词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Slangman: Names Used in Slang

Broadcast on COAST TO COAST: July 17, 2003

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER -- names used in slang¹.

RS: Take "Johnny come lately." That's an opportunist who tries to gain from something started by others.

AA: We certainly wouldn't call our buddy² Slangman David Burke in Los Angeles a Johnny come lately. But we did ask him to put together a report about names used in slang ...

RS: And what he did was put together a completely fictional³ interview with movie actress Reese Witherspoon. The only thing real about this story is that Reese Witherspoon is the star of a brand-new sequel to "Legally Blonde," a comedy in which she plays a young lawyer who becomes politically active.

SLANGMAN: "Well, I want to welcome you to Slangman's Slang Hollywood Report. Yesterday I spoke⁴ with Reese Witherspoon over a cup of joe."

RS: "A cup of joe."

AA: "A cup of coffee."

SLANGMAN: "A cup of coffee. A few years ago we didn't know Reese Witherspoon from Adam, we didn't know her at all. Now she's known as the star of the new movie 'Legally Blonde 2.' I told her that I don't mean to be a doubting Thomas (that's someone who's always very doubtful, doesn't believe anything), I don't mean to be a doubting Thomas but jeez Louise (now jeez Louise is an expression of surprise), but jeez Louise I really wondered if John Q. Public was ready for another movie. Now John Q. Public simply means the average person, John Q. Public."

AA: "Right."

SLANGMAN: "It could be anyone. I wondered if John Q. Public was ready for another movie about a former plain Jane. That's a woman who's not ugly, she's not pretty, she's just plain. So I wondered if they were ready for a movie about a plain Jane who grows up to be a rich, beautiful Jack⁵ of all trades."

RS: "Someone who does everything."

AA: "Or in this case, a Jill of all trades."

SLANGMAN: "You know, that's interesting. For some reason some of these expressions we have -- for example, Joe Blow, which is an expression for men meaning anyone: 'Every Joe Blow thinks he can become president.'"

RS: "There's not a Jill Blow."

AA: "No, because it doesn't rhyme."

SLANGMAN: "Right, there's no feminine⁶ form of that. So oftentimes we do use the masculine⁷ form, even though it refers to women. Well, now I mean there's nothing Reese's character can't do -- that's why she is a Jack of trades. In the movie, she tries to change some United States laws. Now, I don't know jack about politics."

RS: "I don't know anything."

SLANGMAN: "I don't know anything. It means absolutely nothing. I don't know jack about politics, but if someone asked me if one young girl could change the law, I'd say: 'No way ... '"

RS: "Jose! (Laughter)"

SLANGMAN: "Jose. Of course, that comes back to the rhyming slang, no way Jose. It means absolutely not. But Reese manages to get enough people to put their John Hancock -- "

RS: "Their signature."

SLANGMAN: "Their signature, because John Hancock -- one of the people who signed the Declaration⁸ of Independence -- signed his name very largely, very big. So she got a lot of people to put their John Hancock on an important bill, resulting in a new United States law. True -- I'm not jacking you around. Now to jack someone around means to mislead them.

"Well, I asked Reese the following question: You've made millions of dollars in the movies 'Legally Blonde' and 'Legally Blonde II,' what comes next. 'Well,' she responded, 'probably Uncle Sam.'"

RS: "Uncle Sam."

SLANGMAN: "Right, the tax man, the tax person, Uncle Sam. Well, I'm afraid that's all the time we have, for Pete's sake."

RS: "For Pete's sake."

SLANGMAN: "Well, for Pete's sake is something you simply say out of amazement⁹, out of surprise, out of frustration¹⁰, out of disappointment. 'For Pete's sake, I broke my computer.' 'For Pete's sake, how are you!' So anything -- surprise, disappointment -- it's just another way to say, I have a lot of emotion here."

AA: And that's what makes him the one and only Slangman, David Burke. In fact, his book "The Slangman Guide to Street Speak Two" has a whole chapter on names used in slang. You can find out more about his materials at slangman.com.

RS: And you'll find our programs at voanews.com/wordmaster and our e-mail address is [email protected]. With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

1 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。

2 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

3 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

6 feminine   

adj.女性的，女子气的

参考例句：

• He has a very feminine voice.他的声音非常像女人。
• She was a very feminine person.她是个很有女性气质的人。

7 masculine   

adj.男性的，男子的，男子气的

参考例句：

• She has a rather masculine voice.她的声音有点男性化。
• The ceremony is exclusively masculine.典礼上清一色的全是男人。

8 declaration   

n.宣布，宣告，宣言，声明（书），申报

参考例句：

• We read the declaration posted on the bulletin board.我们读了贴在布告板上的声明。
• At the recent convention a declaration was adopted.在最近举行的大会上通过了一项宣言。

9 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

10 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。