VOA慢速英語(yǔ):詞匯掌故：小道消息

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

現(xiàn)在是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)詞匯掌故節(jié)目。

Some of the most exciting information comes by way of the grapevine.

一些最激動(dòng)人心的消息來(lái)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?yàn)樾〉老⒗響?yīng)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(shí)，都默認(rèn)你不會(huì)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(gè)消息 - 作為秘密開(kāi)始傳播延。沒(méi)人知道它傳了多遠(yuǎn)。

The expression by the grapevine is more than one hundred years old.

by the grapevine(通過(guò)小道消息)這句短語(yǔ)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(guó)發(fā)明家薩慕爾.摩斯 (Samuel F. Morse)對(duì)這句短語(yǔ)的誕生負(fù)很大一部分責(zé)任。其中，他進(jìn)行了電報(bào)試驗(yàn) - 通過(guò)電纜傳送消息。當(dāng)摩斯最終完成了他的電報(bào)裝置，他在國(guó)會(huì)進(jìn)行了展示。他從華盛頓通過(guò)電纜發(fā)了一條消息到巴爾的摩。消息內(nèi)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(kāi)始興建從一個(gè)地方到另一個(gè)地方那個(gè)的電報(bào)線路。到處都看到人們?cè)谠噪娋€桿拉線用于傳輸電報(bào)信息。由于施工質(zhì)量差，電纜沒(méi)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(jié)果看起來(lái)有些奇怪。人們說(shuō)電纜看起來(lái)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(gè)短語(yǔ)，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(rèn)為，如果不是美國(guó)南北內(nèi)戰(zhàn)，這句短語(yǔ)可能很快就會(huì)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(nèi)戰(zhàn)開(kāi)始不久，軍事指揮員開(kāi)始通過(guò)電報(bào)發(fā)送戰(zhàn)報(bào)。人們開(kāi)始聽(tīng)到用by the grapevine(來(lái)自前方電報(bào))這句話描述或真或假的戰(zhàn)報(bào)。這就像一個(gè)鬼把戲，(這個(gè)戰(zhàn)報(bào)情況)是真的嗎?誰(shuí)這么說(shuō)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(nèi)戰(zhàn)早已遠(yuǎn)去的日子里，獲取小道信息仍保留著鬼把戲的味道。一個(gè)朋友給你帶來(lái)一個(gè)奇怪的消息。 “不，”你說(shuō)，“這不可能是真的!誰(shuí)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(guò)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(guó)的那句老話，搖晃葡萄藤的人至少晃下幾個(gè)葡萄(意為大量小道消息中，總有些是真的)。