词汇掌故：与苹果相关的短语.doc

词汇掌故：与苹果相关的短语

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
这里是美国之音慢速英语词汇掌故节目。

Today we tell about the expression, "apple pie order." It means in perfect order, very well organized.
今天我们讲短语apple pie order，意思是井然有序，组织合理。

Nobody is sure where and when the expression apple pie order began. Some say that Scottish and English writers used the expression a long time ago. Others say it first was used in the northeastern American states known as New England.
没有人确切知道“apple pie order”这个短语起源于何时何地。有人说苏格兰和英格兰的作家很久以前就使用这个短语了。还有人说，美国东北部的新英格兰州最早开始使用这个短语。

The housewives of New England cut their apples in even slices. Then they filled pie pans with them in an organized way, row upon row. As one writer said, the women of New England loved to have everything in its place. This perhaps explains why it generally is believed that the expression apple-pie order began in New England
新英格兰州的家庭主妇把苹果切成均匀的片，然后整齐的，一层一层的摆满平底锅。正如一位作家所说，新英格兰州的妇女喜欢将一切事情弄得井然有序。也许这可以解释为什么人们认为apple pie order这个短语起源于新英格兰州。

Another old expression describes the opposite condition – wild disorder. That expression is apple of discord. It comes from ancient mythology.
另一句老话描述了一种相反的，极度混乱的状况。这个短语就是apple of discord（祸源，祸根），起源于远古神话。

The myth says that all the gods and goddesses were sitting around the table to celebrate the marriage of Thetis and Peleus. One of the goddesses, Discord, was a troublemaker. She threw a golden apple on the table to be given as a prize to the most beautiful goddess.
神话中讲到男女众神围坐在桌旁庆贺忒提斯（Thetis，海洋女神）和珀琉斯（Peleus，特洛伊战争中希腊联军主将阿喀琉斯之父）的婚礼，其中一个女神--争吵女神（Discord）是个爱惹麻烦的人。她将一个金苹果扔到桌子上，作为对最美女神的奖励。

It was not an easy decision to make. How could they choose among Juno, Minerva and Venus. Paris was given the task of deciding. He decided to give the golden apple to Venus. Juno and Minerva were very angry and threatened him. This, the myth says, began the long Trojan war.
要做出这个决定可不容易，他们将在朱诺（Juno，主神朱庇特的妻子，万神之母，希腊神话中称为赫拉，朱诺是罗马神话中对应的名字，以下同）, 米诺瓦（Minerva，智慧女神，希腊神话中称为雅典娜） 和维纳斯（Venus，爱神，希腊神话中称为阿芙罗狄忒）中做出怎样的选择呢。这个任务交给了帕里斯（Paris，特洛伊王子），他决定将金苹果授予维纳斯，朱诺和米诺瓦都很生气，并威胁他。此事，引发了漫长的特洛伊之战。

At one time, the tomato was called a love apple. That was a mistake. This is how the mistake happened.
西红柿曾经被称作爱情苹果，那是个美丽的误会，事情是这样的。

In the sixteenth century, Spain imported the tomato from South America after Spanish explorers had landed there. Spain then exported the tomato to Morocco. Italian traders carried it on to Italy. The Italian name for the tomato was pomo di Moro – apple of the Moors.
16世纪，西班牙探险家到达南美后，从那引进了西红柿，然后将其出口到摩洛哥。意大利商人把它运到意大利。西红柿的意大利名是pomo di Moro——摩尔人的苹果。

When French growers imported it from Italy, they thought di Moro meant d'amour, the French word for love. And so pomo di Moro became the apple of love.
法国种植者从意大利引进西红柿时，他们认为意大利语中的di Moro就是法语中的爱情（d'amour）一词，因此pomo di Moro就成了爱情苹果。

People believe many things about the apple. One belief is that it has great powers of keeping people healthy. A very common expression is "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."
人们认同很多关于苹果的事情，有一个信条就是苹果拥有保持身体健康的巨大能量。一个常用短语An apple a day keeps the doctor away（一日一苹果，医生远离我）。

Another belief is based on fact. The expression is "One rotten apple spoils the barrel." When an apple begins to go bad, it ruins all the other apples around it in the container. The expression has come to mean that one bad person in a group can cause everyone to act bad.
另外一个信条则是基于事实基础。One rotten apple spoils the barrel（一个烂苹果，烂一筐苹果），当一个苹果开始腐烂，它也会毁掉同一容器中周围的其它苹果。这个短语的引申表达意思是团队里一个差劲的人会使每个人的表现都很差。