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'As American as Apple Pie'

时间:2016-07-24 12:53:25

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(单词翻译)

'As American as Apple Pie'

Welcome back to Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English!

Each week we explore the roots and meaning of common American expressions.

Today let’s talk about apples.

The saying “as American as apple pie” describes things that represent the best of American culture. People use this expression when talking about things like blue jeans, baseball and rock-n-roll music.

But why use apple pie? Why not some other fruit, like a cherry or peach? The reason might be a man known as Johnny Appleseed.

A lot of stories and even a few poems have been written about Johnny Appleseed over the years. They made him into a larger than life folk hero.

Yet Johnny Appleseed was a real person. It was the name given to a man named John Chapman. Many Americans consider him responsible for popularizing apples in the United States.

John Chapman was born in Massachusetts in 1774 during the Revolutionary War against Britain. His father reportedly fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill and later served under General George Washington. While John’s mother died in childbirth, his father made it home from battle. He taught his son everything he knew about farming.

The young Chapman took his father’s lessons to heart.

For 40 years, it is said that Johnny Appleseed cleared land and planted apple seeds in the Midwestern states of the U.S. In a short time, the seeds grew to become trees that produced fruit.

Apples were an important food for the early American settlers. Apples offered something different in daily meals. They were easy to grow and store for use throughout the year.

Perhaps the story of Johnny Appleseed has made apples and apple pie so very American. Historians1 can debate that. But this we do know. Apples are at the core (Get it? “Core” is the center of the apple.) of many common sayings.

Many apples fall from trees when they are fully-grown. When we say that an apple didn’t fall far from the tree, we are describing children who are very much like their mother or father. And this can be for both good and bad reasons. As we said, John Chapman’s father was a farmer. So, we could say that Johnny Appleseed’s apple really didn’t fall far from the tree.

That takes this expression to a whole new level!

Naturally, apple growers need a way to transport their produce to market. This is where a vehicle called an “applecart” enters the story.

It must have been a big mistake years ago to upset or overturn2 someone’s applecart. In American English, you have upset the applecart if you ruin someone’s plans or go against the usual way of doing things.

In fact, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines3 an applecart as “a plan, system, or situation that may be disrupted5 or ended.” But the verb used with the applecart expression is usually “upset.”

The first recorded use of applecart being used in this way appeared in 1788. A man named Jeremy Belknap wrote in The History of New Hampshire that "(John) Adams had almost overset the apple-cart by intruding6 an amendment7 of his own fabrication8 (making) on the morning of the day of ratification9" [of the Constitution].

This is yet another example of how apples seem very American. The only thing bad about an upset cart of potatoes, for example, is that potatoes are all over the ground.

So, the word apple appears in many American expressions. But does that mean we should eat one every day? You would think so, if you hear the saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” That is not scientifically proven. But eating an apple a day can’t be bad for you.

Apples are about 85 percent water. They can help you feel full. Also, they travel well. In other words, they rarely get damaged when you carry them in a bag, unlike other fruits (Yes, I’m talking about you, Banana!).

So, apples are good for us. And someone who does good things can be described as a good apple.

But there are also bad apples. And we all know that one bad apple spoils the bunch. Let’s say there is a classroom of very well-behaved children. All the students are respectful. They do not shout or speak out of turn while the teacher is talking. Then a new student arrives. This student talks loudly and shows disrespect to the teacher. Soon other students follow her lead and disrupt4 class.

In this example, you could say that one bad apple spoiled the whole bunch.

Now, students who misbehave in class are not necessarily bad people. But, if the student we just talked about also steals apples from the store and then throws them at very old women, you could say she is rotten to the core.

Even a bad child can be loved by their parents. The father of this girl might say, “My daughter would never do such things! She is the apple of my eye!”

But this student is not the apple of the teacher’s eye. The teacher punishes her and the class returns to the way it was. The other parents are very happy about this. They might even say, “How about them apples? Or “How do you like them apples?”

This expression is the same as saying, “Well. What do you think about that?” It can also be a way of showing you like or admire something.

I know. I know. The grammar in the expression “how about them apples” is not exactly right. But that is how we say it. Americans even shorten10 the word “about” to simply “’bout.” You won’t hear anyone say, “How about those apples?”

The grammar is main reason this expression sounds warm, folksy and rural to the ear -- well, the grammar and the apples.

And remember, it sounds like a country or rural expression. If a good friend tells you that their original cake recipe just won first place at a baking competition. “How ‘bout them apples?!” would be a great response to that news. However, if a friend from New York City tells you that they just won a high-profile writing award, you might want to say something else.

But, comparing language used in a small, farming town with the language used in a city like New York is like comparing apples and oranges. There is no point because they are both so different.

Words in This Story

take (something) to heart – idiomatic11 expression to consider that some comment is significant to oneself

level – n. an amount of something

fabricate12 – v. to create or make up (something, such as a story) in order to trick people : fabrication – n.

ratify13 – v. to make (a treaty, agreement, etc.) official by signing it or voting for it : ratification – n.

folksy – adj. friendly or informal in manner or style

rural – adj. of or relating to the country and the people who live there instead of the city


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1 historians aa2dff49e1cda6eb8322970793b20183     
n.历史学家,史学工作者( historian的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Historians seem to have confused the chronology of these events. 历史学家好像把这些事件发生的年代顺序搞混了。
  • Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。
2 overturn o4Uz9     
v.推翻决定、结果等,翻倒,倾覆,使...翻倒
参考例句:
  • Some high-ranking officers plotted to overturn the government.有几名高级军官策划推翻政府。
  • We saw the canoe overturn,throwing its passengers into the water.我们看到独木舟倾覆了,把上面的乘客掀入水中。
3 defines e5ce027803090c376e63626f7fc5c76b     
规定( define的第三人称单数 ); 使明确; 精确地解释; 画出…的线条
参考例句:
  • This name defines us all. 这个名字造就了我们。 来自演讲部分
  • The range of incomes over which this happens defines the 'poverty trap'. 发生在这种情况的收入范围,称为“贫困陷阱。”
4 disrupt rl7zR     
adj.分裂的,分散的;vt.使分裂,使瓦解
参考例句:
  • The war seemed likely to disrupt the state.战争可能使这个国家分裂。
  • The conflict seemed likely to disrupt the government.这场冲突可能使政府垮台。
5 disrupted 216a1e94ac824979b1ce1545d406f4d7     
使混乱,扰乱( disrupt的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • An accident has disrupted railway services into and out of the city. 一场事故使得进出该城市的铁路交通陷入混乱。
  • A crowd of protesters disrupted the meeting. 一群抗议者扰乱了会议。
6 intruding b3cc8c3083aff94e34af3912721bddd7     
v.侵入,侵扰,打扰( intrude的现在分词);把…强加于
参考例句:
  • Does he find his new celebrity intruding on his private life? 他是否感觉到他最近的成名侵扰了他的私生活?
  • After a few hours of fierce fighting,we saw the intruding bandits off. 经过几小时的激烈战斗,我们赶走了入侵的匪徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 amendment Mx8zY     
n.改正,修正,改善,修正案
参考例句:
  • The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
  • The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。
8 fabrication 6lLxi     
n.制作,构成;捏造
参考例句:
  • His story was a complete fabrication. 他的故事纯属虚构。
  • This is a sheer fabrication. 这完全是凭空捏造。
9 ratification fTUx0     
n.批准,认可
参考例句:
  • The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
  • The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。
10 shorten vyTwf     
vt.弄短,缩小,减少
参考例句:
  • Minor accidents can shorten the life of a car.小事故会缩短汽车寿命。
  • My dress is too long I must shorten it.我的连衣裙太长了,我得把它截短些。
11 idiomatic ob8xN     
adj.成语的,符合语言习惯的
参考例句:
  • In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
  • In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。
12 fabricate ThzzH     
v.捏造,编造(谎言、借口等),建造,制造
参考例句:
  • They plan to fabricate a cinema next year.他们计划明年建造一座电影院。
  • It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that.人们编造这样的谎话让我感到愤怒。
13 ratify uATzc     
v.批准,认可,追认
参考例句:
  • The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
  • The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

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