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Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories. On this show, we explore the origins and usage of common expressions in American English.

During September in the United States — and in many places around the world — children are going back to school.

Even if your school days have long passed, you may remember this time of the year well: the smell of books and pencils, the sound of your footsteps as you enter a strange classroom, the nervous feeling in your stomach as you meet your new teacher.

Naturally, we all want to do well in school and life. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. So, today we are going to talk about both. The expressions you will hear in today's program are commonly used in a classroom. But, they can also be used in other situations.

Let's start with the bad situations first.

Now, as you probably know, a bomb is something that blows things up. In American slang, when something bombs, it fails completely. So, if you fail a test, you bombed it.

We also often use "bomb" this way when talking about movies, plays or performing. For example, if a comedian is on stage telling jokes but no one is laughing, you can say his jokes are bombing. Afterward, if you are feeling very mean, you could say to him, "Wow, you really bombed."

Now, let's say nobody goes to the new superhero movie, you can say it bombed at the box office. The box office is where people buy their movie tickets. In this case, they were buying tickets for a dud or a flop. These two words are often used to describe a form of entertainment that failed in its purpose -- to entertain.

Even a party that bombs can be called a dud or a flop. And if a class you are taking is boring or useless, you could call it a "a real dud."

Now, let's go back to bombing.

Please take note that when the word "bomb" is a verb, it means to fail.

As a slang expression, however, "the bomb" often describes something really good. For example, if a high school student wears a new pair of sneakers to school, his friends could say, "Those shoes are the bomb!" That means they are great -- in a cool, awesome kind of way.

But please be careful: using "the bomb" this way is extremely casual and would not be appropriate to use in a formal situation. For example, let's say your boss wears a new suit to an important meeting. It might not be a good career move to say to her, "That outfit is the bomb! You look awesome!"

And making comments about a bomb at a U.S. airport could get you arrested.

So, as we said, be careful!

Now, let's talk about expressions to use when you do something really well.

Let's say you did well on a test. You got 100% correct. You aced it! You can also say that you passed with flying colors.

The last expression might make you think of a big celebration — like maybe your parents celebrated your passing grade by lighting colorful fireworks.

But you would be wrong.

Word experts seem to agree that the expression "to pass with flying colors" comes from the military. In this case, "pass" doesn't mean to succeed, but to travel. And "colors" doesn't mean shades like red or blue, but flags.

According to the website The Phrase Finder, "pass with flying colors" originally describes winning ships sailing into port "with flags flying from all the mastheads." By around 1700, the phrase was being used to describe any kind of victory.

That means you can use "pass with flying colors" when you are being graded on a test or course, but also in a situation that is out of your control -- such as a medical exam.

Let's say you are nervously waiting in a doctor's exam room for the results of a blood test. The doctor may come in and say, "Don't worry! I'm looking at the results of your blood test and you passed with flying colors!" It's not as if you studied for your blood test and then did well on it. So, this is the doctor's way of being lighthearted or funny.

And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories! We here at VOA Learning English hope you pass your next exam with flying colors — or at least we hope you don't bomb on your next project!

I'm Anna Matteo.

重点解析

1.get/have butterflies in your stomach：(informal) get/have a nervous feeling in your stomach before doing something （做某事前）心慌，紧张，心里七上八下

I always get butterflies in my stomach before an interview.

面试前我总是心里直打鼓KCAqoZibqt。

2.take note 重视，注意

Take note of what I say and do not forget it.

注意听我的话，不要忘记YOd++aw.a._nBGUH=h。

3.flying colors 显著的胜利;飘扬的旗帜;胜利

So far McAllister seemed to have passed all the tests with flying colors.

到目前为止，麦卡利斯特似乎所有的考试都考得非常好LdOXu-ZgBxtS2I。

参考译文

这里是VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目K]W^zu1#[kORo||。本节目探讨美式英语里常用表达的来源与用法Jx9V97~[Ka#S。

美国以及世界许多地方9月份期间，孩子们要回到校园上学gu!VyN;.C_;r。

即使你上学的日子已经过去很久了，你也许记得一年的这个时候：书本和铅笔的味道、踏进一间奇怪教室的脚步声、见新老师前的心慌（the nervous feeling in your stomach）5W[n#k)NrYg。

理所应当，我们都想要在学校和生活中表现出色I!(D(&I9f~。有时候，我们会，有时不会PB0YInCKgnxGHNdj。那么今天我们两者都要来畅聊一下i[XuwnX!5Yk2qU.Sa6。你将在今天的节目里听到的表达在教室里很常用y=7MXWZAk=GdR3M。但是，它们也能被用在其他情景中L)5EoZHe~JEgUo_e。

让我们先从糟糕的情景开始cp33T23J#S**+N。

现在，如你所知，炸弹（bomb）能炸毁东西@]GbviOlW4-l-P3;yHE。在美国俚语中，当某事惨败（bomb）时，这件事情彻底失败了zw#&6GXaa.-U。所以，如果你考试没及格，你考砸了&)nwRXQ~uI^PO7b^。

当我们谈论电影，戏剧或者表演的时候，我们通常也用“bomb”的这种用法V8p.-J-[QFj。例如，一个喜剧演员站在台上讲笑话，但是没有人笑，你可以说他的笑话很失败)Dky9iV0*MqF。之后，如果你觉得很生气，你可以对他说，“哇，你真得演砸了j3X.0Jz*l8GI3(78。”

现在，假设没有人去看新的超级英雄电影，你可以说，这部电影票房惨败|C.Zv^.]XOk。“box office（售票中心）”是人们买电影票的地方s(lDBn,G6mJ3e_5。在这个例子中，他们为一部失败（a dud 或 a flop）的电影买票5VK&0LdciN7_-。这两个单词经常被用来形容一种娱乐形式没有实现它的娱乐的目的E6rfqejIJ6。

即使一场失败的聚会也可以被称为一大败笔（a dud 或是 a flop）-on53eBmYq5IiH。如果你正在上无聊或者没用的课，你可以说这个课“枯燥无味（a real dud）”JZVF#ix+nXCQYTE。

现在，让我们回到“bomb”的话题上.8mQhP*_@Nx+c3E(S。

请注意：当单词“bomb”用作动词时，它的意思是失败（fail）;O^*92~5a%tX(C;&。

但作为一个俚语，“the bomb”通常形容某事物特别好rftt9z9Qi^F!os3。例如，如果一位高中生穿了一双新运动鞋去学校，他的朋友可以说，“这鞋真好！”那意思是这双鞋很棒，很酷，很惊艳#KI.w*gGoGS,M]PYkH。

但是请注意：“the bomb”的这种用法为非正式用法，所以在正式场合不宜使用iSHAOwG7sb.c#mN^Zm。比如你的老板在一次重要的会议上穿了一套新西装，如果这个时候你对她说：“That outfit is the bomb! You look awesome!（你这身套装太妖了，真得很惊艳！）”那么你很有可能会被老板炒鱿鱼LPtSvFB_wL=。

在美国机场谈及炸弹（bomb）你可能会被逮捕Cnv;kYHf6C*BLE-H0q3。

因此，如我们所说，小心使用！

现在， 当你某事做得很棒的时候，让我们来谈论下这些表达的用法2k-pQpLPytQYUPidJe。

假设你考试考得很好)WW1dq8p,!;ezY。你全都做对了L;bOSkyhe)!Qn4@(qLd)。你考了高分！你也可以说你考得非常好（pass with flying colors）6@OMR2gwqu,IfD。

上个表达也许会让你想到一场盛大的庆祝活动——也许像你父母点燃五颜六色的焰火庆祝你考试及格JDF59++,^6@GBvA7,Q#。

但是你错了Ph2^Ie,KVIb%kLfJLOi。

文字学专家也许同意“to pass with flying colors”这个表达出自军队的说法kl#UCwHX@]Ly-x^+。在这种情况下，“pass”不是成功的意思，而是“传递”的意思m1KNSJE+pwgAVVXc。“colors”指的不是如红色或者蓝色的色度，而是旗帜DQZXmC6tZRT。

依据“短语查找器”网站，“pass with flying colors”形容“所有桅杆上都飘扬着旗帜的获胜船只驶入港口”v)VvoTBg1i。到1700年左右，这个短语被用来形容任何形式的胜利;Cjf=k*j!]BqJzlh0sV。

那意味当你通过测试或者课程的时候，你可以用“pass with flying colors”，但也可以用在你不可控的情境下，比如体检（a medical exam）的时候#Lpe)as9%XLIxbV;d。

假设你正在医生检查室门口紧张地等待你的验血结果，这个时候医生可能会进来说，“Don't worry! I'm looking at the results of your blood test and you passed with flying colors!（不用担心，我已经看了你的验血结果，没有问题！）”这种情况下医生的意思并不是说“你像参加了验血考试一样顺利通过了考试”，而是“医生打趣你的方式”!xZE,)6Us@~%DtNfe。

到了《词汇掌故》的节目尾声了！我们VOA学英语希望你能成功通过你的下次考试——或者至少我们希望你的下个计划不会失败！

我是安娜·马特奥Kd&7g*BO.KyKg%K。