VOA慢速英语2016--Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

Now the VOA Learning¹ English program Words and Their Stories.

Each week we explore the meaning and origin of American English expressions.

Today, I want you to look at your hand. The hand is an amazing tool. With it, we humans have done many wonderful things.

Of course, human hands have also done some not so wonderful things. But today, let’s focus on the wonderful things. For those, we should thank the thumb.

You could say the thumb made us humans what we are. Its development was as important an event in man’s growth as his success in learning how to walk upright².

Our opposable thumbs, as we call them, allow us to work with our fingers. Opposable thumbs also allow us to grab³ and pick up things. Scientists say without our opposable thumbs, humans might not have survived.

The thumb is so important that we have a couple phrases to express its power.

The first power thumb expression is the rule of thumb. These are not rules about how to use your thumb. A rule of thumb is a general principle developed through experiments rather than scientific study

Another power thumb expression, is to be under someone’s thumb which is not a good place to be. When a person is ruled by another, completely controlled by someone else, we say the person is under the other’s thumb.

For example, a sick woman may find herself under the thumb of a greedy relative. The relative wants to inherit⁴ the woman’s money. He says he will take care of all her finances⁵ while she is ill. Soon, he does not buy her medicine or doctor appointments. The woman’s health gets worse and worse, but she can’t do anything about it. She is completely under his thumb.

If this woman had control of her own money, she would not be under this man’s thumb. In fact, she could thumb her nose at him. Thumbing your nose at someone is showing a person disrespect and disregard⁶. This expression can also be used for things that you don’t respect, for example a type of literature or art or music, or even a law.

No matter how you use your thumb, each hand has only one. And that’s a good thing. Two or three thumbs on a hand might make doing things hard. In fact, that is how we describe people who are clumsy⁷. We say they are all thumbs.

Anyone can be all thumbs. You know the feeling. You’re in the kitchen cooking dinner and you keep dropping things -- the spices, the broccoli⁸, the knife. All go crashing to the floor.

You might say, “What is wrong with me today? I’m all thumbs!”

So, it is a good thing that our hands are designed to have only one thumb. And if that thumb is green – even better!

Someone with a green thumb is really good at growing plants. Let’s say the balcony of a neighbor’s apartment has a beautiful flower and herb garden.

Her roses and begonias are big and fragrant⁹. Her parsley, chives and cilantro are so plentiful¹⁰ that she shares them with all her neighbors.

As she gives a bunch of fresh herbs and flowers to you in the elevator one day, you say, “These came from your balcony garden? Wow, you really have a green thumb. I can’t get anything to grow on my balcony!”

So, the thumb is helpful and useful. In fact, waving your thumb at a driver used to be a way of getting ride. Hitchhiking was common in the U.S. decades ago. But thumbing a ride, as hitchhiking is also called, is no longer considered a safe way to travel. In fact, it is even illegal in some U.S. states.

However, giving someone a thumbs up is still legal and still common. Thumbs up means you approve something. Thumbs down means you don’t. If a number of people are deciding on a yes or no question, someone can call for a thumbs up or thumbs down vote.

This expression comes from ancient Rome when gladiators fought for their lives in the public arena¹¹. The crowd decided¹² if the fighter was to live or die. A defeated gladiator would lower his arms as a sign of surrender¹³. If the crowd turned up their thumbs he would be allowed to live. But if the crowd gave the thumbs down, he would be killed.

These days a thumbs up or thumbs down vote can be important but not so … violent.

And that brings us to the end of another Words and Their Stories. If someone asks you if you enjoyed this show, we hope you give us a thumbs up.

Words in This Story

opposable – adj. able to be placed against one or more of the other fingers or toes on the same hand or foot

disrespect – n. speech or behavior which shows that you do not think someone or something is valuable, important, etc. : lack of respect

disregard – n. the act of ignoring something or treating something as unimportant¹⁴

clumsy – adj. moving or doing things in a very awkward¹⁵ way and tending to drop or break things

fragrant – adj. having a pleasant and usually sweet smell

plentiful – adj. containing or giving large amounts of something

hitchhike – v. to get a ride in a passing vehicle by holding out your arm with your thumb up as you stand on the side of the road

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 upright   

adj.直立的；正直的；adv.挺直着，竖立着

参考例句：

• He stood himself upright.他笔直地站着。
• An upright man is respectable.正直的人是值得尊敬的。

3 grab   

vt./n.攫取，抓取；vi.攫取，抓住(at)

参考例句：

• It is rude to grab a seat.抢占座位是不礼貌的。
• The thief made a grab at my bag but I pushed him away.贼想抢我的手提包，但被我推开了。

4 inherit   

vt.继承(金钱等)，经遗传而得(性格、特征)

参考例句：

• He intended that his son should inherit his business.他打算让他的儿子继承他的生意。
• We must inherit in a critical way.我们要以批判的方式继承。

5 finances   

n.(pl.)财源，资产

参考例句：

• I need a professional to sort out my finances. 我需要专业人士为我管理财务。
• The company's finances are looking a bIt'shaky. 这个公司的财政情况看来有点不稳定。

6 disregard   

vt.不理会，漠视；n.忽视，漠视

参考例句：

• You can't just disregard the security problem!你可不能忽视安全问题！
• He did it in disregard of any advice.他不顾一切劝告做了这件事。

7 clumsy   

adj.笨手笨脚；不圆滑的，缺乏技巧的

参考例句：

• He is clumsy with his hands.他的一双手很笨。
• Its body looks heavy and clumsy when it has eaten its fill.它步态蹒跚，吃饱了的身体更显得笨拙可笑。

8 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。

9 fragrant   

adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的

参考例句：

• The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
• The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。

10 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

11 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 surrender   

v.投降，自首；屈服；交出，放弃

参考例句：

• He preferred to die rather than surrender to the enemy.他宁死也不愿向敌人投降。
• Liu Hulan would rather die than surrender before the enemy.刘胡兰在敌人面前宁死不屈。

14 unimportant   

adj.不重要的，无意义的

参考例句：

• Let's not quarrel about such unimportant matters.我们不要为这些小事争吵了。
• Money seems unimportant when sets beside the joys of family life.与天伦之乐相比，金钱显得微不足道。

15 awkward   

adj.笨拙的，尴尬的，使用不便的，难处理的

参考例句：

• John is so shy and awkward that everyone notices him.约翰如此害羞狼狈，以至于大家都注意到了他。
• I was the only man among the guests and felt rather awkward.作为客人中的唯一男性，我有些窘迫。