词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Listener Mail

Broadcast on COAST TO COAST: September 11, 2003

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: some letters from listeners.

RS: From Russia, Natasha writes: "A friend of mine went to the US for her summer vacation. She's got 4 years of study at Moscow Linguistic¹ University behind her and she's actually studying to be a teacher of English. But as she came to America she faced lots of problems with her English. And the most striking thing was that Americans didn't use the language she had learned at the university.

"For example, almost all natives she mixed with said, 'There's a lot of people I know,' or 'How are you doin?' -- 'I'm good.' And her impulse was to follow the example, since we, students of a foreign language, want to sound as natural as possible and try to pick up whatever we hear from the natives.

"So, my question is: Am I right thinking that there's a violation² of grammar in the above mentioned examples? Or is it an instance of spoken American English, and my friend wins the bet?"

AA: Actually, you're both right. Saying "there is a lot of people I know' is a grammatical mistake. It should be 'there ARE a lot of people I know," of course. But in speech, what you generally hear is "there's a lot of" -- for one thing, it's just easier to say. People tend to stick to the rules more in writing, especially if it's not to friends or loved ones.

Same with "How are you doing?" That's OK written down. But to say it that way could sound too formal. "How ya doin'" is how we typically say it. And the typical answer is: "Fine, thanks," or "I'm fine" or "I'm good."

RS: On to this from James Ho: "I'm one of your listeners in Taiwan and I want to thank you for producing such a quality show. Today I've got some questions that I'd like to ask" -- and he starts by asking about a statement that was quoted in an article in the Wall Street Journal, quote -- "'What is the likelihood of our forces serving under a blue-hatted UN leadership?' I couldn't find the meaning of 'blue-hatted,' even in the latest edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Does it mean 'peaceful'?"

AA: You're on the right track. When the U-N sends a peacekeeping force, the soldiers wear light blue berets or helmets. Things are different, though, for what are known as multinational³ forces authorized⁴, but not commanded, by the U-N. Those troops wear the color of headgear they normally wear in their national military.

RS: James has another question, and again he quotes, this time from USA Today: "It's about trust," says the father looking each of his daughters square in the eye before they set off for an afternoon of shopping. Besides, they know what they can get away with and what they can't. Do they ever. Off they went, regrouping with their stay-at-home dad in the mall's food court three hours later to show off their booty."

James would like to know what the sentences 'do they ever' and "off they went" mean.

AA: Think of "do they ever" as sort of an exclamation⁵ point. In this case, the writer is emphasizing that the daughters know their father's limits. "Off they went" simply means to set off, to get going.

RS: Next this e-mail: "Dear friend, I'm in love with American English, but please would you mind sending me some programs. It's my first time hearing VOA News. I am a Sudanese lady and l would like to learn more about English, because some people tell me that l speak good English, but my boyfriend tells me to have more classes in English. Best regards, Christine von Burkhard."

AA: Welcome to VOA, Christine! To answer your question about our programs, the only way to get them is on the Internet. You'll find our scripts all the way back to 1998. And you can download MP3 and RealAudio files going back to July of 2001. The address is voanews.com/wordmaster. Good luck -- and let us know if you'd like us to talk to that boyfriend of yours!

RS: Here's a letter of inspiration from "Mister English." At least that's his e-mail name. T. Basavanyappa writes us from a government school in Karnataka, India: "Dear Wordmaster. I am very curious about American English. It is very easy and interesting to learn and speak. Because it has simple spelling, grammar rules, structures, informal usages, etc. I need a program guide when Wordmaster is broadcast."

AA: That's easy -- you can hear us each Thursday at this time right here on Coast to Coast.

Now over to Azat Sultanov in Aktau, Kazakhstan. Recently we answered some of his questions about slang. "Now let me trouble you with another question," he writes. "Some time ago on one of the Talk to America shows I heard the description of 'baby boomer' attitude and 'trigger happy' with regard to some politicians.

"What I dig of these terms is that a man who has a 'baby boomer attitude' encourages a birth rate increase and the man who is 'trigger happy' does not have to be persuaded or instigated⁶ much to make an impulsive⁷ act. Are these meanings correct?"

RS: Azat, your definition for "trigger happy" is right on target! Literally⁸ or figuratively, it's someone who is likely to shoot first and ask questions later. Now, about the meaning of "baby boomer attitude" -- the baby boom is what we call the period after World War Two, from nineteen-forty-six to nineteen-sixty-four. America had a big increase in births.

AA: The result: seventy-seven-million baby boomers today, or one in four Americans. Not surprisingly, a population group this large can have a big impact on a country's attitudes. Just what are the attitudes of baby boomers? We'll leave that for Mary Tillotson's guests to talk about on Talk to America.

RS: And that's Wordmaster for this week. Our e-mail address is [email protected]. And our Web site, again, is voanews.com/wordmaster. With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

1 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

2 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

3 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

4 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

5 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

6 instigated   

v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government has instigated a programme of economic reform. 政府已实施了经济改革方案。
• He instigated the revolt. 他策动了这次叛乱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 impulsive   

adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的

参考例句：

• She is impulsive in her actions.她的行为常出于冲动。
• He was neither an impulsive nor an emotional man,but a very honest and sincere one.他不是个一冲动就鲁莽行事的人，也不多愁善感.他为人十分正直、诚恳。

8 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。