VOA慢速英语20060716a

WORDS AND THEIR STORIES - Talking about MouthBy Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Sunday, July 16, 2006

Many thanks to [email protected] for posting the broadcast script²!

People use their mouths for many things. They eat, talk, shout and sing. They smile and they kiss. In the English language, there are many expressions using the word mouth. But some of them are not so nice.

For example, if you say bad things about a person, the person might protest³ and say Do not bad mouth me.

Sometimes, people say something to a friend or family member that they later regret because it hurts that person's feelings. Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to tell.

The speaker might say: I really put my foot in my mouth this time. If this should happen, the speaker might feel down in the mouth. In other words, he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing.

Another situation is when someone falsely claims another person said something. The other person might protest: I did not say that. Do not put words in my mouth.

Information is often spread through word of mouth. This is general communication between people, like friends talking to each other. How did you hear about that new movie? someone might ask. Oh, by word of mouth. A more official way of getting information is through a company or government mouthpiece. This is an official spokesperson. Government-run media⁴ could also be called a mouthpiece.

Sometimes when one person is speaking, he says the same thing that his friend was going to say. When this happens, the friend might say: You took the words right out of my mouth! Sometimes a person has a bad or unpleasant⁵ experience with another person. He might say that experience left a bad taste in my mouth. Or the person might have had a very frightening experience, like being chased⁶ by an angry dog. He might say: I had my heart in my mouth.

Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family. There is an expression for this, too. You might say such a person was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives from hand to mouth. This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life, like food.

Parents might sometimes withhold⁷ sweet food from a child as a form of punishment for saying bad things. For example, if a child says things she should not say to her parents, she might be described as a mouthy child. The parents might even tell the child to stop mouthing off.

But enough of all this talk. I have been running my mouth long enough.

WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, in VOA Special English, was written by Jill Moss. I'm Faith Lapidus.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。

3 protest   

v.反对，抗议；宣称；n.抗议；宣称

参考例句：

• I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见，我要提出抗议。
• We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。

4 media   

n.(medium的复数)媒体，新闻媒介，传播媒介

参考例句：

• The local media reported rioting across the country.当地媒体报道了全国范围的骚乱。
• His latest movie is being hyped up by the media.他新近的电影正被媒体大肆炒作。

5 unpleasant   

adj.使人不愉快的，使人厌恶的，煞风景的

参考例句：

• A very unpleasant thing has happened.一件令人很不愉快的事发生了。
• The kind advices are often unpleasant to the ear.好言常常不入耳。

6 chased   

vt.追捕（chase的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The boy chased his sister in and out among the bushes. 那个男孩在灌木丛里跟着他姐姐追过来追过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy chased the decoys down to the place of ambush. 敌人将诱骗者一直追到伏兵所在地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。