VOA慢速英语:Words and Their Stories: Farm Expressions

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
现在，这里是美国之音慢速英词汇掌故节目。
In the early days of human history, people survived by hunting wild animals, or gathering wild grains and plants for food. Then, some people learned to grow crops and raise animals for food. They were the first farmers.
在人类历史早期，人们依靠猎捕野生动物，或者采集野果或野生植物做食物来生存。后来，一些人学会种植作物，圈养动物来获得食物。他们就是早期的农民。

Since the sixteenth century, the word farm has meant agricultural land. But a much older meaning of the word farm is linked to economics. The word farm comes from the Latin word, firma, which means an unchanging payment.
自16世纪开始，farm这个词的意思是农田。但是farm这个词更早的意思与经济有关。farm这个词来自拉丁语firma，意思是不变的付款。

Experts say the earliest meaning of the English word farm was a yearly payment made as a tax or rent.
专家称，farm这个词最早的意思是，每年租金或税收的付款。

Farmers in early England did not own their land. They paid every year to use agricultural lands.
英格兰早期的农民没有自己的土地。他们每年付款来使用农田。

In England, farmers used hawthorn trees along the edges of property. They called this row of hawthorns a hedge.
在英格兰，农民胡在他们的土地或财产的边缘种植山楂树。他们称这排山楂树为"hedge"(篱笆)。

Hedging fields was how careful farmers marked and protected them.
将农田用篱笆围起来(Hedging)表明了农民标记或保护自己的土地有多么认真。

Soon, people began to use the word hedging to describe steps that could be taken to protect against financial loss.
很快，人们开始用Hedging这个词来描述用来保护免于经济损失所采取的措施。

Hedging is common among gamblers who make large bets. A gambler bets a lot of money on one team. But, to be on the safe side, he also places a smaller bet on the other team, to reduce a possible loss.
Hedging在经常下很大赌注的赌徒中间非常普遍。一个赌徒在其中一个队押很多钱。但是为了安全起见，他也会在另外一队押上数量较少的钱，来减少可能的损失。

You might say that someone is hedging his bet when he invests in several different kinds of businesses. One business may fail, but likely not all.
你可能会说，某人在几个不同种类的业务投资是在hedging his bet(两面投机) 。一个生意可能会亏损，但是不可能所有的生意都亏损。

Farmers know that it is necessary to make hay while the sun shines.
农民们都知道，抓紧时机行事(make hay while the sun shines)是非常必要的。

Hay has to be cut and gathered when it is dry. So a wise farmer never postpones gathering his hay when the sun is shining. Rain may soon appear.
干草必须在干燥的时候进行切割和搜集。所以，在阳光明媚的时候，一个聪明的农民从来不会拖延搜集干草的时间。可能很快就会下雨。

A wise person copies the farmer. He works when conditions are right.
一个聪明人会效仿农民，在条件成熟的时候抓紧时间行事。

A new mother, for example, quickly learns to try to sleep when her baby is quiet, even in the middle of the day. If the mother delays, she may lose her chance to sleep. So, the mother learns to make hay while the sun shines.
例如，一个新生母亲在孩子安静的时候应该抓紧时间睡觉，即使是在中午。如果耽误时间，她可能会错过睡觉的机会。所以，这个母亲应该学会抓紧时机行事(make hay while the sun shines)。

Beans are a popular farm crop. But beans are used to describe something of very little value in the expression, not worth a hill of beans. The expression is often used today.
豆类(Beans)是很受欢迎的农田作物。但是Beans在一个短语中却用来描述价值很低的东西，not worth a hill of beans。这个短语在今天经常使用。

You could say, for example, that a bad idea is not worth a hill of beans.
你可以说，那个主意“一钱不值”(not worth a hill of beans)。

Language expert Charles Earle Funk said the expression was first used almost seven hundred years ago. He said Robert of Gloucester described a message from the King of Germany to King John of England as altogether not worth a bean.
语言专家Charles Earle表示，这个短语首次在700多年前使用。他说，格洛斯特的Robert把来自德国国王给英国国王信中的消息称做"altogether not worth a bean" (毫无价值)。

(MUSIC)