[ti:Words and Their Stories Top Brass] [ar:Susan Clark] [al:WORDS AND THEIR STORIES] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]I'm Susan Clark with the Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. [00:16.03]The Italians have an old saying, "Il dolce far niente." [00:21.89]The words mean it is sweet, or enjoyable, to do nothing. [00:27.40]On weekends and during holidays, many of us enjoy doing nothing. [00:33.66]But most of the time we have to work. And, keep our jobs, [00:40.02]we must work hard. Our employer will not like it if we do nothing. [00:46.35]American workers often call their employers bosses. [00:52.85]The word boss comes from the Dutch word, baas, meaning master. [00:59.62]Sometimes company bosses are called the brass. [01:04.82]They also are sometimes called top brass, or brass hats. [01:10.98]Experts disagree about how these strange expressions started. [01:18.25]But, they may have come from Britain. [01:21.20]Leaders of the nineteenth century British army [01:24.71]wore pieces of metal called oak leaves on their hats. [01:29.20]The metal, brass, has a color similar to that of gold. [01:34.21]So a leader or commander came to be called a member of the brass. [01:39.61]Or he might have been called a brass hat. Or, even the top brass. [01:45.87]By the nineteen forties, the expression had spread [01:50.88]beyond military leaders. It also included civilian officials. [01:56.18]A newspaper in the American city of Philadelphia [02:00.80]used the term in nineteen forty-nine. [02:03.66]It called the most important police officials, top brass. [02:08.70]Other expressions that mean boss or employer [02:13.66]have nothing to do with brass or hats. [02:17.06]One of these is big cheese. A cheese is a solid food made from milk. [02:25.08]The expression probably started in America in the late nineteenth century. [02:30.78]Some experts believe it comes from a word in the Uersian [02:35.59]or urdu languages -- chiz. The meaning is a thing. [02:41.08]So the meaning of big cheese may be a big thing. [02:46.54]Other experts say the word cheese in this expression [02:51.23]was really an incorrect way of saying chief. [02:55.69]The word chief means leader. So the expression may mean big leader. [03:02.50]An employer usually does not object to being called boss. [03:08.56]But most workers would not call their employers big cheeses, [03:14.27]top brass or brass hats to their faces. [03:18.38]These words are not really insulting. [03:22.27]But neither do they show great respect. [03:25.67]Employers also have expressions to describe their workers. [03:31.38]One of them that describes a good worker [03:35.33]is that he or she works like a Trojan. [03:39.64]This expression probably comes [03:43.14]from the ancient writings of the Greek poet Homer. [03:46.38]He wrote about the Trojans who lived in the city of Troy. [03:51.19]He said Trojans worked very hard to protect their city. [03:56.00]Now, the expression often is used to describe an employee [04:00.95]who works hard for a company. [04:03.28]A loyal, hard-working employee is said to work like a Trojan. [04:09.44]So be happy if your company's brass hats [04:13.88]say you work like a Trojan. [04:16.93]They may consider you valuable enough to increase your pay.