VOA慢速英语2021--What Is a Party?

 

Hello! Summer in the United States is a popular season to hold outdoor celebrations. Today, we answer a question from Egypt about the word "party."

Here's the question:

Question:

This word "party" has many meanings. It changed according to the context¹. Please give me more details and examples.

Taha, Egypt

Answer:

Dear Taha,

That is a great word to learn. You probably learned first that "party" is a noun meaning a celebratory social event. When we have a party, we invite people to gather. Usually, we serve food and drinks. We might also play music, sometimes for dancing. We also sometimes set up games or other fun activities for our guests. Here is an example sentence using party defined² that way:

I'm having a Fourth of July party – would you like to come?

A political party

During election campaigns, a political group may ask you to vote for its candidate for a government office. Such groups are also called parties. A party is a group of people working together for a political purpose. Here is an example:

China's President Xi Jinping leads the country's Communist Party.

A related word is "partisanship³." It means loyalty⁴ to one's political party. When the two parties agree on something, it is called "bipartisanship." An example of this was last week's vote by every member of the U.S. Senate – in both parties – to make a new federal holiday.

The U.S. Senate showed bipartisanship in a vote by all members to make June Nineteenth a federal holiday.

A legal term

When lawyers write a contract, they use "party" to describe the people or groups involved in the legal case. They may say,

Both parties must agree to any changes in this contract.

Another more formal use of "party" is to describe any one person or group. At a restaurant, the host may announce,

A table is ready for a party of four.

When 191 countries signed the Paris Agreement on climate change, they became "Parties to the agreement."

Just anyone can be a party

The word "party" sometimes appears where you could also use "anyone" or "a person."

Interested parties may now buy tickets for the school concert.

I bought my car from a private party on the internet.

A group with a purpose

In disasters, you may hear reports of a "rescue party" or a "search party" going to help the victims.

After the earthquake, many countries sent special search and rescue parties to help find the victims.

One note: these are all definitions of party as a noun. People also use it as a verb meaning celebrate. Listen to this example:

When COVID-19 stops spreading, my friends and I are going to party together --- in person!

Thanks for writing us, Taha!

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Words in This Story

host – n. a person who is entertaining guests socially or as a job

concert – n. a public performance of music

1 context   

n.背景，环境，上下文，语境

参考例句：

• You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
• This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。

2 defined   

adj 定义的; 清晰的

参考例句：

• These categories are not well defined. 这些类别划分得不太明确。
• The powers of a judge are defined by law. 法官的权限是由法律规定的。

3 Partisanship   

n. 党派性, 党派偏见

参考例句：

• Her violent partisanship was fighting Soames's battle. 她的激烈偏袒等于替索米斯卖气力。
• There was a link of understanding between them, more important than affection or partisanship. ' 比起人间的感情，比起相同的政见，这一点都来得格外重要。 来自英汉文学

4 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。