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VOA词汇掌故(翻译+字幕+讲解):Mortgage以及其它和死亡沾边的单词

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Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.

Part of the "American Dream" is to own a home. Many Americans borrow money when they buy a home. They use a mortgage loan, known simply as a mortgage, to help pay for the property. To get the money, the buyer signs an agreement with a bank or loan company. The borrower promises to pay back the money, plus interest, over a period of years.

The word "mortgage" comes from two Old French words. Mort means dead and gage means to promise or pledge. Combine the two terms and you get "death pledge." Perhaps this deadly sounding name is why many people are afraid to buy a house, and choose to rent one instead. Because of the word's French roots, we do not pronounce the letter "t" in mortgage.

The second half of the word, gage, is part of another useful word - engage. Engage has many meanings.

You can enter into battle with, or engage, your enemy. You can engage, or ask, someone to work for you. If you are engaged in a business, you've been taking part in it or doing it.

To engage also means to hold someone's attention. If you have an engaging speaking style, you can hold the attention of others -- or engage them -- for a long time.

An engagement can be a single promise to be some place at a given time. For example, "He has an engagement this evening and won't be able to make it." Or an engagement can be a serious promise to marry someone. You can say, "The couple got engaged two years ago, which makes it a really long engagement!"

Mortgage以及其它和死亡沾边的单词

But let's leave the happy thoughts of marriage and get back to death. The French term "mort" gives a deathly meaning to other English words – words like mortal, mortality, mortician and mortuary.

As a noun, mortal means a human being. But as an adjective, mortal means something or someone is subject to death. All mortal creatures will die. Mortal can also describe something or someone belonging to this world.

Many religious people believe that when we die, we simply leave our mortal life -- or life on this world -- for an afterlife. Something that does not die is immortal. Clergymen or other religious leaders often pray for a person's "immortal soul."

Mortal can also be used for something or someone with the ability to cause death. For example, someone who is your mortal enemy may want to kill you or they just may never give up in the fight against you. In battle, if you suffer a mortal wound, you are likely to die from it. Mortal combat means a fight to the death. These three are all common word combinations using the word "mortal."

On the lighter side is the word "mortified." When you are mortified, you feel so embarrassed or foolish that you want to die -- but not really. We often use mortified in situations that are not very serious.

Being a mortician, however, can be serious business. A mortician prepares dead people for burial. They also can help plan and organize funerals. The word mortician is a combination of mortuary, a place in which dead bodies are kept, and the suffix –ician, as in physician.

And that's Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English. I'm Anna Matteo.

重点单词   查看全部解释    
engagement [in'geidʒmənt]

想一想再看

n. 婚约,订婚,约会,约定,交战,雇用,(机器零件等)

 
mortgage ['mɔ:gidʒ]

想一想再看

n. 按揭,抵押贷款
vt. 抵押

联想记忆
combat ['kɔmbət]

想一想再看

n. 争斗,战斗
vt. 打斗
vi

联想记忆
confident ['kɔnfidənt]

想一想再看

adj. 自信的,有信心的,有把握的
a

联想记忆
physician [fi'ziʃən]

想一想再看

n. 内科医生

 
engaging [in'geidʒiŋ]

想一想再看

adj. 动人的,迷人的,有魅力的

联想记忆
organize ['ɔ:gənaiz]

想一想再看

v. 组织

 
embarrassed [im'bærəst]

想一想再看

adj. 尴尬的,局促不安的,拮据的

 
engaged [in'geidʒd]

想一想再看

adj. 忙碌的,使用中的,订婚了的

 
pledge [pledʒ]

想一想再看

n. 保证,誓言,抵押,抵押品
vt. 保证,

联想记忆

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