WORDS AND THEIR STORIES(18) - On a Short Leash / Mickey Mous

WORDS AND THEIR STORIES - On a Short Leash¹ / Mickey Mouse
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Broadcast: Sunday, August 29, 2004

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该广播稿已经整理（非常感谢网友 Li Wei <[email protected]> 发布的听写稿，他所写出来的有如教科书，很多很难听出来的地方都很准确的写了出来。）

I'm Susan Clark with the Special English program Words and Their Stories.

Susan Cleveland is the young president of a candy company in the City of Chicago. Her father began the company in the nineteen sixties. He died three years ago. Now the company belongs to Susan. Many of her father's employees were concerned when Susan to control. Susan's father had worked many years for other candy companies before starting this one. He had known a great deal about business. Susan however did not have any jobs before becoming head of the company. She just finished college.

The employees became even more concerned during Susan's first month on the job. Mr. Cleveland had been a strong leader, but Susan permitted many employees to make their own decisions.

One employee said, old Mr. Cleveland always told her what to do. He kept people on a short leash, but the company did well.

What does a shot leash mean?

A leash is a kind of rope. We use a leash to work our pet dogs, The leash keeps dog from running away or getting into trouble. Keeping a person in a short leash means keeping him or her under close control. The person can not make many decisions for himself or herself.

Word expert James Rogers found a similar saying used more than four hundred years ago. In fifteen sixties, writer Thomas Dickens said in a religious book. "For God have them in leash, yeah, they are his slaves".

Miss Cleveland does not keep her workers on a short leash. Instead, She urges them to create better ways to business. For example, her secretary proposed² an idea. She said the company should give a prize to the best student in a high school near the factory. The winner could use the prize money to study at university.

Miss Cleveland approved the idea. After the prize was announced, people who lived in the area of factory began to buy more of the company's candy. Local newspaper wrote about the competition.

Business Improved.

Miss Cleveland made her secretary the company's first director of public relations. The former secretary was very pleased. She said "My old job had become Mickey Mouse, Now I have much more creative one."

Mickey Mouse, of course is Walt Disney's famous animal drawn³ from movies, television and comic picture books. But what does a mouse have to do with a job.

In modern speech, anything that is Mickey Mouse is unimportant⁴. Many word experts say the new meaning came from United States Navy⁵. The Navy had a special school for new sailors who did not cooperate⁶. It was called M-I-C, short for Military Indoctrination Center. Sailors began to say that rules, which did not seem important, work MIC. Over time, MIC became a Mickey Mouse, something that lacks meaning.

This Words and Their Stories was written by Jerilyn Watson, I'm Susan Clark.

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网友 Li Wei <[email protected]> 发布的听写原稿

Susan Cleveland is the young president of a candy company in the city of Chicago. Her father began the company in the 1960s. He died 3 years ago. Now the company belongs to Susan.

Many of her father's employees will concerned when Susan to control. Susan's father had work many years for other candy companies before starting this one. He had known a great deal about business. Susan, however, did not have any jobs before becoming head of the company. She just finished college. The employees became even more concerned during Susan's first month on the job.

Mr. Cleveland had been a strong leader. But Susan permitted many employees to make their own decisions. One employee said: "Old Mr. Cleveland always told us what to do. He kept people on a short leash. But the company did well."

What does a short leash mean?

A leash is a kind of rope. We use a leash to work our pet dogs. The leash keeps the dog from running away or getting into trouble.

Keeping a person on a short leash means keeping him or her under close control. The person cannot make many decisions for himself or herself.

Word expert James Rogers found similar saying used more than 400 years ago. In 1560, writer Thomas Dickens(?) said in a religious book "For God have them in leash. Yeah, they are his slaves".

Miss Cleveland does not keep her workers on a short leash. Instead she urges them to create better ways to do business. For example, her secretary proposed an idea. She said the company should give a prize to the best student in the high school near its factory. The winner could use the prize money to study at university. Miss Cleveland approved the idea. After the prize was announced, people who lived in area of the factory began to buy more of the company's candy. Local newspapers wrote about the competition.

Business improved.

Miss Cleveland made her secretary the company's first director of public relations. The former secretary was very pleased. She said, "My old job had become Mickey Mouse. Now I have a much more creative one."

Mickey Mouse, of course, is World Disney's famous animal drawn for movies, television and comic picture books.

But what does a mouse have to do with a job?

In modern speech, anything that is Mickey Mouse is unimportant. Many word experts say the new meaning came from the United States Navy. The Navy had a special school for new sailors who did not cooperate. It was called MIC, short for Military Indoctrination Center. Sailors began to say that rules, which did not seem important, were MIC. Over time MIC became Mickey Mouse, something that lacks meaning.

1 leash   

n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住

参考例句：

• I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳，但被狗挡住了路。
• The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带，想挣脱开去。

2 proposed   

被提议的

参考例句：

• There is widespread discontent among the staff at the proposed changes to pay and conditions. 员工对改变工资和工作环境的建议普遍不满。
• an outcry over the proposed change 对拟议的改革所发出的强烈抗议

3 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

4 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。

5 navy   

n.海军，海军人员，海军军力，藏青色

参考例句：

• My brother is in the navy.我兄弟在海军服役。
• He has transferred from the army to the navy.他从陆军转到海军。

6 cooperate   

vi.合作，协作，相配合

参考例句：

• We hope we can cooperate even more closely in the future.希望我们今后能更加密切地合作。
• I hope you can cooperate on this matter.我希望你在这件事上能给予合作。