VOA慢速英语2016--不要被愚弄了

Don’t Be Fooled 不要被愚弄了

And that brings us to the end of another Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English.

Just kidding!

To kid. To tease. To joke and fool around. They all mean about the same thing. If you kid, you make fun in a playful way. Teasing can be playful or mean spirited. It depends.

To joke around is to have fun with someone. To fool someone is to try to make them believe something that is not true. And that is the purpose of April Fools’ Day.

April 1st is known as the day to fool people with practical jokes, pranks² or harmless tricks. But how did this tradition begin? Some say April Fools’ Day began as one big mistake.

Many centuries ago, people in the Western world used the Julian calendar. They celebrated³ the New Year on April 1st. However, when people began using the Gregorian calendar, the New Year was moved to January 1st.

Those who forgot the change and tried to celebrate New Year's Day on the wrong date were teased and called "April fools."

This is just one of the many theories behind the origin of April Fools’ Day. But the tradition remains⁴ the same – trying to fool someone.

The fool is a common character in art, music and literature. William Shakespeare is famous for his fools. And fools make for great pop songs.

Fools are found in many words, expressions and proverbs.

To be foolhardy means to do something that are too dangerous or risky⁵. For example, it is foolhardy to hike up a mountain during a heavy snowstorm.

If something is foolproof, it is planned or made so well that nothing could go wrong. Not even a fool could mess it up.

"Look, I don’t want to get into trouble. This plan of yours sounds risky."

"My plan is foolproof. Nothing will go wrong as long as you do exactly as I say."

There are many expressions using the word "fool."

If you are on a fool’s errand you are doing something that is pointless. For example, asking a friend who has no money for a loan is a fool’s errand.

Fool’s gold is iron pyrite. Iron pyrite is a brassy yellow mineral that is often mistaken for gold. Miners who did not know much about the properties of gold would often mistake iron pyrite for the real stuff.

A fool’s paradise is not a vacation spot for fools. It is a state of being happy for foolish or unfounded reasons.

Here is an example:

“Monica is so happy these days. She thinks she is getting a raise at work.”

“But she is always late. She misses her deadlines. And her boss doesn’t really like her.”

“I know. She is living in a fool’s paradise.”

Even a smart and reasonable person can be a fool at times. You can be a fool for love, a fool for money or a fool for success. Basically, you can be a fool for anything that causes you to lose control or lose touch with reality.

In this song, Connie Francis sings that everybody’s somebody’s fool.

“And there are no exceptions to the rule. Yes, everybody’s somebody’s fool.”

Fools also find themselves in many common proverbs.

For example, “A fool and his money are soon parted.” This means that if you are not careful with your money you will soon not have any.  

Another proverb is, “There is no fool like an old fool.” This means if an older person behaves foolishly, it seems worse than when a younger person does the same. An older person should know better.

Then there is the proverb, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” This means that if you are tricked once by someone, they are to blame for fooling you. But if you let the same person fool you again, the blame is all your own. When George W. Bush was president, he infamously⁶ messed up this proverb in a speech.

We end this show with yet another “foolish” proverb, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” English poet Alexander Pope wrote this line in his 1709 poem An Essay on Criticism. Songwriter Johnny Mercer turned it into a classic song.

"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread ..."

Share a “foolish” expression from your language. Or practice using one of these expressions in the Comments Section

Words in This Story

practical joke - n. a joke involving something that is done rather than said : a trick played on someone : a prank¹ intended to trick or embarrass someone or cause physical discomfort⁷

prank - n. a trick that is done to someone usually as a joke

1 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

2 pranks   

n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Frank's errancy consisted mostly of pranks. 法兰克错在老喜欢恶作剧。 来自辞典例句
• He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句

3 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

6 infamously   

不名誉地

参考例句：

• They will not have much cause of triumph when they see how infamously I act. 当他们看到我演得那么糟糕时，他们就不会有多少理由感到胜利了。

7 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。