VOA慢速英語:詞匯掌故：小道消息
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Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
現(xiàn)在是美國之音慢速英語詞匯掌故節(jié)目。
Some of the most exciting information comes by way of the grapevine.
一些最激動人心的消息來自小道消息。
That is so because reports received through the grapevine are supposed to be secret. The information is all hush hush. It is whispered into your ear with the understanding that you will not pass it on to others.
之所以如此，是因為小道消息理應是秘密。這些信息都神神秘秘的,它被低聲傳入你耳朵的同時，都默認你不會再傳給他人。
You feel honored and excited. You are one of the special few to get this information. You cannot wait. You must quickly find other ears to pour the information into. And so, the information - secret as it is – begins to spread. Nobody knows how far.
你感到榮幸和興奮。你是為數(shù)不多的知情者之一。你迫不及待，必須趕緊把這消息告訴他人。這樣，這個消息 - 作為秘密開始傳播延。沒人知道它傳了多遠。
The expression by the grapevine is more than one hundred years old.
by the grapevine(通過小道消息)這句短語已有1百多年歷史。
The American inventor, Samuel F. Morse, is largely responsible for the birth of the expression. Among others, he experimented with the idea of telegraphy – sending messages over a wire by electricity.When Morse finally completed his telegraphic instrument, he went before Congress to show that it worked.He sent a message over a wire from Washington to Baltimore. The message was: "What hath God wrought?" This was on May twenty-fourth, eighteen forty-four.
美國發(fā)明家薩慕爾.摩斯 (Samuel F. Morse)對這句短語的誕生負很大一部分責任。其中，他進行了電報試驗 - 通過電纜傳送消息。當摩斯最終完成了他的電報裝置，他在國會進行了展示。他從華盛頓通過電纜發(fā)了一條消息到巴爾的摩。消息內容就是：“上帝創(chuàng)造了何等奇跡?”這是在1844年5月24日。
Quickly, companies began to build telegraph lines from one place to another. Men everywhere seemed to be putting up poles with strings of wire for carrying telegraphic messages. The workmanship was poor. And the wires were not put up straight.
很快，公司開始興建從一個地方到另一個地方那個的電報線路。到處都看到人們在栽電線桿拉線用于傳輸電報信息。由于施工質量差，電纜沒有被拉直。
Some of the results looked strange. People said they looked like a grapevine. A large number of the telegraph lines were going in all directions, as crooked as the vines that grapes grow on. So was born the expression, by the grapevine.
結果看起來有些奇怪。人們說電纜看起來像葡萄藤。大量的電纜線通往四面八方，就像葡萄藤一樣歪歪曲曲的。這樣就誕生了這個短語，by the grapevine。
Some writers believe that the phrase would soon have disappeared were it not for the American Civil War.
一些作家認為，如果不是美國南北內戰(zhàn)，這句短語可能很快就會消失。
Soon after the war began in eighteen sixty-one, military commanders started to send battlefield reports by telegraph. People began hearing the phrase by the grapevine to describe false as well as true reports from the battlefield. It was like a game. Was it true? Who says so?
1861年內戰(zhàn)開始不久，軍事指揮員開始通過電報發(fā)送戰(zhàn)報。人們開始聽到用by the grapevine(來自前方電報)這句話描述或真或假的戰(zhàn)報。這就像一個鬼把戲，(這個戰(zhàn)報情況)是真的嗎?誰這么說的?
Now, as in those far-off Civil War days, getting information by the grapevine remains something of a game. A friend brings you a bit of strange news. "No," you say, "it just can’t be true! Who told you?" Comes the answer, "I got it by the grapevine."
現(xiàn)在，在內戰(zhàn)早已遠去的日子里，獲取小道信息仍保留著鬼把戲的味道。一個朋友給你帶來一個奇怪的消息。 “不，”你說，“這不可能是真的!誰告訴你嗎?”他回答道：“這是我得到的小道消息。”
You really cannot know how much – if any – of the information that comes to you by the grapevine is true or false. Still, in the words of an old American saying, the person who keeps pulling the grapevine shakes down at least a few grapes.
你真的不知道通過小道得到的消息有多少，是否有信息是真的還是假的。還是美國的那句老話，搖晃葡萄藤的人至少晃下幾個葡萄(意為大量小道消息中，總有些是真的)。
Heard It Through the Grapevine
Now, the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.
Some of the most exciting information comes by way of the grapevine.
That is so because reports received through the grapevine are supposed to be secret. The information is all hush hush. It is whispered into your ear with the understanding that you will not pass it on to others.
You feel honored and excited. You are one of the special few to get this information. You cannot wait. You must quickly find other ears to pour the information into. And so, the information - secret as it is – begins to spread. Nobody knows how far.
The expression by the grapevine is more than 100 years old.
The American inventor, Samuel F. Morse, is largely responsible for the birth of the expression. Among others, he experimented with the idea of telegraphy – sending messages over a wire by electricity. When Morse finally completed his telegraphic instrument, he went before Congress to show that it worked. He sent a message over a wire from Washington to Baltimore. The message was: “What hath God wrought?” This was on May 24th, 1844.
Quickly, companies began to build telegraph lines from one place to another. Men everywhere seemed to be putting up poles with strings of wire for carrying telegraphic messages. The workmanship was poor. And the wires were not put up straight.
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Some of the results looked strange. People said they looked like a grapevine. A large number of the telegraph lines were going in all directions, as crooked as the vines that grapes grow on. So was born the expression, by the grapevine.
Some writers believe that the phrase would soon have disappeared were it not for the American Civil War.
Soon after the war began in 1861, military commanders started to send battlefield reports by telegraph. People began hearing the phrase by the grapevine to describe false as well as true reports from the battlefield. It was like a game. Was it true? Who says so?
Now, as in those far-off Civil War days, getting information by the grapevine remains something of a game. A friend brings you a bit of strange news. “No,” you say, “it just can’t be true! Who told you?” Comes the answer, “I got it by the grapevine.”
You really cannot know how much – if any – of the information that comes to you by the grapevine is true or false. Still, in the words of an old American saying, the person who keeps pulling the grapevine shakes down at least a few grapes.
(MUSIC)
You have been listening to the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories. I’m Christopher Cruise
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