词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Carnival Jargon

Broadcast: May 27, 2004

Memorial Day weekend is almost here, and with it, the unofficial start of America's summer season. Traditionally, Memorial Day is the busiest day in the year for traveling carnivals² with their trained animals, games of chance and sideshow acts, complete with fire-eaters, sword-swallowers and other colorful, even freakish performers.

The number of working sideshows has diminished since the advent³ of television and the amusement park. And fewer "carnies" are working the crowds. But you'll still find a traditional sideshow at New York's Coney Island, where some of the special jargon⁴ of the carnie is still spoken and understood. So step right up folks, as Todd Robbins, Coney Island's sideshow impresario⁶ takes Wordmaster guest host Adam Phillips on a little tour.

PHILLIPS: To most Americans, that is the sound of a carousel⁷ or "merry-go-round." But to carnival¹ and circus workers, what you're hearing is a "jenny" or "flying jenny" if the wooden horses go up and down.

Sideshow entertainer and historian Todd Robbins, says that's just one example of the special vocabulary of the carnival. These traveling shows would roll into town, set up for a day or two, even perhaps a week or two, then pull up stakes and move on to the next stop.

ROBBINS: "And because of this nomadic⁸ quality, they have a tendency to rely upon themselves and not look to the communities for much other than basic supplies. Because of that, there's a certain jargon that has developed."

Mr. Robbins freely concedes that, over the years, certain "carnies" as carnival folks are often called developed a certain shady reputation as well. He points to the midway, the section of the carnival where food stands and games are set up and where the customers, called "marks," wander around distracted by all the activity.

ROBBINS: "The term 'MARK' comes from the tradition of having someone putting a little mark on a person's back with a little piece of chalk to show, for instance, that they were at a game or they were at a food stand and took out their wallet, and they got what is known as a 'peek⁹ at the poke⁵' which means that saw what they had in the wallet and there was a lot of money there. So they put a little mark on the person's shoulder so as when they were going along the games people would be really working to get them in to get to take their money."

Today, carnivals are part of a regulated industry -- and sideshows, when they exist at all, are tame affairs. However, Todd Robbins says that 40 or 50 years ago carnivals provided an all-day exotic adventure for entire communities.

ROBBINS: "They would come out and watch them put up the tent and set up the whole show. They'd wander around and they'd see them watering and exercising the animals. And then an hour before the show would start, they'd open the sideshow right next to the entrance and say, 'the show is so big on the inside; we cannot put it in the main tent. We have a whole separate show featuring strange and unusual, bizarre and beautiful people -- see it now.'"

Todd Robbins lapses¹⁰ easily into the cadence¹¹ of an old time "barker," the term non-carnival people call the man standing¹² outside the tent trying to lure¹³ customers inside.

ROBBINS: "Traditionally, the barker is known as the 'outside talker.' And a 'barker' in a carnival is actually a guard dog. So if you ask where the barker is, they'll say 'Come here, king! Come on over here, boy!'"

While admission to the traditional sideshow was often very cheap, once inside, there was ample opportunity to, as Mr. Robbins puts it, "relieve oneself of more money." That's what "dings are for.

ROBBINS: "It would be an additional charge to see various things. Or there would be souvenirs at the end of various acts. The magic act might sell you a magic trick. The giant might sell you a giant's finger ring. The dwarf¹⁴ or midget in the show might sell you a miniature bible. We are not sure why it's called the ding, but I think it is the sound of a cash register ringing up a sale."

Most sideshows contained ten acts, with an obligatory¹⁵ extra act added on.

ROBBINS: "At the end, there was something called a 'blowoff,' and it was the last act and usually something very strong. There was a term called 'working strong' which meant there was something shocking and startling about it. Like in our show we have a girl who turns into a gorilla¹⁶ right before your eyes. It was often what is known as a 'half and half' which would be a half-man, half-woman who would talk about their condition and then you'd step behind the curtain into the annex¹⁷ which was the curtained-off area where the blowoff was performed, and sometimes sell you little postcards showing themselves in the nude¹⁸."

It was a sight that kept almost everyone in the audience either amazed or fooled and the carnies, in the money. For more about sideshows and sideshow jargon, visit Todd Robbins' website at Carnivalknowledge that's c-a-r-n-i-v-a-l-k-n-o-w-l-e-d-g-e dot com and you're on your own.

For Wordmaster, this is Adam Phillips reporting from Coney Island New York.

 

1 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

2 carnivals   

狂欢节( carnival的名词复数 )； 嘉年华会； 激动人心的事物的组合； 五彩缤纷的颜色组合

参考例句：

• The Venice Carnival is one of the oldest and most famous international carnivals in the world. 威尼斯嘉年华是世界上最古老、最富盛名的国际嘉年华会之一。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• A few exceptions would be made, he said, such as for carnivals. 他说一些免责条款将被制定出来，例如嘉年华会。

3 advent   

n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临

参考例句：

• Swallows come by groups at the advent of spring. 春天来临时燕子成群飞来。
• The advent of the Euro will redefine Europe.欧元的出现将重新定义欧洲。

4 jargon   

n.术语，行话

参考例句：

• They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
• It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.

5 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

6 impresario   

n.歌剧团的经理人；乐团指挥

参考例句：

• The impresario will present an expanded series of concerts next season.下个季节将举办一次大型的系列音乐会。
• The impresario had buttoned his astrakhan coat.乐团经理扣好了羔皮外套。

7 carousel   

n.旋转式行李输送带

参考例句：

• Riding on a carousel makes you feel dizzy.乘旋转木马使你头晕。
• We looked like a bunch of awkward kids riding a slow-moving carousel.我们看起来就像一群骑在旋转木马上的笨拙的孩子。

8 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

9 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

10 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

11 cadence   

n.（说话声调的）抑扬顿挫

参考例句：

• He delivered his words in slow,measured cadences.他讲话缓慢而抑扬顿挫、把握有度。
• He liked the relaxed cadence of his retired life.他喜欢退休生活的悠闲的节奏。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

14 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。

15 obligatory   

adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的

参考例句：

• It is obligatory for us to obey the laws.我们必须守法。
• It is obligatory on every citizen to safeguard our great motherland.保卫我们伟大的祖国是每一个公民应尽的义务。

16 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

17 annex   

vt.兼并，吞并；n.附属建筑物

参考例句：

• It plans to annex an England company in order to enlarge the market.它计划兼并一家英国公司以扩大市场。
• The annex has been built on to the main building.主楼配建有附属的建筑物。

18 nude   

adj.裸体的；n.裸体者，裸体艺术品

参考例句：

• It's a painting of the Duchess of Alba in the nude.这是一幅阿尔巴公爵夫人的裸体肖像画。
• She doesn't like nude swimming.她不喜欢裸泳。