VOA词汇掌故2022--Doctors and Nurses

Doctors and Nurses

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning¹ English.

Whenever there is a health crisis³, two groups of people can bring help – doctors and nurses.

A nurse is a person skilled⁴ or trained in caring for sick or injured people. We also use the word "nurse" as a verb. You can nurse a person or animal back to health. And you can nurse a patient, helping⁵ that person heal² or get better.

But you can also nurse a symptom, something unhealthy like a headache after a late-night party. You can nurse other bad things too, like a grudge⁶. A grudge is a strong feeling of anger toward⁷ someone that lasts for a long time. If you nurse a grudge, you keep the anger alive. You make sure it doesn't lessen⁸ over time.

You can use the verb "nurse" in other ways. For example, you can "nurse a drink." That doesn't mean you are trying to heal it, but rather you drink it very slowly, to make it last longer. For example, if I go to a costly⁹ restaurant and buy a $15 drink, I might nurse it to make it last the whole meal.

The word "doctor" is also used as a verb. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary says that one meaning of the verb "doctor" is to give medical treatment. For example, she doctored her sick friend. That makes sense. But personally, I have never heard the term used that way. In my opinion, it is more common to nurse someone back to health.

Sometimes people say "doctor" to mean "fix." For example, he has doctored that clock several times. But again, this usage¹⁰ is rare.

A more common usage of the verb "to doctor" is to change something in an honest or dishonest way. For example, the school board official was accused of doctoring her study results. She was caught changing the results to fit her policy needs.

When we change something, either in an honest or dishonest way, we sometimes add the word "up" to "doctor."

For example, the writer doctored up the script¹¹ to better fit the actor. Here is a dishonest example: The legal team was accused of doctoring up photographs of evidence.

Now, let's hear two expressions using the word doctor.

If something is exactly what you want or need, it is "just what the doctor ordered." This expression can be used in many situations. For example, if I worked all week, a night on the couch¹² with a good movie might be just what the doctor ordered.

In a recent Words and Their Stories, we talked about another expression that means the same thing. If something "hits the spot," it is just what you need at that time.

Our last expression is this: Doctors make the worst patients.

This means it is difficult to give people advice about something which they do for a living. This is because they might feel they know better than the person giving the advice.

For example, Mary tried to persuade her boss at the bank to seek help for his growing debt. But he got angry. He said he knew best how to deal with his money. She just shook her head and said to herself, "It's true. Doctors make the worst patients."

Now, let's hear two neighbors use some of these nurse and doctor expressions.

A: Hi there! I see you're cleaning up your garden. It was so beautiful this summer.

B: Thanks! I was pretty proud of it. Are you good with plants?

A: I'm only good at killing¹³ them, unfortunately. Like this one. It's pretty brown. (holds up dead plant)

B: Oh dear.

A: Do you think you can nurse it back to health?

B: Um...I'm sorry. But this plant is dead. You need to water your plants.

A: Good advice. You should tell Celia across the street the same thing. She owns a plant store but still the plants at her house look awful!

B: I tried to give her some advice once. She did NOT like that one bit. You know how it goes: Doctors make the worst patients. But as for your plant...it's dead. There's no nursing a plant back from the dead.

A: That's too bad. I wanted to use it for some photos for my website.

B: Maybe you could add a plant.

A: What do you mean?

B: You know, doctor the photo on your computer and add a plant.

A: Isn't that dishonest?

B: The photo is just for your website. It's not like your doctoring official evidence in a criminal case. Now THAT would be dishonest.

Words in This Story

symptom –n. a change in the body or mind that shows that a disease¹⁴ or sickness is present

grudge – n. a strong feeling of anger toward someone that lasts for a long time

garden – n. an area of ground where plants (such as flowers or vegetables) are grown

proud –adj. very happy and pleased because of something you have done

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 heal   

v.使愈合，治愈，使康复；平息(争吵等)；消除，解决(分支等)

参考例句：

• Time helped heal the old wounds.时间有助于治愈旧创伤。
• This wound will soon heal if yon keep it clean.如果你保持伤口清洁，它很快就会痊愈。

3 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

4 skilled   

adj.(in)熟练的，有技能的；需要技能的

参考例句：

• Unskilled workers usually earn less money than skilled workers.无技能的工人通常比有技能的工人挣钱少。
• She was skilled enough in French to translate a novel.她法语娴熟，足以翻译小说。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 grudge   

n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做

参考例句：

• I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
• I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

7 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

8 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

10 usage   

n.惯用法，使用，用法

参考例句：

• I am clear about the usage of this word at last.这个词的用法我算是弄明白了。
• The usage is now firmly established.这种用法现已得到确认。

11 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。

12 couch   

n.睡椅，长沙发椅；vt.表达，隐含

参考例句：

• Lie down on the couch if you're feeling ill.如果你感觉不舒服就躺到沙发上去。
• The rabbIt'sprang from its grassy couch.兔子从草丛中跳出。

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。