Welcome to La La Land

 

Now, the VOA Learning¹ English program, Words and Their Stories.

On this program, we tell about common expressions in American English and explain how to use them.

Today we talk about expressions involving Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles is the biggest city in the western United States. It is the second largest U.S. city in terms of population, after New York City.

So, Los Angeles is a huge city with people from many different walks of life. But for today’s show we are going to focus on the dream–like, or ethereal, part of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles -- or simply “L.A.” for short -- can be an unreal place, a place like no other. For some it is a city where big dreams come true; for others it is where their dreams die in cloud of smog.

L.A is home to the U.S. motion² picture and television industries. Some Americans like to call it The Entertainment Capital of the World.

The L.A. neighborhood best known for films and movie stars is Hollywood. Millions of people visit Hollywood each year. No trip to Los Angeles is complete without seeing the word "Hollywood" spelled out in huge letters on a hillside.

And many actors dream of having their name added to Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

This brings us to a nickname³ for Los Angeles, one that is also commonly-used as an expression: la-la land.

La-la land can be any place that is fun, far from serious, and out of touch with reality. You can use the expression when talking about the mental state of someone who does not understand what is really happening. You might say that person is “in la-la land.”

“La La Land” is also the name of a 2016 movie. It tells the story of a man who wants to be a musician and a woman who wants to be an actress. They meet and fall in love in Los Angeles. The name of the movie suggests both the city’s nickname and the state of being out of touch with reality.

Now, there are many types of industries: automobile⁴ industry, farming industry, computer industry, and so on, and so on. However, when people in L.A. say they work in the “Industry,” they only mean one thing – making movies. Like any industry, the movie industry has its own set of terms and expressions. Some are useful outside of La La Land.

Not only actors, many screenwriters dream of making it big in Hollywood. They write one screenplay after another, hoping for a big break – the opportunity of seeing their story made into a film and played out on the silver screen.

To get money to make that happen, these writers need to pitch their stories. A pitch is a short description of a project you’ve been working on or an idea you have. You pitch your idea to someone who can help you with money or provide contacts to make it happen.

Writers usually form a partnership⁶ with someone in the Industry such as a producer or director. These partnerships⁷ then pitch the project to investors⁸.

So, in Hollywood, the pitch is about scripts⁹ and making a movie. But you can pitch anything that needs financial backing. You can even say you are pitching yourself if you are looking for a job.

But back to the movies -- let’s say your pitch is successful. The first person you talk to likes your idea. So, you move up the line. You get to talk “Bigs.” In Hollywood, these are the people with all the influence and money.

In other work situations, you might call them big wigs¹⁰, decision makers¹¹ or simply the “money people.”

No matter what you call them, if investors like your pitch, they may green light your project.

This would be the best news. In traffic, a green light gives the driver permission to move forward. In movies and in all other industries, getting the green light for a project or having your project green lighted means you have permission and support to make it happen.

After you get the green light, you make your script⁵ into a movie. You’ve made the big time! Again, you can make the “big time” or make it big in any industry, not just in the movies.

And that’s the end of this Words and Their Stories.

Words in This Story

walks of life - phrase used to refer to people who have many different jobs or positions in society ; usually used with from

ethereal – adj. of or relating to the regions¹² beyond the earth

spelled out – phrasal to write or print in letters and in full <numbers are to be spelled out>

smog – n. a fog made heavier and darker by smoke and chemical fumes¹³

silver screen – n. a screen in a movie theater : movies in general

producer – n. someone who is in charge of making and usually providing the money for a play, movie, record, etc.

studio – n. a place where movies are made : a company that makes movies

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 motion   

n.打手势，示意，移动，动作，提议，大便；v.运动，向...打手势，示意

参考例句：

• She could feel the rolling motion of the ship under her feet.她能感觉到脚下船在晃动。
• Don't open the door while the train is in motion.列车运行时，请勿打开车门。

3 nickname   

n.绰号，昵称；v.给...取绰号，叫错名字

参考例句：

• She called me by my nickname.她叫我的外号。
• Why do you fasten such a nickname on her?你为什么给她取这样一个绰号？

4 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

5 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

9 scripts   

剧本( script的名词复数 )； 文字； 笔迹； （一种语言的）字母系统

参考例句：

• Many felt he was prostituting his talents by writing Hollywood scripts. 许多人觉得他给好莱坞写剧本是滥用自己的才华。
• The scripts had a rather tired plot. 这部陈旧的剧本的情节是非常俗套的。

10 wigs   

n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They say that wigs will be coming in again this year. 据说今年又要流行戴假发了。 来自辞典例句
• Frank, we needed more wigs than we thought, and we have to do some advertising. 弗兰克，因为我们需要更多的假发，而且我们还要做点广告。 来自电影对白

11 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 regions   

n.地区( region的名词复数 )；[数学]区域；（艺术、科学等的）领域；行政区

参考例句：

• A flying doctor service operates in remote regions. 在偏远地区有飞行医生服务。
• More powers are gradually being devolved to the regions. 正逐步向地方下放更多的权力。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 fumes   

n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体

参考例句：

• The health of our children is being endangered by exhaust fumes. 我们孩子们的健康正受到排放出的废气的损害。
• Exhaust fumes are bad for your health. 废气对健康有害。