VOA词汇掌故2023 优先权

First Dibs

优先权

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

现在，《词汇掌故》，来自美国之音学习英语。

See if you can guess the meaning of first dibs from the following exchange:

看看你是否能从以下交换中猜出第一个dibs的含义：

A: "Hi, I was calling about the house for rent, and I was wondering if it's still available."

A： “嗨，我打电话来是想了解房子的出租情况，我想知道它是否仍然可用。”

B: "Yes, well, it is empty, at the moment—but I can't rent it out yet. My nephew is interested, and he's got first dibs on it, so I'm waiting to hear from him."

B： “是的，嗯，现在是空的，但我还不能租出去。我侄子很感兴趣，他有优先权，所以我在等他的消息。”

A: "Oh, OK—do you know how long it'll be until he decides?"

A： “哦，好吧，你知道他还要多久才能决定吗？”

B: "Um, you know, it could be a month. I'm not really sure."

B： “嗯，你知道，可能需要一个月。我不太确定。”

Here, the owner is giving his nephew a chance to rent the house before anyone else can. Having first dibs on something means having the right to get something before anyone else.

在这里，房主给了侄子一个机会，让他在其他人之前租房子。拥有优先权意味着有权在其他人之前获得某物。

We can have first dibs on one thing or on one or more things from a collection of objects. For example, you can say: "She has first dibs on the World Cup tickets."

我们可以对一个对象或一个或多个对象集合中的一个或一个以上的对象进行优先排序。例如，你可以说：“她拥有世界杯门票的优先权。”

In both examples, note that we use the preposition² on before a noun³.

在这两个例子中，注意我们在名词之前使用介词on。

American dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster says the expression first dibs likely comes from a children's game called dibstones played in 17th-century Britain. Children would try to catch small objects like pebbles⁵ on the backs of their hands. The objects were called dibstones or dibs.

美国词典出版商梅里亚姆·韦伯斯特（Merriam Webster）表示，first dibs一词很可能来自17世纪英国玩的一种叫做dibstone的儿童游戏。孩子们会试图在手背上抓鹅卵石之类的小东西。这些物体被称为钻石或钻石。

By the early 1900s, get first dibs was in common use in American English.

到了20世纪初，get first dibs在美式英语中已普遍使用。

Here are the verbs we often use with the expression:

下面是我们常用的动词：

You can have first dibs. You can get first dibs. Someone can give you first dibs, or you can give first dibs to others. And when you call first dibs, that means you claim possession even if nobody said you could choose first.

你可以先决定。你可以获得第一名。有人可以给你优先权，或者你可以给别人优先权。当你要求优先权，这意味着即使没有人说你可以先选择，你也会要求拥有。

If you call first dibs, you should only do so if you think other people probably do not want, or care about, the thing you are claiming. Otherwise, people might view you as selfish or not respectful⁶ of the rights of others, and that could create conflict.

如果你要求优先购买，只有当你认为其他人可能不想要或不关心你所声称的东西时，你才应该这样做。否则，人们可能会认为你自私或不尊重他人的权利，这可能会引发冲突。

Can you think of something you'd like to have first dibs on? You can let us know in the comments section.

你能想出一些你想先学习的东西吗？你可以在评论部分告诉我们。

Until next time, I'm Andrew Smith.

下次之前，我是安德鲁·史密斯。

Words in This Story

guess -v. to try to answer a question correctly but without having the necessary knowledge to know if the answer is correct

猜猜看--试图正确回答问题，但没有必要的知识来知道答案是否正确

rent -v. to pay a fee for the temporary use of something, such as a car, apartment, or piece of equipment

租金--支付临时使用某物的费用，如汽车、公寓或设备

nephew -n. the son of one's brother or sister

侄子--兄弟姐妹的儿子

ticket -n. a small card, piece of paper, or other document which allows entry to an event such as a concert, athletic⁷ contest, and the like

票据--一张小卡片、一张纸或其他文件，允许参加音乐会、体育比赛等活动

pebble⁴ -n. a small stone about one to two centimeters in diameter⁸

卵石--直径约一到两厘米的小石头

selfish -adj. characterized by not sharing with others and being concerned only for oneself

自私的--不与他人分享，只关心自己

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 preposition   

n.介词

参考例句：

• You should cancel this preposition in the sentence.你应该删去句子中的这个介词。
• We use different preposition to talk about time,days,months and seasons.我们用不动的介词来谈论时间，日，月和季节等。

3 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。

4 pebble   

n.卵石，小圆石

参考例句：

• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。
• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。

5 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

6 respectful   

adj.恭敬的，对...表示尊敬的

参考例句：

• He is respectful to his elders.他对长辈很尊敬。
• She received guests with a respectful attitude.她恭恭敬敬地接待了客人。

7 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

8 diameter   

n.直径

参考例句：

• The circle has a diameter of 6 inches.这个圆直径六英寸。
• A diameter passes through the center of a circle.直径从圆心穿过。