(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.
On this show, we explore language. Where do expressions come from? And how do we use them?
Today we go down on the farm – the dairy farm, to be exact.
Many female animals, such as cows and goats, produce milk for their young. Cream is the fat in milk. And we use cream from farm animals to make many tasty foods. We also use cream in some really great expressions!
Let's start with the best of the best – the cream of the crop!
When you let milk sit, cream rises to the top. The cream is considered to be the best tasting part of milk. So, if something is the "cream of the crop," it the best of its kind. For example, the apples from a farm near my house are the best, I could say they are the cream of the crop.
But English speakers use this expression for just about anything, not just food or drink.
We can describe people this way. For example, the students listed at the top of their class are generally the cream of the crop.
The noun "cream" has been used to mean "the best" since the 16th century. The French expression la crème de la crème means "the cream of the cream." And it came into use in English by the year 1800.
These days, we commonly use crème de la crème in informal, everyday speech. You can often hear Americans say this even if they have never spoken French in their lives. For some reason, they drop the first article "la". (Well, perhaps the reason is that they do not actually speak French.)
Now, back to foods!
Cream is used in many foods. Naturally, you needs cream to make a cream puff! A cream puff is a light and delicate pastry filled with sweet cream. They are a popular treat and can be very delicious.
Outside of the bakery, however, cream puffs can also describe a person.
If you call a man a "cream puff," you are saying he is weak – both physically and mentally. And he is really not that good at anything.
Now, a cream puff you get from the bakery is delicate and can fall apart easily. So, when talking about a woman, a cream puff is a delicate female.
I know she doesn't really want to stay. Be careful how you hold her. Please don't ever scold her. She's my cream puff.
However, I would not suggest calling a woman a "cream puff." It's best to leave the cream puffs in the bakery.
Talking about baked good, many are made with butter. And butter comes from cream!
You start with a bowl filled with fresh cream. If you beat the cream again and again, you will get butter. Many dessert recipes call for mixing, or creaming, butter with other ingredients like sugar.
Creaming butter is an important part of making some foods. It can take some time and arm strength to cream butter, especially if it is cold. You must beat and beat the butter until it becomes soft.
So, it is not surprising that when you get creamed in real life, you get beaten badly. You can get creamed in a sporting event. If your basketball team loses by 30 points -- you guys got creamed.
Usually there is an opponent who creams you. So, if you do poorly on a test, you would not say you got creamed. That would mean you were competing against other students and they won.
We also use the term "creamed" when talking about a physical beating. So, if someone beats you up -- which we hope will never happen -- you could say that person creamed you. (That is terrible and we are so sorry.)
But maybe the person who creamed you is a good friend. They apologized, and now, everything seems better. You could say that everything between you is now peaches and cream. This means a situation that started off badly or was going badly is now very much improved.
Here is another example. And this one does not involve anyone getting "beat up."
Let's say a new business got off to a bad start. The office space was in poor shape. The product launch failed. And several investors pulled out. But now, a year later, the company is turning a profit, the offices are beautiful and all the investors are happy. Everything is peaches and cream!
Peaches and cream is also used to describe a woman's skin. This means her skin is creamy, clear and soft. Which is strange, when you think about it. Peaches are usually yellowish-orange and a little fuzzy. That would mean someone with a peaches-and-cream skin would look a little orange and a little hairy.
But it doesn't mean that. As we often say, English is funny that way!
And that's Words and Their Stories. I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
1.the best of the best 精英中的精英；最好中的最好；好中最好
Part of it was the fact that there was a chance to work with the best of the best.
其中的一个原因是我有机会与最优秀的人合作。
2.call for 接（人）;要求;呼吁;需要
Your plan will call for a lot of money.
你的计划需要许多钱。
3.beat up 痛打；毒打；殴打
Look, you wouldn't beat up a woman any more than I would beat up a cripple.
听着你不会打女人，我也不会打一个瘸子。
4.in poor shape 不像样
With the world economy in poor shape, it is all but impossible.
在世界经济形势糟糕的情况下，这几乎是不可能的。
参考译文
现在是VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目。
我们的节目探讨语言。表达出自哪里？我们如何使用这些表达？
今天，我们要谈论农场，具体说是谈论奶牛场。
很多雌性动物，比如牛和羊，会产奶给它们的幼崽喝。乳脂是乳汁中的脂肪。我们用产自农场动物们的乳脂来制作美味的食品。我们也会在一些很不错的表达中用上“cream（乳脂）”！
让我们从这其中的佼佼者“the cream of the crop（精英）”开始！
当你静置乳汁时，乳脂就会浮到最上面来。乳脂被认为是乳汁中最美味的部分。所以如果某种事物是“cream of the crop”，那么它就是同类事物中最好的，比如我家附近农场的苹果最好，我就可以说这些苹果是“cream of the crop”。
但是母语是英语的人将这个表达用于描述任何事物，不只是食物和饮品。
我们也可以用它来形容人。例如，在班级中排名靠前的学生通常都是“cream of the crop”。
名词“cream”被用来表示“最好”的含义是始于16世纪。法语表达“la creme de la creme”意思是“最佳（the cream of the cream）”。这个表达是在1800年开始用于英语中的。
如今，我们通常在非正式且日常的场合中使用“creme de la creme”。你能经常听见美国人说这个表达，即使这些美国人在生活中从未说过法语。由于某些原因，他们舍弃了第一个冠词“la”。（好吧，也许原因就是他们实际上不会说法语。）
现在，让我们说回食物方面的话题！
乳脂被用于很多食品中。你做奶油泡芙（cream puff）的时候自然需要奶油！奶油泡芙很轻巧，精致的糕点里充满了甜甜的奶油。它们很受欢迎，也很好吃。
然而出了烘焙店，“cream puff”也可以用来形容人。
如果你称某人为“cream puff（弱者）”，那你是在说他很弱，身心两方面都很弱。而且，他真得没什么强项。
你从烘焙店买的奶油泡芙很精美，也很容易破碎。因此，当谈及女人的时候，“cream puff”指的是一个娇弱的女人。
我知道她不是真得想留下来。当你抱住她的时候，小心点。请不要责备她。她是我的小可人儿。
但是，我不建议称呼女人为“cream puff”。“cream puffs”最好还是就留在烘焙店里吧。
说到优质的烘焙，许多是用黄油做的。而黄油出自奶油！
从一碗新鲜的奶油开始。如果你反复搅拌奶油，你就会得到黄油。许多甜点食谱都要求将黄油与糖等其他成分混合在一起。
将黄油打成糊状是制作一些食物环节中最重要的一部分。搅拌黄油是需要耗费一些时间和臂力的，尤其是冷冻的黄油。你必须不停地搅拌，直到它变软为止。
因此，当你在真实生活中“get creamed（遭到重创）”的时候，你被打得很惨也就不足为怪了。你可能会在体育赛事中遭到重创。如果你的篮球队输了30分，那你们是遭到了重挫。
这个表达通常会有一个打败或者狠揍你的对手。因此，如果你考试考差了，你不能说你“受到了重挫）”。那意思会是你和其他学生竞争考试，然后他们赢了。
当谈及身体上的击打的时候，我们也会用到这个“creamed”单词。因此，如果有人毒打你，我们希望永远不会发生这样的事情，你可以说你被这个人打（creamed）了（那真是可怕的事情，我们很抱歉）。
但是也许打你的人是你的好朋友。他们道歉了，现在，一切似乎都好起来了。你可以说你们之间的一切现在都很美好（peaches and cream）。这意味着，一开始就很糟糕的局面或者慢慢变坏的局面，现在已经有了很大的改善。
下面是另一个例子。在这个例子里，没有任何人会被“毒打”。
假设一个新公司在开始的时候不太顺利。办公室不怎么样。产品发布失败。几个投资者撤资了。但是现在，一年之后，这个公司扭亏为盈，办公室变漂亮了，所有的投资者也都很高兴。一切都很美好！
“Peaches and cream（白里透红）”也可以用来形容女性的皮肤。这表示她肤如凝脂，通透细滑。当你仔细一想的时候，又觉得奇怪。桃子通常是黄橙色，还有一点毛茸茸的。那就表示有着“peaches and cream”皮肤的人会看上去有一点橘色，身上的毛发还有点多。
但这个表达不是真表示那个意思。正如我们经常说的，英语的趣味性正在于此！
这就是本期的《词汇掌故》。我是安娜·马特奥。
