VOA慢速英語:Hot Potatoes, Hotshots and Hotheads
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By Marilyn Rice Christiano
17 August, 2013
Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
(MUSIC)
Every language has its own special words and expressions. And a story can be told about each of them.
Hot is a simple, easily understood word. So are most of the expressions made with the word hot. But not always, as we shall see.
The words hot potato, for example, give you no idea at all to the meaning of the expression, hot potato.
The potato is a popular vegetable in the United States. Many people like baked potatoes, cooked in an oven or fire. Imagine trying to carry a hot, baked potato in your hand. It would be difficult, even painful, to do so.
Now we are getting close to the meaning of hot potato.
Some publicly disputed issues are highly emotional. The issues must be treated carefully, or they will be difficult and painful if an elected official has to deal with them. As difficult and painful as holding a hot potato.
One such hot potato is taxes.
Calling for higher taxes can mean defeat for a politician. And yet, if taxes are not raised, some very popular government programs could be cut. And that also can make a politician very unpopular. So the questions must be dealt with carefully, the same way you would handle any other hot potato.
Another expression is not so hot. If you ask someone how she feels, she may answer "not so hot." What she means is she does not feel well.
Not so hot also is a way of saying that you do not really like something. You may tell a friend that the new play you saw last night is not so hot. That means you did not consider it a success.
A hot shot is a person, often a young person, who thinks he can do anything. At least he wants to try. He is very sure he can succeed. But often he fails. The expression was born in the military forces. A hot shot was a soldier who fired without aiming carefully.
Hot is a word that is often used to talk about anger.
A person who becomes angry easily is called a hothead. An angry person's neck often becomes red. We say he is hot under the collar. You could say that your friend is no hothead. But he got hot under the collar when someone took his radio.
In nineteen sixty-three, hot line appeared as a new expression.
The hot line was a direct communications link between the leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States. The hot line had an important purpose: to prevent accidental war between the two competitors during the period known as the Cold War. The American president and the Soviet leader were able to communicate directly and immediately on the hot line. This helped prevent any conflict during an international crisis.
(MUSIC)
You have been listening to the VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. Our program was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano. I'm Warren Scheer.
Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
現(xiàn)在是美國之音慢速英語詞匯掌故。
Every language has its own special words and expressions. And a story can be told about each of them.
每種語言都有自己獨特的詞語和表達方式。我們可以講個故事逐一講述。
Hot is a simple, easily understood word. So are most of the expressions made with the word hot. But not always, as we shall see.
Hot是一個非常簡單易懂的單詞，許多由hot組成的短語也是如此。但情況并不總是這樣，正如我們將看到的以下短語。
The words hot potato, for example, give you no idea at all to the meaning of the expression, hot potato.
例如hot potota這個短語，從字面上你完全看不出是什么意思。
The potato is a popular vegetable in the United States. Many people like baked potatoes, cooked in an oven or fire. Imagine trying to carry a hot, baked potato in your hand. It would be difficult, even painful, to do so.
土豆(potato)在美國是一種非常受歡迎的蔬菜。許多人喜歡用火或烤箱烤土豆。想象一下手里拿著一個熱乎乎的剛出爐的土豆，肯定非常難受，甚至會很痛苦。
Now we are getting close to the meaning of hot potato.
現(xiàn)在我們已經(jīng)開始接近hot potato的意思了。
Some publicly disputed issues are highly emotional. The issues must be treated carefully, or they will be difficult and painful if an elected official has to deal with them. As difficult and painful as holding a hot potato.
一些富有爭議的公眾話題常常使人情緒激動。這類問題必須謹慎處理，否則民選官員處理時就會非常難受非常痛苦，就像手里拿著燙手的土豆。
注：hot potato直譯就是燙手土豆，跟中文最接近的俗語就是燙手山芋。
One such hot potato is taxes.
其中一個這樣的燙手山芋就是稅收。
Calling for higher taxes can mean defeat for a politician. And yet, if taxes are not raised, some very popular government programs could be cut. And that also can make a politician very unpopular. So the questions must be dealt with carefully, the same way you would handle any other hot potato.
要求增加稅收就會意味著一個政客的失敗。然而如果不提高稅收，一些非常大眾的政府項目可能會被削減，這也會使政客不得人心。因此這個問題需要謹慎處理，就像處理其它燙手山芋一樣。
Another expression is not so hot. If you ask someone how she feels, she may answer "not so hot." What she means is she does not feel well.
另外一個短語是not so hot。如果你問一個人她感覺如何，她可能會回答“not so hot”。她的意思是說感覺不是太好。
Not so hot also is a way of saying that you do not really like something. You may tell a friend that the new play you saw last night is not so hot. That means you did not consider it a success.
Not so hot也用于表達不喜歡某事物。你可能對朋友說，你昨晚看的新話劇也就那樣(not so hot)。意思是說你認為該話劇不太成功。
A hot shot is a person, often a young person, who thinks he can do anything. At least he wants to try. He is very sure he can succeed. But often he fails. The expression was born in the military forces. A hot shot was a soldier who fired without aiming carefully.
Hot shot是指自以為無所不能的人，通常是年輕人。至少他想去嘗試。他非常確定自己能夠成功，但常常會失敗。這個短語誕生于軍隊，hot shot是指不認真瞄準就射擊的士兵。
Hot is a word that is often used to talk about anger.
Hot也常用于描述憤怒。
A person who becomes angry easily is called a hothead. An angry person's neck often becomes red. We say he is hot under the collar. You could say that your friend is no hothead. But he got hot under the collar when someone took his radio.
容易動怒的人被稱為hothead(急性子，暴脾氣)。動怒了的人脖子常常會變紅，我們說他hot under the collar(怒氣沖沖)。你可能會說你的朋友不是暴脾氣，但當人拿了他的收音機時他會怒氣沖沖。
In nineteen sixty-three, hot line appeared as a new expression.
1963年，hot line作為一個新詞匯出現(xiàn)了。
The hot line was a direct communications link between the leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States. The hot line had an important purpose: to prevent accidental war between the two competitors during the period known as the Cold War. The American president and the Soviet leader were able to communicate directly and immediately on the hot line. This helped prevent any conflict during an international crisis.
Hot line(熱線)是指前蘇聯(lián)和美國領導人的直接通信線路。熱線有一個重要的目的：防止冷戰(zhàn)期間這2個競爭對手之間的突發(fā)戰(zhàn)爭。兩國領導人可以通過熱線直接、快速地溝通。這有助于防止在當時的國際危機期間出現(xiàn)任何沖突。
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