Words and Their Stories：Chip on Your Shoulder

　　點擊此處下載聽力mp3>>

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

　　Every week at this time we tell the story of words and expressions used in American English. Some of them are old. Some are new. Together, they form the living speech of the American people.

　　Some popular expressions are a mystery -- no one is sure how they developed.

　　One of these is the expression "carry a chip on your shoulder." A person with a chip on his shoulder is a problem for anybody who must deal with him. He seems to be expecting trouble. Sometimes he seems to be saying "I'm not happy about anything, but what are you going to do about it?"

　　A chip is a small piece of something, like a chip of wood. How did this chip get on a person's shoulder? Well, experts say the expression appears to have been first used in the United States more than 100 years ago.

　　One writer believes that the expression might have come from an old saying. The saying warns against striking too high, or a chip might fall into your eye. That could be good advice. If you strike high up on a tree with an axe, the chip of wood that is cut off will fall into your eye. The saying becomes a warning about the dangers of attacking people who are in more important positions than you are.

　　Later, in the United States, some people would put a real chip on their shoulder as a test. They wanted to start a fight. They would wait for someone to be brave enough to try to hit it off.

　　The word "chip" appears in a number of special American expressions. Another is "chip off the old block." This means that a child is exactly like a parent. This expression goes back at least to the early 1600s. The British writer of plays, George Colman, wrote these lines in 1762:

　　"You'll find him his father's own son, I believe. A chip off the old block, I promise you!"

　　The word "chip" can also be used in a threatening way to someone who is suspected of wrongdoing. An investigator may say, "We're going to let the chips fall where they may." This means the investigation is going to be complete and honest. It is also a warning that no one will be protected from being found guilty.

　　Chips are often used in card games. They represent money. A poker player may, at any time, decide to leave the game. He will turn in his chips in exchange for money or cash. This lead to another meaning: A person who finished or died was said to have "cashed in his chips," which is a way of saying it is time for me to finish this program.

　　You have been listening to the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.

　　I'm Warren Scheer.

　　LRC同步字幕

　　[ti:A Chip on Your Shoulder]

　　[ar:Warren Scheer]

　　[al:Words and Their Stories]

　　[by:www.tingvoa.com - VOA英語網]

　　[00:00.00]如果你喜歡voa英語網（www.tingvoa.com），請介紹給更多的同學哦

　　[00:00.10]（MUSIC）

　　[00:09.72]Now, the VOA

　　[00:12.32]Special English program,

　　[00:14.31]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

　　[00:17.30]Every week at this time

　　[00:21.67]we tell the story of words

　　[00:24.42]and expressions used

　　[00:26.51]in American English.

　　[00:28.68]Some of them are old.

　　[00:30.72]Some are new.

　　[00:33.58]Together, they form

　　[00:35.82]the living speech

　　[00:36.91]of the American people.

　　[00:38.55]Some popular expressions

　　[00:41.76]are a mystery.

　　[00:43.16]No one is sure

　　[00:44.77]how they developed.

　　[00:46.71]One of these

　　[00:48.35]is the expression,

　　[00:49.66]carry a chip

　　[00:51.46]on your shoulder.

　　[00:52.66]A person with a chip

　　[00:55.25]on his shoulder

　　[00:56.15]is a problem for anybody

　　[00:57.95]who must deal with him.

　　[00:59.55]He seems to be

　　[01:02.05]expecting trouble.

　　[01:03.25]Sometimes he seems

　　[01:05.79]to be saying,

　　[01:06.78]"I'm not happy

　　[01:08.48]about anything,

　　[01:09.52]but what are you going

　　[01:11.53]to do about it?"

　　[01:13.08]A chip is a small piece

　　[01:16.62]of something,

　　[01:17.53]like a chip of wood.

　　[01:18.98]How did this chip

　　[01:21.76]get on a person's shoulder?

　　[01:23.91]Well, experts say

　　[01:26.41]the expression appears

　　[01:28.50]to have been first used

　　[01:30.34]in the United States

　　[01:31.36]more than one hundred years ago.

　　[01:33.71]One writer believes that

　　[01:37.65]the expression might have

　　[01:39.37]come from an old saying.

　　[01:41.51]The saying warns against

　　[01:43.75]striking too high,

　　[01:45.65]or a chip might fall

　　[01:48.42]into your eye.

　　[01:49.72]That could be good advice.

　　[01:52.18]If you strike high

　　[01:54.92]up on a tree with an axe,

　　[01:56.69]the chip of wood that

　　[01:58.58]is cut off will fall

　　[01:59.96]into your eye.

　　[02:01.06]The saying becomes a warning

　　[02:04.16]about the dangers of

　　[02:06.05]attacking people

　　[02:07.13]who are in more

　　[02:08.77]important positions than you are.

　　[02:11.31]Later, in the United States,

　　[02:15.59]some people would

　　[02:17.59]put a real chip

　　[02:18.58]on their shoulder as a test.

　　[02:20.25]They wanted to start a fight.

　　[02:22.88]They would wait for someone

　　[02:25.46]to be brave enough

　　[02:26.79]to try to hit it off.

　　[02:28.84]The word chip appears

　　[02:32.18]in a number of special

　　[02:33.74]American expressions.

　　[02:35.39]Another is chip

　　[02:37.74]off the old block.

　　[02:39.24]This means that

　　[02:41.73]a child is exactly

　　[02:42.88]like a parent.

　　[02:44.34]This expression goes back

　　[02:46.85]at least to the early

　　[02:48.32]sixteen hundreds.

　　[02:49.78]The British writer of plays,

　　[02:52.86]George Colman,

　　[02:54.42]wrote these lines

　　[02:55.91]in seventeen sixty-two.

　　[02:58.21]"You'll find him

　　[03:00.55]his father's own son,

　　[03:01.80]I believe.

　　[03:02.67]A chip off the old block,

　　[03:04.59]I promise you!"

　　[03:05.63]The word chip can also

　　[03:09.02]be used in a threatening way

　　[03:10.81]to someone who

　　[03:11.95]is suspected of wrongdoing.

　　[03:13.32]An investigator may say,

　　[03:16.25]"We're going to

　　[03:17.90]let the chips fall

　　[03:19.09]where they may."

　　[03:20.25]This means the investigation

　　[03:23.61]is going to be

　　[03:24.61]complete and honest.

　　[03:26.36]It is also a warning that

　　[03:29.59]no one will be protected

　　[03:31.28]from being found guilty.

　　[03:33.68]Chips are often used

　　[03:37.31]in card games.

　　[03:38.68]They represent money.

　　[03:40.72]A poker player may,

　　[03:43.46]at any time, decide

　　[03:45.30]to leave the game.

　　[03:46.93]He will turn in his chips

　　[03:49.48]in exchange for money or cash.

　　[03:51.78]This lead to another meaning.

　　[03:55.42]A person who finished

　　[03:58.15]or died was said

　　[04:00.44]to have cashed in his chips.

　　[04:02.95]Which is a way of saying

　　[04:05.20]it is time for me

　　[04:06.49]to finish this program.

　　[04:08.79]（MUSIC）

　　[04:26.15]You have been listening to

　　[04:30.28]the VOA Special English program,

　　[04:33.12]Words and Their Stories.

　　[04:35.56]I'm Warren Scheer.

　　詞匯解析

　　strike

　　難度：5星基本詞匯，屬常用1000詞

　　英漢解釋

　　n.罷工；打擊；毆打

　　v.打；撞；罷工；劃燃

　　參考例句

　　用作名詞 (n.)

　　The coalminers have been out on strike for several weeks now.

　　煤礦工人已罷工了幾個星期。

　　Next, the local press carried an order by the city's garrison commander forbidding soldiers to strike students.

　　接著報紙上又刊出了城防司令部嚴禁軍人毆打學生的布告。

　　用作動詞 (v.)

　　Be careful not to strike your head against the mantel.

　　小心不要使你的頭撞到壁爐架。

　　The girl struck a match to light a cigarette.

　　那女孩劃火柴點燃一根煙。

　　************************

　　found

　　難度：5星基本詞匯，屬常用1000詞

　　英漢解釋

　　v.建立；創立；創辦；熔鑄；找到，發現（動詞find的過去式和過去分詞）

　　參考例句

　　用作動詞 (v.)

　　This business company was founded in 1724.

　　這家商業公司建立于1724年。

　　************************

　　exchange

　　難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞

　　英漢解釋

　　v.交換；兌換

　　n.交換；交易所；兌換；交戰

　　參考例句

　　用作動詞 (v.)

　　We exchanged our opinions about the event at the meeting.

　　在會上，我們就此事交換了意見。

　　用作名詞 (n.)

　　Gold shares jumped at the Stock Exchange yesterday.

　　證券交易所黃金股票昨天又大幅度上漲了。

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

　　你正在收聽的是美國之音特別英語節目“詞匯典故”

　　Every week at this time we tell the story of words and expressions used in American English. Some of them are old. Some are new. Together, they form the living speech of the American people.

　　每周的這個時間，我們就會講述美國英語中詞語和一些表達的故事。一些故事是很古老的，一些是新的。它們共同構成了美國人們現在使用的語言

　　Some popular expressions are a mystery -- no one is sure how they developed.

　　一些流行的表達是個謎—沒有人能確定這些表達是怎樣形成的

　　One of these is the expression "carry a chip on your shoulder." A person with a chip on his shoulder is a problem for anybody who must deal with him. He seems to be expecting trouble. Sometimes he seems to be saying "I'm not happy about anything, but what are you going to do about it?"

　　其中一個表達就是“肩上扛著碎屑。”“一個肩上扛著碎屑的人”，是任何人必須要應對的麻煩。這樣一個人好像是要惹事。有時他好像會這么說：“我就是看什么事都不爽，你有意見嗎？”

　　A chip is a small piece of something, like a chip of wood. How did this chip get on a person's shoulder? Well, experts say the expression appears to have been first used in the United States more than 100 years ago.

　　碎屑就是一小點東西，就像木屑。這樣的碎屑怎么會落到一個人肩膀上呢。專家說100多年前美國首次使用這個表達。

　　One writer believes that the expression might have come from an old saying. The saying warns against striking too high, or a chip might fall into your eye. That could be good advice. If you strike high up on a tree with an axe, the chip of wood that is cut off will fall into your eye. The saying becomes a warning about the dangers of attacking people who are in more important positions than you are.

　　一位作家認為這個表達可能是來自一則古老的俗語。這則俗語是警示人們不要太過火，否則碎屑可能會落入你的眼睛里。這是個好建議。如果你揮著斧頭高高舉起砍向一棵樹，產生的碎屑可能會落進你的眼里。這則俗語是用來警告攻擊那些比你地位高的人的危險性。

　　Later, in the United States, some people would put a real chip on their shoulder as a test. They wanted to start a fight. They would wait for someone to be brave enough to try to hit it off.

　　之后，在美國一些人把真的碎屑放在他們的肩上。他們想要開始打架，他們想要等那些足夠勇敢的人試圖把這片碎屑打落。

　　The word "chip" appears in a number of special American expressions. Another is "chip off the old block." This means that a child is exactly like a parent. This expression goes back at least to the early 1600s. The British writer of plays, George Colman, wrote these lines in 1762:

　　很多特別的美國表達中都出現過“碎屑”這個詞。另一個是“酷似雙親”。意思是說小孩非常像父母。這個表達至少要追溯到1600年初。英國戲劇作家，喬治·科爾曼在1762年寫下了這樣的句子

　　"You'll find him his father's own son, I believe. A chip off the old block, I promise you!"

　　“你會發現他是他父親親生的兒子。一個模子刻出來，我向你保證。”

　　The word "chip" can also be used in a threatening way to someone who is suspected of wrongdoing. An investigator may say, "We're going to let the chips fall where they may." This means the investigation is going to be complete and honest. It is also a warning that no one will be protected from being found guilty.

　　“碎屑”這個詞可以用來威脅那些被懷疑做了壞事的人。一位調查官可能會說，“我們會讓正義得到伸張的。”這是說這項調查會是完整和誠實的。這也是一種犯法者必會得到懲罰。

　　Chips are often used in card games. They represent money. A poker player may, at any time, decide to leave the game. He will turn in his chips in exchange for money or cash. This lead to another meaning: A person who finished or died was said to have "cashed in his chips," which is a way of saying it is time for me to finish this program.

　　“chip”一詞也會用在撲克牌游戲中。這代表錢。一位撲克玩家，任何時候決定不玩了。他都可以上交他的“籌碼”換取錢或是現金。這又產生了另一種含義：一個去世的人可以說成是“用籌碼換現金了”，這是一種說法，我是候結束這個項目了。

　　You have been listening to the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.

　　您收聽的是美國之音特別英語節目“詞匯典故”。

　　I'm Warren Scheer.

　　我是沃倫·謝爾

　　233網校提供 2014年大學英語四級各個題型的精講分析課程，免費試聽！老師為您答疑解惑，手機客戶端也可觀看，讓您隨時隨地學習！了解詳情>>

　　聽力練習：英語四六級改革題型聽力：VOA美國之音聽寫練習匯總

　　詞匯匯總：10天攻克大學英語四級核心詞匯匯總