www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

您現在的位置: Language Tips> Audio & Video> Special Speed News  
 





 
Chickenfeed: It doesn't add up to much
[ 2008-02-18 09:47 ]

 

Download

I'm Susan Clark with WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, a program in Special English on the Voice of America.

(MUSIC)

Almost every language in the world has a saying that a person can never be too rich.

Americans, like people in other countries, always want more money. One way they express this is by protesting that their jobs do not pay enough. A common expression is, "I am working for chickenfeed." It means working for very little money. The expression probably began because seeds fed to chickens made people think of small change. Small change means metal coins of not much value, like nickels which are worth five cents.

An early use of the word chickenfeed appeared in an American publication in nineteen thirty. It told about a rich man and his son. Word expert Mitford Mathews says it read, "I'll bet neither the kid nor his father ever saw a nickel or a dime. They would not have been interested in such chickenfeed."

Chickenfeed also has another interesting meaning known to history experts and World War Two spies and soldiers.

Spy expert Henry S. A. Becket writes that some German spies working in London during the war also worked for the British. The British government had to make the Germans believe their spies were working. So, British officials gave them mostly false information. It was called chickenfeed.

The same person who protests that he is working for chickenfeed may also say, "I am working for peanuts." She means she is working for a small amount of money.

It is a very different meaning from the main one in the dictionary. That meaning is small nuts that grow on a plant.

No one knows for sure how a word for something to eat also came to mean something very small. But, a peanut is a very small food.

The expression is an old one. Word expert Mitford Mathews says that as early as eighteen fifty-four, an American publication used the words peanut agitators. That meant political troublemakers who did not have a lot of support.

Another reason for the saying about working for peanuts may be linked to elephants. Think of how elephants are paid for their work in the circus. They receive food, not money. One of the foods they like best is peanuts.

When you add the word gallery to the word peanut you have the name of an area in an American theater. A gallery is a high seating area or balcony above the main floor.

The peanut gallery got its name because it is the part of the theater most distant from where the show takes place. So, peanut gallery tickets usually cost less than other tickets. People pay a small amount of money for them.

(MUSIC)

This Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Jeri Watson. This is Susan Clark.

(Source: VOA 英語點津姍姍編輯)

 
 
相關文章 Related Stories
 

 

 

 
 

本頻道最新推薦

     
  Chickenfeed: It doesn't add up to much
  Honoring 'Citizen Diplomats'
  Hollywood writers end three-month strike
  《電子情緣》精講之六
  Legends of the fall

論壇熱貼

     
  情人節浪漫短信
  我們可以達到母語是英語國家人的水平嗎?
  常見的英語介詞短語搭配
  The Spring Festival Draws Near
  “河流湖泊密集之地”如何翻譯好?
  可譯還是不可譯---"鼠"不盡?




主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲综合视频网 | 精品国产一区二区三区四区不 | 免费观看性欧美大片无片 | 九九视频在线 | 成人影院久久久久久影院 | 99久热在线精品视频播放6 | 福利片成人午夜在线 | 国产精品区一区二区免费 | 国内精品免费一区二区观看 | 欧美13一14sexvideo欧 | 久久精品a一国产成人免费网站 | 欧美一级一级片 | 精品国产欧美一区二区三区成人 | 亚洲天堂网在线视频 | 偷自拍 | 日韩精品中文字幕一区三区 | a在线观看欧美在线观看 | 久久高清一区二区三区 | 欧美精品伊人久久 | 99久久精品免费看国产高清 | 色噜噜亚洲男人的天堂 | 久久高清精品 | 精品国产a | 99在线视频精品 | 午夜精品久久久久久99热7777 | 波多野结衣在线中文 | 亚洲看片网站 | 韩国毛片在线 | 欧美巨大精品欧美一区二区 | 久久国产精品久久久久久久久久 | a国产成人免费视频 | 欧美一级视频精品观看 | 久久99精品久久久久久 | 成人精品视频在线观看播放 | 毛片免费观看成人 | 久久国产一级毛片一区二区 | 91一区二区视频 | 亚洲另类在线视频 | 国产精品久久永久免费 | 亚洲国产欧美在线人成 | 免费看孕妇毛片全部播放 |