VOA词汇大师第520期:Cows and Pigs Into Politics
时间:2015-09-01 15:59:00来源:可可英语 编辑:shaun 可可英语APP下载 | 可可官方微信:ikekenetAA:I'mAviArdittiwithRosanneSkirble, andthisweekonWORDMASTER: wecontinueourdiscussionwithdictionaryeditorBenZimmerabouttermsrelatedtothepresidentialcampaign.
RS:"Onewordthat'sbeingassociatedwithJohnMcCain-- orJohnMcCainwantstohaveassociatedwithhim-- istheterm'maverick.'"
BenZimmer
BENZIMMER:"ItwasoriginallythenameofacattlerancherinTexaswhosenamewasSamuelMaverick, inthemid-nineteenthcentury. Hewasalsoapolitician, butheownedalargeherdofcattleinTexas. Andhewasnotoriousbecauseheneverbrandedhiscattle, aswasusuallydonebythecattleranchers. Andhesaidthatthiswasasawayofbeinglesscrueltotheanimals. Buthisrivals, theothercattleranchersinTexas, thoughtthatthiswasjustaploysothathecouldclaimthatanycattlethatdidn'thaveabrandwerehis, andthathecouldjustclaimthemthatway.
"Inanycase, thistermmaverickthenwasappliedtothecattlethemselves. 'Mavericks'wereunbrandedcalves. Andthen, fromthere, itgotextendedtomeanjustsomeonewhokindofrunswild, somebodywho'sveryindependent-minded, hasafreespirit."
RS:"Speakingofcrueltytoanimals, canyouputlipstickonapig?"
BENZIMMER:"Iwouldn'twanttotry, but-- "
RS:"Explainthattome."
BENZIMMER:" -- we'vecertainlyheardalotaboutlipstickonapig. BarackObamatoldacrowd, 'Youcanputlipstickonapigbutit'sstillapig.'Andthen, veryswiftly, theMcCaincampaignsaidthatthiswassomehowdirectedatSarahPalin. Butwecanseethatthishasaveryinterestinghistory, too.
"It'sbeenusedbylotsofdifferentpeople. Infact, JohnMcCainhimselfuseditjustlastyeartodescribeHillaryClinton'shealthcareplan. Andthat'sactuallyanoldconceptoftakingapigandtryingtoconvertitintosomethingpretty. There'sevenabiblicalproverb, there'sanechofromtheBible: 'Asaringofgoldinaswine'ssnout, soisabeautifulwomanwholacksdiscretion.'
"ButthenitbecameacommonsourceofexpressionsintheEnglishlanguagetorefertoapigthat'ssomehowdressedup. Sothereareexpressionslike'Ahoginasilkwaistcoatisstillahog.'Andinthetwentiethcenturythenwegetvariationsonthatwhichinvolveothertypesofprettyingup, includinglipstick, orputtingperfumeonapig. There'slotsofdifferentwaysthatpeoplehavetalkedabouttryingtoconvertsomethingfromuglytopretty, orfromuselesstouseful."
AA:"Asow'searintoasilkpurse."
BENZIMMER:"Exactly. That'sanexpressionthatdatesbacktothemid-sixteenthcentury: 'Youcan'tmakeasilkpursefromasow'sear.'Sotheideaistheearofasow, orafemalehog, issomethingthatisnotveryprettyatallandnotveryuseful.
"Earmarkisanotherpig-relatedtermwhichoriginallyreferredtothemarksonapig'searandeventuallygotusedinpoliticstorefertothisspecialset-asidemoneythat'susedfordifferentprojects, andthatacongressmancantrytobringthesespecialappropriationsbacktotheirhomestateorhomedistrict."
RS:"Bringhomethebacon, asitwere."
BENZIMMER:"Bringhomethebacon. Andbringhomethepork, touseyetanotherpigexpression."
TERESAROOF:"Well, porkproductstodayareactuallyalotleanerthaninthepast."
AA:TeresaRoofmustwinceattheironyanytimesomeonerefersinpoliticstobudgetaryfataspork. SheispublicrelationsmanagerfortheNationalPorkBoard, anindustrygroupwherean"earmark" canstillrefertoanidentifyingtagonapig.
TERESAROOF:"Comparethepigsfromnineteenfifties. Today'smodelhasslimmeddownconsiderablywithseventy-threepercentlessfat. Andthat'smainlyduetothedemandthatconsumerswantaleanerproduct."
AA:"Isn'ttheargumentthatsomepeoplehavenowthatporkisalmosttoolean, thatit'slostsomeofitsflavorbecausethey'vecutsomeofthefatout?"
TERESAROOF:"There'svariousdifferentbreedsandvariousdifferentmodelsouttheretodaytosatisfyeveryconsumer'sneed. There'sanactivenichemarketoutthere[for] peoplewhoarelookingforaspecificbreedofpork, orporktomeetthosedemands, sothere'sbasicallyeverythingoutthereonthemarket, forawidevarietyofconsumers."
AA:ThatwasTeresaRoofattheNationalPorkBoard. AndbeforethatweheardfromBenZimmer, executiveproduceroftheVisualThesaurus, anonlinethesaurusanddictionary. PartoneofourdiscussionoftermsrelatedtothepresidentialcampaigncanbefoundatourWebsite, voanews.com/wordmaster. Youcanalsolearnmoreabouttwoothertermsinthenewsrightnow: "bailout" and"goldenparachute."
Andthat'sallforWORDMASTERthisweek. WithRosanneSkirble, I'mAviArditti.
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