And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. The English language has many expressions that describe a fast-moving event.，我来为大家科普一下关于voa慢速英语常用词汇中英?以下内容希望对你有帮助!
voa慢速英语常用词汇中英
And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. The English language has many expressions that describe a fast-moving event.
欢迎收听VOA英语学习《词汇掌故》节目。英语中有许多描述事件迅速发生的表达方式。
Some expressions relate to body movements. We say something happens in the blink of an eye or in a heartbeat.
有些表达与肢体动作有关。比如"眨眼间或心跳的瞬间发生某事（in the blink of an eye or in a heartbeat）"。
Other expressions are related to the world of nature. Today we will talk about a speed-related expression involving an animal.
还有些表达与自然界有关。今天，我们将讨论一个与速度相关的表达，就包含动物在里面。
Now, because we are talking about speed and animals, you might think it is a big cat, such as a lion or cheetah-- or maybe even a small, but speedy animal such as a hare.
现在，因为我们在谈论速度和动物，所以您可能会认为这只动物是一只大型猫科动物，例如狮子或猎豹，或者甚至是像野兔这种体型虽小但移动迅速的动物。
But it is none of them. You guessed it! The expression today involves sheep – baby lambs to be exact!
但都不是这些。你猜到了！今天的表达与绵羊有关，确切地说是小羊羔！
But why? Lambs are cute. But they are not really known for their lightning speed. Well, our expression is about a specific part of the animal – its tail.
但为什么呢？羔羊很可爱。但它们不以闪电般的速度而闻名。嗯，我们讨论的表达方式与羔羊的某个特定部分有关，那就是它的尾巴。
I suspect lambs can shake their tails very fast. Because when something happens quickly, we say it happens in "two shakes of a lamb's tail". Here is an example:
我猜小羊能很快速地摇动尾巴。因为当某事发生得很快时，我们会用"two shakes of a lamb’s tail "（"羊尾巴摆两下的时间内"）来表示。例如：
"I'm going to the store. I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail"! This expression is a cuter and more descriptive way of saying "quickly".
"我要去商店。我会马上回来（in two shakes of a lamb’s tail）！"这种表达方式是"quickly"（ 快速）的一种更有趣、更具描述性的说法。
Maybe instead of sending a text message with the letters BRB (be right back), we could use the image of a lamb shaking its tail. That would fun!
或许我们在发消息时，可以不用字母BRB（"马上回来"的英文缩写）这样的文字，而使用羔羊摇尾巴的图片来表示。那会很有趣！
Being cute like a lamb may be fun. But it has its drawbacks. Cute things are often not taken seriously.
像小羊羔一样可爱可能很有趣，但也有其缺点。可爱的东西往往不被认真对待。
And this cute factor is the main reason Americans rarely use "two shakes of a lamb's tail" in a serious situation. For example, if I see a person get hit by a car,
严肃情况下，美国人很少使用"two shakes of a lamb’s tail"这一表达，主要是因为其中的可爱因素。例如，假设我看到有人被汽车撞了，
I would not say, "Hold on! Help will be here in two shakes of a lamb's tail"! That would not make the injured person lying in the middle of the street feel reassured.
我不会说："坚持住！ ‘羊尾巴摆两下的时间内’救援就会到了！"那样说不会使躺在马路中央的伤者感到安心。
In an emergency like that, I would say something like, "Help is on the way"! Generally speaking, an emergency is not a good time to use cute animal expressions.
像在那样的紧急情况下，我会说"救援就在路上了！"这样的话。一般来说，紧急情况下最好不要使用含有动物的可爱表达。
Some language experts say "two shakes of a lamb's tail" was first used in written English in the 1800s. They think that it was used in spoken English much earlier than that.
一些语言专家表示，"two shakes of a lamb’s tail"这一表达首次用于书面英语是在19世纪00年代。他们认为这一表达用在英语口语中的时间要比这早得多。
You should know that we often shorten this expression to simply "two shakes"– as in, "I'll be there in two shakes"!
要知道我们经常将这一表述缩短，简化为"two shakes"，例如"我很快（in two shakes）就会到那里！"
You should not use that one for emergencies either. And that is Words and Their Stories for this week.
这种简化表达同样不能用于紧急情况下。以上就是本周《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。
But we will be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail. Well, actually… we'll be back next week! Until next time… I'm Anna Matteo!
但我们马上（in two shakes of a lamb’s tail）就会回来的。好吧，实际上……我们下周再见！我们下次节目见…我是安娜·马特奥！
