VOA慢速英語(yǔ):肩上的木屑

[00:00.00](MUSIC) [00:09.72]Now, the VOA [00:12.32]Special English program, [00:14.31]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. [00:17.30]Every week at this time [00:21.67]we tell the story of words [00:24.42]and expressions used [00:26.51]in American English. [00:28.68]Some of them are old. [00:30.72]Some are new. [00:33.58]Together, they form [00:35.82]the living speech [00:36.91]of the American people. [00:38.55]Some popular expressions [00:41.76]are a mystery. [00:43.16]No one is sure [00:44.77]how they developed. [00:46.71]One of these [00:48.35]is the expression, [00:49.66]carry a chip [00:51.46]on your shoulder. [00:52.66]A person with a chip [00:55.25]on his shoulder [00:56.15]is a problem for anybody [00:57.95]who must deal with him. [00:59.55]He seems to be [01:02.05]expecting trouble. [01:03.25]Sometimes he seems [01:05.79]to be saying, [01:06.78]"I'm not happy [01:08.48]about anything, [01:09.52]but what are you going [01:11.53]to do about it?" [01:13.08]A chip is a small piece [01:16.62]of something, [01:17.53]like a chip of wood. [01:18.98]How did this chip [01:21.76]get on a person's shoulder? [01:23.91]Well, experts say [01:26.41]the expression appears [01:28.50]to have been first used [01:30.34]in the United States [01:31.36]more than one hundred years ago. [01:33.71]One writer believes that [01:37.65]the expression might have [01:39.37]come from an old saying. [01:41.51]The saying warns against [01:43.75]striking too high, [01:45.65]or a chip might fall [01:48.42]into your eye. [01:49.72]That could be good advice. [01:52.18]If you strike high [01:54.92]up on a tree with an axe, [01:56.69]the chip of wood that [01:58.58]is cut off will fall [01:59.96]into your eye. [02:01.06]The saying becomes a warning [02:04.16]about the dangers of [02:06.05]attacking people [02:07.13]who are in more [02:08.77]important positions than you are. [02:11.31]Later, in the United States, [02:15.59]some people would [02:17.59]put a real chip [02:18.58]on their shoulder as a test. [02:20.25]They wanted to start a fight. [02:22.88]They would wait for someone [02:25.46]to be brave enough [02:26.79]to try to hit it off. [02:28.84]The word chip appears [02:32.18]in a number of special [02:33.74]American expressions. [02:35.39]Another is chip [02:37.74]off the old block. [02:39.24]This means that [02:41.73]a child is exactly [02:42.88]like a parent. [02:44.34]This expression goes back [02:46.85]at least to the early [02:48.32]sixteen hundreds. [02:49.78]The British writer of plays, [02:52.86]George Colman, [02:54.42]wrote these lines [02:55.91]in seventeen sixty-two. [02:58.21]"You'll find him [03:00.55]his father's own son, [03:01.80]I believe. [03:02.67]A chip off the old block, [03:04.59]I promise you!" [03:05.63]The word chip can also [03:09.02]be used in a threatening way [03:10.81]to someone who [03:11.95]is suspected of wrongdoing. [03:13.32]An investigator may say, [03:16.25]"We're going to [03:17.90]let the chips fall [03:19.09]where they may." [03:20.25]This means the investigation [03:23.61]is going to be [03:24.61]complete and honest. [03:26.36]It is also a warning that [03:29.59]no one will be protected [03:31.28]from being found guilty. [03:33.68]Chips are often used [03:37.31]in card games. [03:38.68]They represent money. [03:40.72]A poker player may, [03:43.46]at any time, decide [03:45.30]to leave the game. [03:46.93]He will turn in his chips [03:49.48]in exchange for money or cash. [03:51.78]This lead to another meaning. [03:55.42]A person who finished [03:58.15]or died was said [04:00.44]to have cashed in his chips. [04:02.95]Which is a way of saying [04:05.20]it is time for me [04:06.49]to finish this program. [04:08.79](MUSIC) [04:26.15]You have been listening to [04:30.28]the VOA Special English program, [04:33.12]Words and Their Stories. [04:35.56]I'm Warren Scheer.

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