scratch）”。如果某人真的是一个字写得乱七八糟的人，你可以把他们的笔迹比喻成地上的鸡爪印——我们称之为“chicken scratch”。
最后，你冷静下来了。
你让一个朋友替你买更多的冰。你请求另一个朋友订一些披萨。然后你让你的弗雷德舅舅叔叔和摇滚乐队一起唱歌。他比他们都大，但是他仍然唱得很棒。
“嗯，我不是小年轻（be no spring chicken）了，”他说，“但我会尽力的！”
如果某人年纪大了，我们可以说他们不年轻了。这个表达是非正式的，可能是有冒犯性的。所以，谨慎使用。最重要的是，我们总是在否定句中使用这个表达。你不会称呼一个年轻人为“a spring chicken”。
这引出了我们另一个“chicken”习语。这个习语不侮辱人，但是它的确形容一个糟糕的境况。
当你自食恶果（your chickens come home to roost）的时候会怎样？
首先，什么是“roost（栖息）”？“roost”意思是停下来休息或睡觉。通常我们谈论鸟类的时候会用到这个词。鸡通常会回到鸡窝睡觉。当我们说“your chickens have come home to roost”，我们是说你过去的错误行为反过来给你带来了消极影响。在这个表达中，“chickens”代表你过去做的错事。
至于这个习语，让我们用你最好的朋友克里斯托弗来举例子。他的过错（“chickens”）之一就是他一直在和丽莎秘密约会。实际上，这个“过错”参加了聚会。并且，他的女朋友也来了——那个他以为出了城的女朋友。她看见克里斯托弗和丽莎一起很亲密得跳舞，于是要求知道怎么个情况。
他的女朋友对他大喊大叫。然后，丽莎对他大喊大叫。然后，她俩都冲他喊。太可怕了。你可以对克里斯托弗说，“好吧，我警告过你。现在你自食恶果了吧！”
但是你没有这么说。他是你的朋友。而且，没人喜欢听，“我早就告诉过你了。”
如我们之前所说，我们经常在否定句中使用“chicken”——嗯，除了最后这个例子。你也许会过别人问：“是先有鸡还是先有蛋？”
当谈论两件事物的因果关系时我们会问道这个问题，因为我们不知道哪个在前，哪个是因，哪个是果？
我们经常简称之为“chicken-and-egg（难分因果关系的）”。你可以称某事物是一种难分因果关系的状况或者问题。
以下是它的使用方法。假设你不喜欢数学。你在学校这门科不太好。你可以说，这是一个先有鸡还是先有蛋类的事情。你不知道先有哪个。你不喜欢数学是因为你不擅长数学？还是你不擅长数学所以你不喜欢数学？
这是一个经典的难分因果关系的情况。
那么，回到聚会。人们很喜欢披萨，饮料是冰的，弗雷德叔叔正和乐队一起狂欢。人们甚至和葬礼花上“愿逝者安息（requiescant in pace=R.I.P.）”的丝带照相取乐。每个人都玩得很开心。
嗯，每个人都很开心除了克里斯托弗。他还在忙着处理他的过错。
到了《词汇掌故》的尾声了。
在你的语言里，“chicken”代表什么？
是代表好的事物吗，还是有好有坏？在评论区告诉我们！
我是乔纳森·埃文斯。
我是安娜·马特奥。
