VOA慢速英語:Words and Their Stories: Nicknames for New Orleans and Las Vegas

詞匯掌故：新奧爾良和拉斯維加斯的別名

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
這里是美國之音慢速英語詞匯掌故節(jié)目。

Many cities have interesting nicknames. Nicknames can help establish the identity of a city. They can also spread pride among its citizens.
許多城市都有別名。別名有助于樹立一個(gè)城市的形象，還能激發(fā)民眾自豪感。

New Orleans, Louisiana probably has more nicknames than any other American city. One web site lists more than twenty nicknames. The most famous is The Big Easy. It describes the gentle, slow and easy-going way of life in New Orleans.
路易斯安那州的新奧爾良市可能比其它任何美國城市擁有更多別名。有家網(wǎng)站列出了該市20多個(gè)別名，其中最有名的是大快活（The Big Easy）。這個(gè)別名描述了新奧爾良溫和、緩慢及悠閑的生活方式。
 
So how did the city get this nickname? In the early nineteen hundreds, there was a dance hall in New Orleans called The Big Easy. But the nickname did not become famous until the early nineteen seventies. That was when a Louisiana newspaper writer began calling New Orleans by this name. She compared the easy-going way of life there to the hurried pace of life in New York City.
那么此別名是因何而得呢？20世紀(jì)早期，新奧爾良有家歌舞廳名為The Big Easy。但直到20世紀(jì)70年代這個(gè)別名才開始流傳開來，當(dāng)時(shí)路易斯安那州一位新聞撰稿人開始用這個(gè)名字稱呼新奧爾良市。她將這里悠閑的生活方式與紐約的匆忙人生做了一個(gè)對比。

In nineteen seventy, James Conaway wrote a crime novel called "The Big Easy." The story was set in New Orleans. In nineteen eighty-seven, that book was made into a film which made the nickname even more popular.
20世紀(jì)70年代，詹姆斯·科納韋（James Conaway）寫了一本名為“The Big Easy”的犯罪小說，故事發(fā)生地被設(shè)定在新奧爾良。1987年，這本書被拍成電影，使得這個(gè)別名更受歡迎。

New Orleans has other nicknames. One of them is The Crescent City. During the nineteenth century, new neighborhoods expanded out from what is now known as the French Quarter. These areas followed the great curve of the Mississippi River, giving New Orleans the shape of a crescent.
新奧爾良還有其它一些別名。其中之一就是新月城（The Crescent City）。在上個(gè)世紀(jì)期間，新的社區(qū)沿著密西西比河的大曲線從現(xiàn)在的法國街（French Quarter）開始延伸，給了新奧爾良一個(gè)新月型的輪廓。

Another nickname is the Birthplace of Jazz because that kind of music started in New Orleans. It is also called Mardi Gras City for the wild celebrations and parades that take place there every year. And, there is a nickname that uses the short way to write New Orleans and Louisiana. It you do not want to use the complete name, you can call the city NOLA.
另一個(gè)別名是爵士樂誕生地（Birthplace of Jazz），因?yàn)檫@種類型的音樂起源于新奧爾良。由于每年舉行的狂野慶祝和游戲，它也被稱為狂歡之都（Mardi Gras City）。此外，還有一個(gè)別名使用了新奧爾良和路易斯安那州的簡寫，如果你不想用全名，你可以稱其為諾拉（NOLA）。

One of America's most exciting cities is Las Vegas, Nevada. There you can play games of chance all night long. The city's night clubs are also open all night for eating, drinking and dancing. So it is not surprising that Las Vegas is called The Gambling Capital of the World and The Entertainment Capital of the World.
內(nèi)華達(dá)州的拉斯維加斯是美國最令人興奮的城市之一。你可以在這里徹夜賭博。這個(gè)城市的夜總會(huì)也徹夜提供吃喝和舞蹈。因此拉斯維加斯被稱為賭城和世界娛樂之都也就不足為奇。

Another nickname for Las Vegas is Sin City because you can find many kinds of adult entertainment there. Many people who come to Las Vegas in hopes of winning lots of money do not know when to stop gambling. They may lose a great deal of their hard-earned money. So the city is also called something that sounds like Las Vegas – Lost Wages.
拉斯維加斯的另一個(gè)別名是罪惡之城，你可以在這里找到各種形式的成人娛樂。希望在拉斯維加斯大贏一把的許多人都不知道該什么時(shí)候收手，他們可能會(huì)輸?shù)舸蟀炎约盒量鄴陙淼腻X。因此該市也被稱為Las vegas的諧音：Lost Wages。

In nineteen sixty-four, Elvis Presley starred in a movie called "Viva Las Vegas." Here he sings the title song from that movie.
1964年，貓王主演了一部電影，名為《賭城萬歲》，以下就是貓王演唱的那部電影的主題曲。