VOA慢速英语:Words and Their Stories: Chickenfeed

I'm Susan Clark with WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, a program in Special English on the voice of America.
这里是美国之音慢速英语词汇掌故栏目，我是苏珊•克拉克。

Almost every language in the world has a saying that a person can never be too rich.
世界上的每一种语言都有这么一句谚语：钱越多越好。

Americans, like people in other countries, always want more money. One way they express this is by protesting that their jobs do not pay enough. A common expression is, "I am working for chickenfeed."  It means working for very little money.  The expression probably began because seeds fed to chickens made people think of small change.  Small change means metal coins of not much value, like nickels which are worth five cents.
和其他国家的人一样，美国人总想得到更多的钱。他们表达这种态度的方式，就是抗议工资太少。通俗的表述是"我在为一点鸡饲料（chickenfeed）工作"，意思即是“才为那么小点小钱工作”。这种说法的形成可能是因为喂鸡的饲料让人联想到零钱。零钱就是不怎么值钱的金属硬币，比如说五分镍币。

An early use of the word chickenfeed appeared in an American publicationin nineteen thirty. It told about a rich man and his son. Word expert Mitford Mathews says it read, "I'll bet neither the kid nor his father ever saw a nickel or a dime. They would not have been interested in such chickenfeed."
Chickenfeed这个单词的最早使用出现在美国1930年出版的刊物上，讲述的是一个富翁和他儿子的故事。词汇专家米特福德•马修斯说上面写的是：“我打赌这孩子和他父亲都没有把五分十分的硬币放在眼里。他们对这些小钱不感兴趣。”

Chickenfeed also has another interesting meaning known to history experts and World War Two spies and soldiers.
Chickenfeed这个单词还有另一种为历史学家以及二战间谍和士兵所知道的有趣意思。

Spy expert Henry S. A. Becket writes that some German spies working in London during the war also worked for the British.  The British government had to make the Germans believe their spies were working.  So, British officials gave them mostly false information. It was called chickenfeed.
间谍专家亨利•S•A•贝克特写道，一些于战争期间在伦敦工作的德国间谍同时也在为英国工作。英国政府必须让德国相信他们的间谍仍在工作，所以英国官员会为间谍提供假信息，这些假信息被称为chickenfeed。

The same person who protests that he is working for chickenfeed may also say, "I am working for peanuts." She means she is working for a small amount of money.
那些抗议工资低而说自己为了鸡食（微不足道的数目）而工作的人也可能会说“我是在为了花生（微不足道的钱）工作。”她的意思是她的工作所得只有很少的钱。

It is a very different meaning from the main one in the dictionary. That meaning is small nuts that grow on a plant.
这里花生所表达的意思与字典上的主要意思大相庭径。字典中花生解释为生长在庄稼里的小型坚果。

No one knows for sure how a word for something to eat also came to mean something very small. But, a peanut is a very small food.
没人清楚为何一种食物的名字同样能描述很小的事物。其实，花生本身就是一种非常小的食物。

The expression is an old one. Word expert Mitford Mathews says that as early as eighteen fifty-four, an American publication used the words peanut agitators. That meant political troublemakers who did not have a lot of support.
这是一种老说法了。词语专家米特福德•马修说早在1854年，美国的一份出版物上使用过“花生挑拨者”这一说法。就是用来形容那些没有多少支持者的政治麻烦制造者。

Another reason for the saying about working for peanuts may be linked to elephants. Think of how elephants are paid for their work in the circus. They receive food, not money. One of the foods they like best is peanuts.
为了花生而工作这种说法的另外一个解释可能与大象有关。想想马戏团里的大象。它们得到食物而不是钱。其中他们最喜欢的一种食物就是花生了。

When you add the word gallery to the word peanut you have the name of an area in an American theater. A gallery is a high seating area or balcony above the main floor.
当你在花生两字前加上顶层楼座这个词时就得出了美国剧院里一隅的名称了。顶层楼座既可以指位置比较高的座位也可以指正厅上面的包厢。

The peanut gallery got its name because it is the part of the theater most distant from where the show takes place. So, peanut gallery tickets usually cost less than other tickets. People pay a small amount of money for them.
廉价剧场后排座这个词得名于它所在区域是剧场中离舞台最远的地方。因此，廉价剧场最高楼座的票价通常低于其他区域的票。人们花点小钱就能买到这种票。

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