VOA慢速英语2018--Happy (Founding) Father's Day

 

Welcome to Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English.

On this program we explore common expressions in American English.

In the United States on the third Sunday of June we celebrate Father’s Day! So, today we celebrate fathers with some expressions that use the word “father” and “dad.”

Let’s begin with a great father idiom!

Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan¹.

An orphan is a child whose parents have died. Without parents, orphans² can often feel alone in the world. There is no adult to claim them, so to speak.

We can say the same about failures. Often people, do not want to claim them as their own. People may not want to take ownership, for example, of a project at work that is a complete bust³ -- you know, a failure.

On the other hand, it is not uncommon⁴ for people to fight over ownership of a big success. They always want to be on the right side of history.

“It was my idea!” “No, it wasn't. I thought of it ages ago.” “Well, I did most of the work!”

Founding Fathers, left to right, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson revise the Declaration of Independence. (Painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris)

You get the idea.

So, this idiom means that people like belonging to a successful cause but they distance themselves from a failed one.

Here’s how you can use it.

Let’s say a new business opens in your community. Everyone is excited about it! Some even invest money. It is the talk of the town. Then, it fails. People who once supported it don’t seem to remember supporting it.

When those people say to you, “Oh, I knew it would fail. It was doomed⁶ from the very beginning.” You can say to them, “Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan.”

Now, you could say that creating the United States of America was a success. And there is a group of men who are famous for being on the right side of history.

We call them the Founding Fathers.

We capitalize these two words when we are talking about any member of the group who wrote the United States Constitution in 1787. Some of the most famous Founding Fathers are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.

However, following the success of the musical Hamilton, perhaps Alexander Hamilton has temporarily won the title of “most famous” Founding Father.

But Founding Fathers aren’t just found in history books and on the Broadway stage. We also use this term in other situations.

A founding father is a person who starts or develops a new movement, idea or some other big concept. Used this way, however, we do not capitalize “founding father.”

The Founding Fathers of the U.S. are highly respected and admired by most people. Our next type of father isn’t.

Not all dads are the greatest. In fact, some leave their families and provide no money to help to raise their children. We have a special name for these dads – deadbeat dads.

Just for the record, some moms do this, too. But we’ll have to cover that term next Mother’s Day!

And that’s Words and Their Stories.

I’m Anna Matteo.

Anna Matteo wrote this for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver⁷ was the editor. “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story” from Hamilton the Musical.

[WASHINGTON AND COMPANY]

Who lives

Who dies

Who tells your story?

[ANGELICA]

Every other founding father's story gets told

Every other founding father gets to grow old

[BURR]

But when you’re gone, who remembers your name?

Who keeps your flame?

Words in This Story

bust – n. a complete failure

the talk of the town

doom⁵ – v. to make certain the failure or destruction of

respected – v. to consider worthy⁸ of high regard

admired – v. to feel respect and approval for (someone or something)

1 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

2 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

3 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

4 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

5 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

6 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

7 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

8 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。