Hello and welcome to another episodes of Words and Their Stories, a VOA Learning English program.
欢迎收听最新一期美国之音慢速英语词汇掌故节目。
Each week we explore the stories behind common American words and expressions. We try to give you useful information.
每周我们都会探讨日常美式词汇和表达背后的故事，我们试图为你提供有用的信息。
But some of the most exciting information comes not online or from your phone or in a text. Some of the most exciting information comes to you by way of "the grapevine”.
但是一些最令人兴奋的信息并非来自网上或你的手机或是文字。有些最令人兴奋的信息通过“小道消息”传给你。
That is so because reports received through "the grapevine" are supposed to be secret. The information is very "hush-hush." It is whispered into your ear, with the understanding that you will not pass it on to others.
之所以如此，是因为通过小道消息渠道获得的传闻理应是秘密的。这些信息都神神秘秘的,它被低声传入你耳朵的同时，都默认你不会再传给他人。
You feel honored and excited. You are one of the special few to get this information. You cannot wait. You must quickly find another ear to pour the information into. And so, the information, secret as it is, begins to spread – like a vine. Nobody knows how far the vine will spread.
你感到荣幸和兴奋。你是为数不多的知情者之一。你迫不及待，必须赶紧把这消息告诉他人。这样，作为秘密的这个消息开始像藤蔓一样蔓延开。没人知道它能传多远。
The expression "by the grapevine" is more than 100 years old. But it seems like a new expression; it hasn't changed a bit and is often used in conversations.
By the grapevine（通过小道消息）这句短语已有1百多年历史，但是它就像一条新短语，它一点也没改变，并且经常在对话中用到。
The American inventor Samuel F. B. Morse is largely responsible for the birth of the expression. Among others, he experimented with the idea of telegraphy, sending messages over a wire by electricity.
美国发明家萨慕尔．摩斯 (Samuel F. Morse)对这句短语的诞生负很大一部分责任。其中，他进行了电报试验 - 通过电缆传送消息。
When Morse finally completed his telegraphic instrument, he went before Congress to show that it worked. He sent a message over a wire from Washington to Baltimore. The message was: "What God hath wrought." This was on May 24, 1844.
当摩斯最终完成了他的电报装置，他在国会进行了展示。他通过电缆从华盛顿发了一条消息到巴尔的摩。消息内容就是：“上帝创造了何等奇迹？”这是在1844年5月24日。
And with those words, telegraphy was born. Everybody heard the news with great excitement. Everybody, it seems, but the author of "Walden," Henry David Thoreau. He wondered if men had anything to say that was worth sending by electricity. But Thoreau was a loner, a dreamer. Few shared his ideas.
随着这条消息发出，电报诞生了。似乎每个人听到这条消息都非常兴奋，除了《瓦尔登湖》的作者亨利·大卫·索罗（Henry David Thoreau）。他搞不懂人们有什么好说的，值得发条电报。但是梭罗是一位孤独的人，是一个梦想家。很少有人知道他的想法。
Quickly, companies began to build telegraph lines from one place to another. Men everywhere seemed to be putting up poles with strings of wire for carrying telegraphic messages. The workmanship was poor and the wires were not often put up straight.
很快，各个公司开始兴建从一个地方到另一个地方的电报线路。到处都看到人们在栽电线杆拉线用于传输电报信息。由于施工质量差，电缆常常没有被拉直。
One was so badly built that people joked about it. They said it looked like a grapevine. A large number of the telegraph lines looked just as funny, going in all directions, as crooked as a grapevine. And so the expression "by the grapevine" was born.
一些线路施工如此之差，人们嘲笑它。他们说，电缆看起来像葡萄藤。大量的电缆线通往四面八方，就像葡萄藤一样歪歪曲曲的，看上去很滑稽。这样就诞生了by the grapevine这个短语。
Some writers believe that the phrase would soon have disappeared, were it not for the American Civil War. Soon after the war began, military commanders started to send battlefield reports by telegraph.
一些作家认为，如果不是美国南北内战，这句短语可能很快就会消失。1861年内战开始不久，军事指挥员开始通过电报发送战报。
Then something strange happened. Besides these true reports, all sorts of wild rumors and false stories were being received in different places. These false reports spread quickly. They spread so fast that people believed there were "grapevine telegraphs" sending messages from a number of different places.
这样奇怪的事情就发生了。除了真实报道，不同地方开始受到各种谣言。这种虚假报道迅速蔓延。它们传播得如此之快，人们认为有电报从很多不同地方发出消息。
One soon heard the phrase, "by the grapevine" to describe false as well as true reports from the battlefield. There was a mystery about these reports. People wondered where the secret information came from. It was like a game: Was it true? Who says so?
人们很快听到用by the grapevine（通过小道消息）这句话来描述或真或假的战报。关于这些报道有一个奥秘。人们想知道这些秘密信息的来源。这就像一种娱乐：这是真的吗？谁这么说？
Now, as in those far off Civil War days, getting information by the grapevine remains something of a game. A friend brings you a bit of strange news. It may be so shocking that you ask, "Where did you hear that?" The answer may be, "I heard it through the grapevine."
现在，在内战早已远去的日子里，小道信息仍然像一种娱乐。一个朋友给你带来一条有点奇怪的消息。它可能如此让人震惊，于是你会问，“你从哪听来的？”答案可能是，“我通过小道消息听来的。”
You have decide if it's true or not.
它是真是假你已有判断。
I'm Anna Matteo.
我是安娜·马特奥。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)