(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Summer Fun with Family Expressions
And now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English.
On this program, we explore words and expressions in the English language. And we often explain where they come from and how to use them.
In the summer months, we often get together with our family members who live far away. If you listen in as people talk with and about their families, you might hear some interesting expressions.
Like many idioms, it is often difficult to understand these expressions simply by knowing the meaning of individual words and the grammar of the sentence in which they appear. This week we will explore a few of these expressions, so you will understand them better when you hear them.
While watching television with your family in a crowded room, you might hear, "Your father was not a glass blower."
Of course, it is impossible for a person to be made of glass. That expression really means you are blocking the view of someone else, and they want you to move.
A similar expression is, "You make a better door than a window." It also means, "Please move out of the way."
When a child starts to act just like the parent, we say, "He's a chip off the old block." This suggests the image of an artist making a statue of someone from a block of stone. It can mean that the child is made of the same material as the parent. In a similar way, we may think that a child's action can show how they will act as an adult. To express this idea, we use the phrase, "The child is father to the man."
Lighting a fire for a family barbecue is a job that can be easy, with the right tools. After she lit the barbecue grill, I heard my sister say, "... and Bob's your uncle, there's the fire." This expression means something is easy. It describes how those in high positions may sometimes give jobs to family members, making their lives easier.
There are other expressions that have to do with money in the family. Someone who starts out life in a wealthy family was "born with a silver spoon in their mouth." And an adult may warn a child, "A fool and his money are soon parted." In other words, do not make a bad investment or spend money unwisely. And a child who is not given an inheritance is said to be "cut off without a penny."
My younger brother liked to play with the boys on our street who always caused trouble. Mom told him to stay away from the troublemakers with this expression: "Birds of a feather flock together." She meant that, if he does not want people to think he is one of the troublemakers, he should not spend time with them.
That is good advice. The child who does not listen to mother's words is in danger of becoming the "black sheep of the family." That expression describes a family member whose behavior gives them a bad reputation.
Speaking of animals, our cat is going to have kittens soon. A friend who saw her said she was "in a family way." Soon, the cat will have her own family to care for.
Finally, when a group of people live or work closely together, they might say, "We are like one big happy family – we argue all the time!" This expression could mean that the group is happy to be so close; or, if said with irony, it means the group is not happy to work together.
And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.
I'm Jill Robbins.
重点解析
1.move out of the way 让开；移开
Move out of the way, please, I can't see through you.
请让一下，你挡着我就看不见了。
2.work together 合作；共事
I'd like for us to work together.
我希望我们在一起工作。
3.a chip off the old block 酷似父母的人
My mother and I are very alike, I am a chip off the old block.
我和妈妈非常相像，我完全是她的翻版。
关注微信公众号【可可双语精读】，获取详细讲解内容。
参考译文
家庭类的俗语你了解多少？
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》。
在本节目中，我们将探索英语词汇和短语。我们通常会解释短语的出处以及如何使用这些短语。
在夏季的数月里，我们经常会跟住得很远的家人团聚。如果听别人跟家人谈话或者谈论他们的家庭时，你可能会听到一些有趣的短语。
像许多习语一样，只通过单个单词的含义和它们在句中的语法来理解这些短语往往是困难的。本周我们来探索其中的一些短语，下次听到时，你会更准确地理解它们的含义。
当和家人在拥挤的房间里看电视时，你可能会听到，“你爸可不是玻璃吹制工。”
当然，人不可能是玻璃做的。这个短语实际上是指某人挡住了别人的视线，他们想让对方让开点。
还有一个类似的短语是，“相比窗户，你更适合当扇门。”这个短语还可以表示“请让开”。
当孩子的行为举止酷似父母时，我们会说：“He's a chip off the old block.”。（相貌或性格酷似父亲或母亲的人）这个短语暗示了一个艺术家用一块石头为某人雕刻雕像的画面。这可能意味着孩子和父母是由相同的材料组成的。同样，我们可能会认为一个孩子的行为可以表明他们成年以后的处事方式。为了表达这层含义，我们会用短语“the child is father To the man”（童年时代可决定人之未来）。
家庭烤肉聚餐时，只要有合适的工具，生火是一项很简单的工作。她点燃烧烤架后，我听到妹妹说：“……这样就成了，火点着了。”这个短语的意思是某事做起来很容易。它描述了那些身居高位的人有时会把事务交由家人打理，好让他们的生活更加轻松。
还有一些与家庭中金钱有关的其他短语。有些人出生在富裕的家庭，就是“含着银汤匙出生的”。大人可能会警告小孩：“傻子会越过越穷的。”换句话说，不要投资赔钱的买卖或者“不理智”地消费。没有获得遗产的孩子会被说成是“没有得到一分钱”。
我弟弟喜欢和我们这条街上的男孩们一起玩，他们总是惹麻烦。妈妈劝他远离那些惹麻烦的孩子们时说：“Birds of a feather flock together”(物以类聚，人以群分)。她的意思是，如果他不想让人们觉得他是个麻烦精，就不应该再和他们在一起玩。
这是个不错的建议。不听妈妈的话的孩子有可能成为“家里的害群之马”。这个短语描述的是家庭成员的行为给他们带来坏名声。
说到动物，我们家的猫很快就要生小猫了。一位见过猫的朋友说这只猫“有喜了”。很快，这只猫就有自己的家庭要照顾了。
最后，当一群人在一起亲密地生活或工作时，他们可能会说，“我们就像一个幸福的大家庭——我们总是争吵不断！”这个短语可能意味着团队对于这段亲密关系感到很开心；或者，如果带有讽刺意味的话，这意味着团队在一起相处得并不愉快。
以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。
吉尔·罗宾斯为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
