VOA慢速英語(yǔ):Hot Potatoes, Hotshots and Hotheads

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

現(xiàn)在是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)詞匯掌故。

Every language has its own special words and expressions. And a story can be told about each of them.

每種語(yǔ)言都有自己獨(dú)特的詞語(yǔ)和表達(dá)方式。我們可以講個(gè)故事逐一講述。

Hot is a simple, easily understood word. So are most of the expressions made with the word hot. But not always, as we shall see.

Hot是一個(gè)非常簡(jiǎn)單易懂的單詞，許多由hot組成的短語(yǔ)也是如此。但情況并不總是這樣，正如我們將看到的以下短語(yǔ)。

The words hot potato, for example, give you no idea at all to the meaning of the expression, hot potato.

例如hot potota這個(gè)短語(yǔ)，從字面上你完全看不出是什么意思。

The potato is a popular vegetable in the United States. Many people like baked potatoes, cooked in an oven or fire. Imagine trying to carry a hot, baked potato in your hand. It would be difficult, even painful, to do so.

土豆(potato)在美國(guó)是一種非常受歡迎的蔬菜。許多人喜歡用火或烤箱烤土豆。想象一下手里拿著一個(gè)熱乎乎的剛出爐的土豆，肯定非常難受，甚至?xí)芡纯唷?/p>

Now we are getting close to the meaning of hot potato.

現(xiàn)在我們已經(jīng)開(kāi)始接近hot potato的意思了。

Some publicly disputed issues are highly emotional. The issues must be treated carefully, or they will be difficult and painful if an elected official has to deal with them. As difficult and painful as holding a hot potato.

一些富有爭(zhēng)議的公眾話題常常使人情緒激動(dòng)。這類問(wèn)題必須謹(jǐn)慎處理，否則民選官員處理時(shí)就會(huì)非常難受非常痛苦，就像手里拿著燙手的土豆。

注：hot potato直譯就是燙手土豆，跟中文最接近的俗語(yǔ)就是燙手山芋。

One such hot potato is taxes.

其中一個(gè)這樣的燙手山芋就是稅收。

Calling for higher taxes can mean defeat for a politician. And yet, if taxes are not raised, some very popular government programs could be cut. And that also can make a politician very unpopular. So the questions must be dealt with carefully, the same way you would handle any other hot potato.

要求增加稅收就會(huì)意味著一個(gè)政客的失敗。然而如果不提高稅收，一些非常大眾的政府項(xiàng)目可能會(huì)被削減，這也會(huì)使政客不得人心。因此這個(gè)問(wèn)題需要謹(jǐn)慎處理，就像處理其它燙手山芋一樣。

Another expression is not so hot. If you ask someone how she feels, she may answer "not so hot." What she means is she does not feel well.

另外一個(gè)短語(yǔ)是not so hot。如果你問(wèn)一個(gè)人她感覺(jué)如何，她可能會(huì)回答“not so hot”。她的意思是說(shuō)感覺(jué)不是太好。

Not so hot also is a way of saying that you do not really like something. You may tell a friend that the new play you saw last night is not so hot. That means you did not consider it a success.

Not so hot也用于表達(dá)不喜歡某事物。你可能對(duì)朋友說(shuō)，你昨晚看的新話劇也就那樣(not so hot)。意思是說(shuō)你認(rèn)為該話劇不太成功。

A hot shot is a person, often a young person, who thinks he can do anything. At least he wants to try. He is very sure he can succeed. But often he fails. The expression was born in the military forces. A hot shot was a soldier who fired without aiming carefully.

Hot shot是指自以為無(wú)所不能的人，通常是年輕人。至少他想去嘗試。他非常確定自己能夠成功，但常常會(huì)失敗。這個(gè)短語(yǔ)誕生于軍隊(duì)，hot shot是指不認(rèn)真瞄準(zhǔn)就射擊的士兵。

Hot is a word that is often used to talk about anger.

Hot也常用于描述憤怒。

A person who becomes angry easily is called a hothead. An angry person's neck often becomes red. We say he is hot under the collar. You could say that your friend is no hothead. But he got hot under the collar when someone took his radio.

容易動(dòng)怒的人被稱為hothead(急性子，暴脾氣)。動(dòng)怒了的人脖子常常會(huì)變紅，我們說(shuō)他hot under the collar(怒氣沖沖)。你可能會(huì)說(shuō)你的朋友不是暴脾氣，但當(dāng)人拿了他的收音機(jī)時(shí)他會(huì)怒氣沖沖。

In nineteen sixty-three, hot line appeared as a new expression.

1963年，hot line作為一個(gè)新詞匯出現(xiàn)了。

The hot line was a direct communications link between the leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States. The hot line had an important purpose: to prevent accidental war between the two competitors during the period known as the Cold War. The American president and the Soviet leader were able to communicate directly and immediately on the hot line. This helped prevent any conflict during an international crisis.

Hot line(熱線)是指前蘇聯(lián)和美國(guó)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的直接通信線路。熱線有一個(gè)重要的目的：防止冷戰(zhàn)期間這2個(gè)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手之間的突發(fā)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。兩國(guó)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人可以通過(guò)熱線直接、快速地溝通。這有助于防止在當(dāng)時(shí)的國(guó)際危機(jī)期間出現(xiàn)任何沖突。