INTRO: This week Wordmasters Rosanne Skirble and Avi Arditti go for a spin with the language of cars.

MUSIC: "Little Deuce Coupe"/Beach Boys

AA: We hit the road to answer a question from Dustin Mencius at Tianjin Medical University in China. He's baffled by all the different terms Americans use for automobiles. And there are lots of them — starting with the "little deuce coupe" in that Beach Boys song.

RS: A "deuce coupe" is a 1932 Ford with lots of power, a hot rod. "Deuce" is slang for "two" — as in 1932 — and a "coupe" is a car with two doors.

AA: ... not to be confused with a "sedan" which is a car with four doors.

RS: Now either a coupe or a sedan can be a "convertible" also known as a "rag top" — a car with a fabric roof that goes up and down.

AA: If you need more room, you might want to drive a "station wagon." That's a passenger car with seats in back that can fold down or be removed to open up storage space.

RS: A "mini van" is similar to a station wagon with rows of seats and a back storage area.

But a mini van is built on a higher frame and looks more like a truck than a passenger car.

AA: In recent years Americans have learned a new term: S-U-V. That stands for sport utility vehicle. It's also a cross between a truck and a car, but rides even higher on the road than a mini van and has four wheel drive and a boxy shape. Today half of all new passenger cars sold in America are S-U-V's.

RS: Sport utility vehicles don't have much to do with sports, except that they can lug bikes and other gear off-road through mud and snow.

SFX: (car engine sound)

AA: Let's "shift gears" now and head out to Los Angeles to chat with "Slangman" David Burke.

RS: He says Americans have some pretty endearing names for their cars - that is, when their cars run well.

TAPE CUT ONE: DAVID BURKE

"Usually you'll say baby. 'Wow that baby can move.' If you refer to a car as a baby, that's actually a good thing. And that term is also used in general for anything that is really good. Now, on the other side of the coin, taking about cars — a 'clunker.' Now that's something that doesn't work very well.

A clunker is generally a car that is very old and looks like it has been in a lot of accidents."

AA: You can also refer to a car by its wheels.

RS: As in, "Hey, nice set of wheels!" or "Can I borrow your wheels. They're also known as "rides" — as in, hey, nice ride — meaning nice car.

AA: So what does it mean if you want to take those wheels "for a spin"? David Burke explains.

TAPE CUT TWO: DAVID BURKE

Now we all know what spinning means.

It means going around and around really fast. If I buy a new car I go to your house and I say, 'Come into my car and let's go for a spin.' A spin simply means a quick little trip in the car with no particular destination."

RS: And, if I ask someone along, I might say "hop in."

AA: That's what David Burke said as he took us for a virtual spin down one of the most famous streets in Hollywood: Sunset Boulevard.

RS: At night young people "cruise" Sunset Boulevard.

David Burke says that means they go out in search of some fun.

TAPE CUT THREE: DAVID BURKE

"The sky is dark, but Sunset Boulevard is bright with lights. Every storefront is lit up. The traffic is 'bumper-to-bumper' — which is another good expression — because you are right on top of the other person's bumper practically, because you are hardly moving.

There are lots and lots of convertibles or 'drop tops' as we say. People are sticking their heads out screaming and waving to each other, And, it becomes a huge — another expression — 'tailgate party' — where all these kids are just sitting there basically in this gigantic parking lot (stopped traffic).

What happens is the (traffic) creates a lot of 'pile ups' — another good expression — meaning traffic accidents, and 'bunch ups,' a good term for traffic accident."

AA: David Burke says it's pretty much "gridlock" — cars backed up in all directions — for about an hour and a half every night, just after dusk.

RS: Now if you're cruising the Internet, and you'd like to learn about David Burke's latest book on American slang and idioms, you can visit him at www.slangman.com.

AA: And if you'd like to send us e-mail, our address is word@voa.gov. Or write us at VOA Wordmaster, Washington DC 20547.

RS: Now we've got to burn rubber out of here.

AA: OK, Rosanne, put the pedal to the metal.

RS: With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

MUSIC: "Little Deuce Coupe"

词汇点津：

on the other side of the coin 另一方面

four wheel drive 四轮驱动

light up 变亮

今天的词汇大师David Burke向我们介绍了汽车有关的一些词汇。首先，让我们来认识认识这些汽车。

little deuce coupe 两门轿车

sedan 四门轿车

convertible=rag top 有活动折篷的汽车

station wagon 小旅行车

mini van 旅行车，station wagon和mini van类似，都是小旅行车，那种后排可以坐人也可以储物的车。

SUV (sport utility vehicle)多功能车，实际上这款车和运动关系不大，他比station wagon和mini van更加的实用，颇受欢迎。

接下来，让我们看看美国人是如何称呼他们的爱驾的。

最常见的就是baby了，显得十分的亲密，如：Wow that baby can move.美国人习惯称车子为wheels，如：Hey, nice set of wheels!或Can I borrow your wheels.他们也称呼车子为ride，如：nice ride也就是说这是部好车。

最后，我们学到了一些交通用语，比如：

for a spin 兜风

cruise 兜风

bumper-to-bumper 一辆接一辆的,堵塞的

gridlock 交通阻塞

pile ups 交通事故

bunch ups 交通事故

tailgate party 车尾派对

hop in 上(车)