简体
|
繁体
loading...
海外博客
按全文
按作者
首页
新闻
读图
财经
教育
家居
健康
美食
时尚
旅游
影视
博客
群吧
论坛
电台
热点
原创
时政
旅游
美食
家居
健康
财经
教育
情感
星座
时尚
娱乐
历史
文化
社区
帮助
您的位置:
文学城
»
博客
»
俺这里阴雨棉棉的,再读一篇VOA吧~
俺这里阴雨棉棉的,再读一篇VOA吧~
2010-12-18 11:47:26
laiyin
首页
文章页
文章列表
博文目录
给我悄悄话
打印
被阅读次数
Words and Their Stories: Feel The Pinch
In the nineteen thirties, a song, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?," was very popular in the United States. It was the time of the big Depression. The song had meaning for many people who had lost their jobs.
A dime is a piece of money whose value is one-tenth of a dollar. Today, a dime does not buy much. But it was different in the nineteen thirties. A dime sometimes meant the difference between eating and starving.
The American economy today is much better. Yet, many workers are concerned about losing their jobs as companies re-organize.
Americans have special ways of talking about economic troubles. People in businesses may say they feel the pinch. Or they may say they are up against it. Or, if things are really bad, they may say they have to throw in the towel.
A pinch is painful pressure. To feel the pinch is to suffer painful pressure involving money.
The expression, feel the pinch, has been used since the sixteenth century. The famous English writer William Shakespeare wrote something very close to this in his great play "King Lear."
King Lear says he would accept necessity's sharp pinch. He means he would have to do without many of the things he always had.
Much later, the Times of London newspaper used the expression about bad economic times during the eighteen sixties. It said, "so much money having been spent ... All classes felt the pinch."
Worse than feeling the pinch is being up against it. The saying means to be in a lot of trouble.
Word expert James Rogers says the word "it" in the saying can mean any and all difficulties. He says the saying became popular in the United States and Canada in the late nineteenth century. Writer George Ade used it in a book called "Artie." He wrote, "I saw I was up against it."
Sometimes a business that is up against it will have to throw in the towel. This means to accept defeat or surrender.
Throwing in the towel may mean that a company will have to declare bankruptcy. The company will have to take legal steps to let people know it has no money to pay its debts.
Word expert Charles Funk says an eighteen seventy-four publication called the Slang Dictionary explains throwing in the towel. It says the words probably came from the sport of boxing, or prizefighting. The book says the saying began because a competitor's face was cleaned with a cloth towel or other material. When a boxer's towel was thrown, it meant he was admitting defeat.
Most businesses do not throw in the towel. They just re-organize so they can compete better.
登录
后才可评论.
今日热点
它为何成为中国官员形象的“新名片”?
康赛欧
有钱人的房子(一)
苏桥西呀
多情男儿在外族
BeijingGirl1
深远布局,扭转了家族的命运
麦姐
和女儿在坎昆晒太阳
碼農學寫字
西医中医都无解?
牛经沧海
从威州选战看民主共和
大号蚂蚁
十年内每周工作2到3天?
谦谦美君子
中共国经济之惨淡,已到触目惊心地步!
tmgf
人性的复杂和两面性
earth2029
焕发童心之旅-一个真正悲伤的故事
canhe
清明時節想父母:生在福中又知福
Billzhou
幽默与痛苦交织的治愈之旅——电影A Real Pain影评
人到中年的摩羯
长篇小说《谷雨立夏间》242 尖刀
可能成功的P
一周热点
暴富梦 VS 地摊账本 夫妻的财富较量
康赛欧
终于实现了来美国三十多年都没有实现的愿望
mychina
回中国, 钟情的山水连着人民币
BeijingGirl1
2025再见上海7:Costco 有卖假发吗
每天一讲
女儿日本行的感悟
梅华书香
历史,经常押韵
野性de思维
美国海军在亚太的困境和窘境
北美_原乡人
测试一下自己
多伦多橄榄树
中、老年人不应忽视的一项运动
如山
再论65岁后的医疗保险选择,我变卦了
春妮
适度降级七件事,退休生活更快乐
谦谦美君子
一块小淤青是如何发展成细菌感染的?
吉明日
美国总统的中国舌尖
帕格尼尼
胆固醇对人体影响的新看法
nzhu