美国国家公共电台 NPR Just Saying

Just Saying

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0004:05repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST: 

All right. Charlotte, Lisa, we've got a trivia game for you called Just Saying. So obviously, you know, there are some expressions that we use all the time that don't make a whole lot of sense. For example, Jonathan Coulton, what does it really mean to pull out all the stops?

JONATHAN COULTON: Well, I'll tell you that is actually a reference to pipe organs. Stops are the things that you pull out.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: And there you go.

EISENBERG: Yeah.

COULTON: No, they're the things you can move in and out and it controls the flow of air through the organ's pipes. So when you pull out all the stops, you're opening up all the pipes to maximum volume. That's what that means. I'm pretty smart.

EISENBERG: I guess.

COULTON: Also, it's written on a piece of paper in front of me, so.

EISENBERG: (Laughter) So in this game, Jonathan and I will give you the supposed origin story of a commonly-used phrase. And all you have to do is tell us what the phrase is. Lisa, you won the last game. So if you win this, you're going to the final round. And, Charlotte, you need to win this or we're going to give you the cold shoulder, which is actually a reference to the practice of serving cold meat to unwanted guests.

CHARLOTTE UNDERWOOD: I'm used to it.

EISENBERG: Yeah, yeah. I want to be an unwanted guest. I love cold meat. Who doesn't love cold meat? Here we go.

COULTON: This phrase describes a crazy person. And you may think of Johnny Depp from "Alice In Wonderland," but it predates that story. Some say it's a reference to mercury poisoning that affected² people who make headwear.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Lisa?

LISA LOGIC³: Mad as a hatter?

COULTON: You got it.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: That's been updated to mad as someone who eats a lot of canned tuna fish. This two-word phrase was said in each of the "Clue" movie's multiple endings. Before that, it showed up in an 1807 story about a boy who used a stinky fish to distract dogs that were chasing a rabbit.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Lisa?

LOGIC: Red herring?

EISENBERG: Red herring is correct.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: When you abruptly⁴ quit a bad habit, like smoking or stalking your ex on Facebook, you might say you're doing it this way. And it may refer to the clammy look of your skin, which is like chilled poultry⁶ skin.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Charlotte?

UNDERWOOD: Cold turkey?

COULTON: Oh, yeah, cold turkey.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: You might use this phrase to describe a wild night out. One English town claims it memorializes a marquis' drunken night in 1837, when he defaced buildings with crimson⁷ pigments⁸.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Lisa?

LOGIC: Painting the town red?

EISENBERG: Exactly. That is right.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: This is your last clue. This type of vacation may get its name from the fifth-century ritual of drinking mead⁹ during your marriage's first lunar cycle.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Lisa?

LOGIC: The honeymoon¹⁰?

COULTON: The honeymoon, you got it.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: Art Chung, how did our contestants¹² do?

ART CHUNG: They did great. Congratulations to Lisa. You won both rounds, so you're moving on to the final round at the end of the show.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: It's settled. Our finalists are Alan and Lisa. They'll face off in our final round at the end of the show.

And if you think you'd be as happy as a clam⁵ here on stage with us, don't bark up the wrong tree or wait until the cows come home. Make a beeline for amatickets.org. Fill out a contestant¹¹ quiz, jump on our bandwagon and break a leg.

Coming up, the star of the TV series "Nashville." Connie Britton and her iconic hair will join us, and she'll play the mother of all trivia games. I'm Ophira Eisenberg and you're listening to ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

4 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

5 clam   

n.蛤，蛤肉

参考例句：

• Yup!I also like clam soup and sea cucumbers.对呀！我还喜欢蛤仔汤和海参。
• The barnacle and the clam are two examples of filter feeders.藤壶和蛤类是滤过觅食者的两种例子。

6 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

7 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

8 pigments   

n.（粉状）颜料( pigment的名词复数 )；天然色素

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls. 古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。 来自辞典例句
• The original white lead pigments have oxidized and turned black. 最初的白色铅质颜料氧化后变成了黑色。 来自辞典例句

9 mead   

n.蜂蜜酒

参考例句：

• He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
• He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。

10 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

11 contestant   

n.竞争者，参加竞赛者

参考例句：

• The company will furnish each contestant with a free ticket.公司将为每个参赛者免费提供一张票。
• The personal appearance and interview of the contestant is another count.参加比赛者的个人仪表和谈话也是一项。

12 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》