VOA词汇掌故2023--The Bad Side of Roses

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

On today's program, let's talk about flowers; but not just any flowers -- roses.

Who doesn't love a beautiful, sweet-smelling rose? The ancient Greeks and Romans connected roses with Aphrodite and Venus, the goddess of love. In modern times, you give a red rose to your true love and a yellow one to your true friend.

But roses also have a bad side -- thorns³.

A thorn² is the very sharp part of some woody plants, like blackberry bushes and roses. A prick⁴ from a thorn is painful and can cause you to bleed. So, a rose has both beauty and pain.

That is where the saying every rose has its thorns comes from. It means that rarely is something completely good. Even a very pleasant thing, event, or situation can have a bad or unpleasant side. You also could say, there's no rose without a thorn.

Actually, there are some kinds of roses without thorns. But let's not go down that garden path and just stay with our expression for today.

Now, here is an example of how to use the expression, every rose has its thorns.

Let's say you were on a game show and won a new car and a trip to Mexico. You are very excited but then find out that you must pay taxes on all the winnings. As you get ready to pay the big tax bill, you could say: "Well, every rose has its thorns."

"Thorn" has another meaning. It can also be something or someone that bothers you. A thorn in your side is a small problem, not a serious one. After all, thorns cause pain, but they are not going to kill you.

A friend who always borrows money from you could become a thorn in your side. She is annoying but not a serious problem. But what if her money troubles led to bigger problems for her?

Let's say she cannot pay her bills, and she is in danger of losing her home. In that situation, we can say she has made for herself a bed of thorns. This expression describes a painful, difficult, or unpleasant situation.

On the other hand, if she finds a way to make a lot of money, and she can pay off her debt, we can say she is now sleeping in a bed of roses. That is a really pleasant place to be.

Sometimes though, we use a bed of roses in a negative form to describe an unpleasant situation, like in this example:

A: Hey, how's everything going? A couple of months ago you told me you were struggling to pay your bills.

B: I was totally broke. I had no money at all.

A: That sounds really stressful.

A: It was no bed of roses; I can tell you that! I can't tell you how happy I am to be out of debt!

And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. We hope that your English studies have not become a thorn in your side. Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

prick – v. to pierce⁵ slightly with a sharp point

go down that garden path - idiom to cause (someone) to go, think, or proceed⁶ wrongly

annoying – v. causing irritation⁷

debt – v. something owed

negative – v. marked by denial⁸, prohibition⁹, or refusal¹⁰

broke – v. having no money

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 thorn   

n.刺，荆棘，带刺小灌木

参考例句：

• The little boy stepped on a sharp thorn.那小男孩踩着了一根尖刺。
• The dog had a thorn in its pad.这只狗的爪垫上扎了根刺。

3 thorns   

（玫瑰之类植物的）刺( thorn的名词复数 )； 棘刺； 带刺的树； 荆棘

参考例句：

• I was sitting on the thorns while waiting for the outcome. 等待结果时我如坐针毡。
• They had to stop to pick out thorns from their feet. 他们只得停下来把脚上的刺拔去。

4 prick   

v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛

参考例句：

• He felt a sharp prick when he stepped on an upturned nail.当他踩在一个尖朝上的钉子上时，他感到剧烈的疼痛。
• He burst the balloon with a prick of the pin.他用针一戳，气球就爆了。

5 pierce   

n.皮尔斯；v.刺穿，穿透，洞悉

参考例句：

• We use the machine to pierce holes in the steel sheet.我们用机器在钢板上打洞。
• Any sights could pierce them.任何景色都会刺激他们。

6 proceed   

vi.着手，继续进行；前进，行进

参考例句：

• Wrong opinions often proceed from lack of information.错误的看法往往产生于不了解情况。
• Let's proceed with our work.我们接着干吧。

7 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

8 denial   

n.否认；拒绝，拒绝给予

参考例句：

• The newspaper printed a denial of the untrue story.报社刊登了否认不实消息的声明。
• Her denial of my advice hurts me.她拒绝我的忠告伤害了我。

9 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

10 refusal   

n.拒绝

参考例句：

• He persisted in his refusal to pay the money.他坚持拒绝付钱。
• Our offer was met with a firm refusal.我们的报价被坚决拒绝。