WORDS AND THEIR STORIES(25) - Apple-Pie Order

WORDS AND THEIR STORIES - Apple-Pie Order
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Broadcast: Sunday, October 17, 2004

Now the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.

Today, we tell about the expression apple-pie order. It means in perfect order, very well organized. Nobody is sure where and when the expression apple-pie order began.

Some say that Scottish and English writers use the expression a long time ago. Other say it first was used in the northeastern American states known as New England. The housewives of New England cut their apples in even slices. Then they filled pie pans¹ with them in an organized way -- row upon row. As one writer said, the women of New England love to have everything in its place. This perhaps explains why it generally is believed that the expression Apple-Pie-Order began in New England.

Another old expression describes the opposite condition -- wild disorder². That expression is apple of discord³. It comes from ancient mythology⁵. The myth⁴ says that all the gods and goddesses were sitting around a table to celebrate the marriage of Thetis and Peleus. One of the gods-Discord was a troublemaker⁶. He threw a golden apple on the table to be given as a prize to the most beautiful goddess. It was not an easy decision to make. How could they choose among Juno, Minerva and Venus? Paris was given the task of deciding. He decided⁷ to give the golden apple to Venus. Juno and Minerva were very angry and threatened him. This, the myth says, began the long Trojan War.

At one time the tomato was called a love apple. That was a mistake. This is how the mistake happened. In the sixteenth century, Spain imported tomato form south America after Spanish explorers had landed there. Spain then exported tomato to Morocco. Italian traders carried it onto Italy. The Italian name for tomato was pomo de Mauro, apple of the Moores. When French growers imported it from Italy, they thought de Mauro meant d'amour, the French word for love, and so pomme d'amour became the apple of love.

People believe many things about the apple. One belief is that it has great powers of keeping people healthy. A very common expression is "an apple a day keeps the doctor away". Another belief is based on fact. The expression is "one rotten⁸ apple spoils⁹ the barrel¹⁰". When an apple begins to go bad, it ruins all the other apples around it in the container. The expression has come to mean that one bad person in a group can cause everyone to act bad.

1 pans   

n.平底锅( pan的名词复数 )；（天平的）秤盘；马桶；盘状凹地（尤指盆地）

参考例句：

• Pots, pans, kettles and mops are kitchen utensils. 锅、盘、壶及拖把是厨房用具。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She clashed these pans down on the floor. 她将这些盘子哗啦一声摔在地上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

3 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

4 myth   

n.神话，神话故事

参考例句：

• The story has points of resemblance to a Hebrew myth.这个故事与某个希伯来神话有相似之处。
• The story is a pure myth.这故事纯属虚构。

5 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

6 troublemaker   

n.惹是生非者，闹事者，捣乱者

参考例句：

• I would hate you to think me a troublemaker.我不愿你认为我是个搬弄是非的人。
• Li Yang has always been a troublemaker.李阳总是制造麻烦。

7 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。

8 rotten   

adj.腐烂(朽)的；令人不愉快的；糟糕的

参考例句：

• The book was pretty rotten.这本书糟透了。
• Rotten eggs give off a bad smell.臭蛋散发出难闻的气味。

9 spoils   

n.战利品，赃物v.变质( spoil的第三人称单数 )；损坏；毁掉；破坏

参考例句：

• There are some spoils of war in his hands. 在他的手里有些战利品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The thief escaped with his spoils. 这个小偷带着赃物逃走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 barrel   

n.圆桶；一桶的量；枪管；vt.把...装桶

参考例句：

• I drew off three pints of beer from the barrel.我从酒桶里抽出三品脱啤酒。
• The man rolled the barrel into the yard.那个人把圆桶滚进院子。