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And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。
For today's program, we invite you to share a meal with us – well, expressions about a meal, that is.
在今天的节目中，我们邀请你与我们分享食物——关于食物的短语。
Like most languages, English is filled with food expressions.
像大多数语言一样，英语中充满了与食物有关的短语。
Today we will start with two appetizers, continue with the main dish, and finish with dessert.
今天我们先从两道开胃菜开始，然后是主菜，最后是甜点。
In other words, we will take you from soup to nuts – or from the beginning to the end.
换句话说，我们将带你从汤到坚果（即从头到尾）介绍一遍食物。
With many meals, soup comes first and nuts come last.
在很多餐食中，汤是第一个上桌的，坚果是最后一个上桌的。
So, if you do something from soup to nuts you do everything from the beginning to the end.
from soup to nuts的意思是从头到尾做所有的事情。
An appetizer is the first part of a meal.
开胃菜是一顿饭的第一部分。
Our first appetizer today is alphabet soup.
我们今天的第一道开胃菜是代号语言。
When you have a collection of letters of the alphabet that stand for several words, we can call it an alphabet soup.
当你有一个代表一些单词的字母集合时，我们可以称之为代号语言。
These can be the letters that show a job, such as COO or Chief Operating Officer.
这些字母可以代表一个职位，例如COO（即首席运营官）。
They could be letters that show someone's education, like an MBA for a Master of Business Administration and a Ph.D. for a Doctor of Philosophy.
它们可以是表示某人教育程度的字母，比如工商管理硕士（MBA）和哲学博士（Ph.D.）。
Let's say someone hands you their business card.
假设有人递给你他们的名片。
After their name are the letters MBA, Ph.D., and COO.
他们的名字后面有字母MBA、Ph.D.和COO。
You can say, "Wow, that is quite the alphabet soup after your name. But what is it you do exactly?"
你可以说，“哇，这是你名字后面的代号语言。但你到底是做什么的？”
Now, let's move on to the next appetizer – salad.
现在，我们来说下一道开胃菜——沙拉。
A salad usually has some kind of vegetables mixed with cheese, egg, meat, nuts, or, sometimes, fruit.
沙拉里通常有一些蔬菜，混合着奶酪、鸡蛋、肉、坚果，有时也有水果。
Well, when we have a mixture of words or phrases that are difficult to understand, we can call it a word salad.
当我们有一堆难以理解的单词或短语时，我们可以称之为语词杂拌。
Word experts say that in the past, word salad described difficult-to-understand spoken language from people with illnesses.
词汇专家表示，在过去，语词杂拌指的是病人难以理解的口语。
However, in recent years, the expression word salad has come to simply mean difficult-to-understand language.
然而，近些年来，语词杂拌这个词只表示难以理解的语言。
Now, let's move on to the main dish – in this case, a sandwich.
现在，我们来说一说主菜——在这种情况下，三明治。
You can make a sandwich from anything – meat, cheese, vegetables, tofu, fish, shrimp, or chicken.
你可以用任何东西做三明治——肉、奶酪、蔬菜、豆腐、鱼、虾或鸡肉。
Just put them between two pieces of bread and you have a sandwich.
只要把它们夹在两片面包之间，你就得到了一个三明治。
You can even make a sandwich from ... criticism!
你甚至可以用批评做三明治！
A criticism sandwich is a way to soften the delivery of bad news.
反馈三明治是一种委婉传达坏消息的方式。
You put the criticism between two nice things – such as praise or approval.
你把批评放在两件好事之间——比如表扬或赞许。
Here is an example:
下面是一个例子：
So, your performance in last week's sales meeting was great!
你在上周的销售会议上的表现真的很棒！
Thanks for your help. But I'll need you to clean up the report.
谢谢你的帮助。但我需要你把报告整理一下。
I saw a few things wrong with the numbers.
我发现一些数据有问题。
But yeah, the client really loved your presentation!
但是，是的，客户真的很喜欢你的演讲！
That could also be called a feedback sandwich. But it is made the same way!
这也可以被称为feedback sandwich（反馈三明治）。但它的制作方式是一样的！
If you love sweets, you will love dessert.
如果你喜欢甜食，你也会喜欢甜点。
Now, I could use easy as pie or a piece of cake as examples.
现在，我可以用“easy as pie”或“a piece of cake”作例子。
Both describe something very easy to do or finish.
两者都表示某事很容易做或完成。
But I am going to use my favorite dessert – cookies!
但我要用我最喜欢的甜点——饼干！
Some cookies are formed by hand and their shapes can be very different from one another.
有些饼干是手工制作的，它们彼此间的形状可能会大不相同。
However, some people use a device called a cookie cutter when making cookies.
然而，有些人在制作饼干时使用了一种叫做饼干切割器的设备。
With a cookie cutter, every cookie is the same shape with little difference.
用饼干切割器，每一块饼干都是一样的形状，几乎没有区别。
And that gives us the expression cookie-cutter.
这就引出了短语“cookie-cutter（千篇一律的）”。
It describes something similar to many other things.
它形容的是与许多其他东西相似的东西。
There is nothing special, extraordinary, or different about things that are cookie-cutter.
千篇一律的东西并没有什么特别、非凡或不同之处。
For example, houses in my neighborhood were made by the same builders.
例如，我家附近的房子都是由同一家建筑商建造的。
They are all the same size and shape.
它们的大小和形状都一样。
In other words, the houses in my neighborhood are cookie-cutter houses.
换句话说，我家附近的房子都是千篇一律的。
Thanks for joining me for this lunchtime version of Words and Their Stories.
感谢大家收听这期午餐版的《词汇掌故》节目。
Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.
下次见……我是安娜·马特奥。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
