VOA慢速英语:Words and Their Stories: Top Brass

I'm Susan Clark with the Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
我是美国之音慢速英语词汇掌故节目主持人苏珊·克拉克。

The Italians have an old saying, "Il dolce far niente." The words mean it is sweet, or enjoyable, to do nothing.
意大利有句俗语叫“Il dolce far niente”。这句话的意思是什么也不干简直太舒服或太快乐了。

On weekends and during holidays, many of us enjoy doing nothing. But most of the time we have to work. And, to keep our jobs, we must work hard. Our employer will not like it if we do nothing.
在周末或节假日，很多人都爱享受什么也不干。但大多数时间我们都要工作。同时，为了保住工作，我们必须努力工作。如果我们什么也不干，我们的老板就要不乐意了。

American workers often call their employers bosses. The word boss comes from the Dutch word, baas, meaning master.
在美国工作者常常称呼他们的雇主为老板（boss）。“boss”这个词源于荷兰语，bass，它的意思是主人。

Sometimes company bosses are called the brass. They also are sometimes called top brass, or brass hats.
有时，公司的老板被称为黄铜（brass）。他们有时又被称为是最顶级的黄铜（top brass，或黄铜帽子（brass hats），它们都是高管的意思。

Experts disagree about how these strange expressions started. But, they may have come from Britain. Leaders of the nineteenth century British army wore pieces of metal called oak leaves on their hats. The metal, brass, has a color similar to that of gold. So a leader or commander came to be called a member of the brass. Or he might have been called a brass hat. Or, even the top brass.
语言学专家对于这些词的起源各执一词。但是，这些词可能来源于英国。19世纪，英国军队将领的帽子上通常都有一种叫橡树叶的金属片装饰。这种金属--黄铜的颜色看起来与金子的颜色十分相像。因此，将领或指挥官被叫做“黄铜”的一员。或者，他们又被称为是“黄铜的帽子”，或“顶级黄铜”。

By the nineteen forties, the expression had spread beyond military leaders. It also included civilian officials.
到1940年，这个表达在军队将领之外流传开来，也流传到政府官员中。

A newspaper in the American city of Philadelphia used the term in nineteen forty-nine. It called the most important police officials, top brass.
1949年，美国费城的一份报纸上首次使用这个词。它称呼最重要的警官为“顶级黄铜”。

Other expressions that mean boss or employer have nothing to do with brass or hats. One of these is big cheese. A cheese is a solid food made from milk.
其他关于老板或是雇主的短语就与黄铜（钱财）或帽子无关了。其中一个是“大人物”（big cheese）。奶酪是一种由牛奶制成的固体食品。

The expression probably started in America in the late nineteenth century. Some experts believe it comes from a word in the Uersian or urdu languages -- chiz. The meaning is a thing. So the meaning of big cheese may be a big thing.
这个短语可能起源于19世纪后期的美国。一些专家认为这个词来源于波斯语或乌尔都语" chiz”，意思是一件东西。所以big cheese的意思可能是一件大东西。

Other experts say the word cheese in this expression was really an incorrect way of saying chief. The word chief means leader. So the expression may mean big leader.
其他专家认为这个短语中的cheese实际上是chief 的错误表达。chief的意思是领导，所以这个短语的意思可能是大领导。

An employer usually does not object to being called boss. But most workers would not call their employers big cheeses, top brass or brass hats to their faces.
雇主通常并不反对被称作boss。但是大多数的员工不会当面叫老板大人物（big cheeses），高官（top brass）或高级将领（brass hats）。

These words are not really insulting. But neither do they show great respect.
这些词并非无礼，但也不怎么尊重人。

Employers also have expressions to describe their workers. One of them that describes a good worker is that he or she works like a Trojan.
雇主们也有形容他们员工的短语。其中形容好员工的一个短语就是他或她"works like a Trojan（像特洛伊人一般努力工作）"。

This expression probably comes from the ancient writings of the Greek poet Homer. He wrote about the Trojans who lived in the city of Troy. He said Trojans worked very hard to protect their city.
这个短语有可能来源于古希腊诗人荷马的著作。他描写了居住在特洛伊城的特洛伊人。他在诗作中说特洛伊人努力保护自己的城市。。

Now, the expression often is used to describe an employee who works hard for a company. A loyal, hard-working employee is said to work like a Trojan.
现在，这个短语经常被用来形容努力工作的公司员工。忠诚、勤劳的员工被称作"work like a Trojan”。

So be happy if your company's brass hats say you work like a Trojan. They may consider you valuable enough to increase your pay.
所以如果你的公司老板说你"work like a Trojan”，你应该感到高兴。他们可能认为你很有价值，应该给你加薪。