VOA慢速英語: 微不足道的錢

Hey, I'm Workin' for Chickenfeed Here!
我掙的錢微不足道！
I'm Susan Clark with WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, a program in Special English on the Voice of America.
我是蘇珊·克拉克，這里是美國之音慢速英語詞匯掌故。
Almost every language in the world has a saying that a person can never be too rich.
世界上幾乎每一種語言都有個說法：一個人不可能永遠富有。
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.
跟世界上其它國家的人一樣，美國人也想要更多的錢。其中一種表現(xiàn)就是抗議他們工作掙的太少。一個常見的說法是：“我為了雞食工作。”意思是我掙的錢太少。這個表達開始使用時因為喂雞時讓人想到小零錢。小零錢就是面值不大的金屬硬幣，鎳只是五分鎳幣。
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."
這個單詞chickenfeed最早出現(xiàn)在公眾視野里是在19世紀(jì)。講的是一個富商和他的兒子。詞匯專家米特福德•馬修斯說，上面寫著：“我敢打賭這個孩子或者他爸爸一定從沒有見過五分鎳幣或者一角硬幣。他們不會對這樣微不足道的小錢感興趣的。”
Chickenfeed also has another interesting meaning known to history experts and World War Two spies and soldiers.
對歷史學(xué)家以及第二次世界大戰(zhàn)的間諜和士兵來說，Chickenfeed還有另一個有趣的意思。
 
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.
間諜專家亨利·貝克特寫到戰(zhàn)爭期間在英國工作的德國間諜同樣為英國政府工作。英國政府需要讓德國人相信他們的間諜仍然在運作中，所以，英國官員給他們的信息大部分都是假的，這就叫“情報喂養(yǎng)（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.
抗議工資掙的少的人也可以說：“我為了堅果工作”。她的意思是只能掙少量的錢。
It is a very different meaning from the main one in the dictionary. That meaning is small nuts that grow on a plant.
這個詞義與字典上主要的意思不同。字典上的意思是生長在一株植物上得小堅果。
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.
沒有人知道一種人們吃的東西怎么開始有小東西的意思了。但是，堅果確實是一種小的食物。
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.
這種表達是一種老的說法。詞匯專家米特福德•馬修斯說早在1854年，一份美國出版刊物使用堅果來形容煽動講話的人，意思是制造麻煩的政客沒有很多支持。
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.
另一個原因說“為堅果而工作”也許是跟大象有關(guān)系。想一下大象在馬戲團里工作才能得到多少犒賞。它們得到的是食物，而不是錢。它們最喜歡的一種食物就是堅果。
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.
當(dāng)你把畫廊跟堅果結(jié)合在一起的時候，就會得到一個美國劇院里一個地方的名字：頂層樓座
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.
劇場頂層樓座這個名字的由來是因為這一部分是距離演出最遠的地方。因此這類的門票通常比其他門票便宜。人們只需要付一少部分錢就可以。
(MUSIC)
This Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Jeri Watson. This is Susan Clark.
這是慢速英語詞匯掌故。杰瑞·瓦特森撰寫。我是蘇珊·克拉克。