And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
现在，来自 VOA Learning English 的 Words and Their Stories。
 
For today's program, we invite you to share a meal with us – well, expressions about a meal, that is.
对于今天的节目，我们邀请您与我们分享一顿饭——嗯，关于一顿饭的表达，就是这样。
 
Like most languages, English is filled with food expressions. Today we will start with two appetizers, continue with the main dish, and finish with dessert.
像大多数语言一样，英语中充满了食物表达。今天我们将从两道开胃菜开始，接着是主菜，最后是甜点。
 
In other words, we will take you from soup to nuts – or from the beginning to the end. With many meals, soup comes first and nuts come last. So, if you do something from soup to nuts you do everything from the beginning to the end.
换句话说，我们将带您从头到尾——或者从头到尾。在很多餐点中，汤是第一位的，坚果是最后一位。所以，如果你从头到尾做一件事，你就会从头到尾做每件事。
 
Appetizer
开胃菜
 
An appetizer is the first part of a meal. Our first appetizer today is alphabet soup.
开胃菜是一顿饭的第一部分。我们今天的第一道开胃菜是字母汤。
 
When you have a collection of letters of the alphabet that stand for several words, we can call it an alphabet soup. These can be the letters that show a job, such as COO or Chief Operating Officer. They could be letters that show someone's education, like an MBA for a Master of Business Administration and a Ph.D. for a Doctor of Philosophy.
当你有一组代表几个单词的字母表时，我们可以称之为字母汤。这些可以是显示职位的字母，例如首席运营官或首席运营官。它们可以是表明某人受教育程度的字母，例如工商管理硕士和博士学位的 MBA。哲学博士。
 
Let's say someone hands you their business card. After their name are the letters MBA, Ph.D., and COO. You can say, "Wow, that is quite the alphabet soup after your name. But what is it you do exactly?"
假设有人递给你他们的名片。在他们的名字后面是字母 MBA、Ph.D. 和 COO。你可以说，“哇，你的名字后面就是一堆字母汤。但你到底在做什么？”
 
Now, let's move on to the next appetizer – salad.
现在，让我们继续下一道开胃菜——沙拉。
 
A salad usually has some kind of vegetables mixed with cheese, egg, meat, nuts, or, sometimes, fruit. Well, when we have a mixture of words or phrases that are difficult to understand, we can call it a word salad.
沙拉通常含有某种蔬菜和奶酪、鸡蛋、肉、坚果，有时还有水果。好吧，当我们混合了难以理解的单词或短语时，我们可以称之为单词沙拉。
 
Word experts say that in the past, word salad described difficult-to-understand spoken language from people with illnesses. However, in recent years, the expression word salad has come to simply mean difficult-to-understand language.
文字专家表示，过去，沙拉一词描述的是病人难以理解的口头语言。然而，近年来，沙拉这个词已经变得简单地表示难以理解的语言。
 
Main dish
主菜
 
Now, let's move on to the main dish – in this case, a sandwich. You can make a sandwich from anything – meat, cheese, vegetables, tofu, fish, shrimp, or chicken. Just put them between two pieces of bread and you have a sandwich.
现在，让我们继续吃主菜——在本例中是三明治。你可以用任何东西做三明治——肉、奶酪、蔬菜、豆腐、鱼、虾或鸡肉。只需将它们放在两片面包之间，就可以得到一个三明治。
 
You can even make a sandwich from … criticism!
您甚至可以根据……批评制作三明治！
 
A criticism sandwich is a way to soften the delivery of bad news. You put the criticism between two nice things – such as praise or approval.
批评三明治是缓和坏消息传递的一种方式。你把批评放在两件好事之间——比如表扬或认可。
 
Here is an example:
这是一个例子：
 
So, your performance in last week's sales meeting was great! Thanks for your help. But I'll need you to clean up the report. I saw a few things wrong with the numbers. But yeah, the client really loved your presentation!
所以，你在上周的销售会议上的表现非常棒！感谢您的帮助。但我需要你清理报告。我看到一些数字有问题。但是，是的，客户真的很喜欢您的演示！
 
That could also be called a feedback sandwich. But it is made the same way!
这也可以称为反馈三明治。但是制作方法是一样的！
 
Dessert
甜点
 
If you love sweets, you will love dessert.
如果你喜欢甜食，你就会喜欢甜点。
 
 
Now, I could use easy as pie or a piece of cake as examples. Both describe something very easy to do or finish. But I am going to use my favorite dessert – cookies!
现在，我可以使用 easy as pie 或 a piece of cake 作为示例。两者都描述了一些非常容易做或完成的事情。但我要用我最喜欢的甜点——饼干！
 
Some cookies are formed by hand and their shapes can be very different from one another. However, some people use a device called a cookie cutter when making cookies. With a cookie cutter, every cookie is the same shape with little difference.
有些曲奇饼是手工制作的，它们的形状彼此之间可能大不相同。但是，有些人在制作饼干时会使用一种称为曲奇切割器的设备。使用曲奇刀，每块曲奇都是一样的形状，差别不大。
 
And that gives us the expression cookie-cutter. It describes something similar to many other things. There is nothing special, extraordinary, or different about things that are cookie-cutter.
这给了我们千篇一律的表达方式。它描述了与许多其他事物相似的事物。千篇一律的事物没有什么特别的、非凡的或不同的。
 
For example, houses in my neighborhood were made by the same builders. They are all the same size and shape. In other words, the houses in my neighborhood are cookie-cutter houses.
例如，我附近的房子都是由相同的建筑商建造的。它们的大小和形状都相同。换句话说，我家附近的房子都是千篇一律的房子。
 
Thanks for joining me for this lunchtime version of Words and Their Stories.
感谢您加入我的这个午餐时间版本的单词和他们的故事。