Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
现在是美国之音慢速英语词汇掌故节目。
Every week at this time we tell the story of words and expressions used in American English. Some of them are old. Some are new. Together, they form the living speech of the American people.
每周的这个时间，我们都会讲述美式英语中的词汇典故。这些典故中有一些是古老的，有些是新的。它们共同构成了美国人们的生活用语。
Some popular expressions are a mystery. No one is sure how they developed. One of these is the expression, carry a chip on your shoulder. A person with a chip on his shoulder is a problem for anybody who must deal with him. He seems to be expecting trouble. Sometimes he seems to be saying, "I'm not happy about anything, but what are you going to do about it?"
有些常用说法是一个谜，没人能确定它们是如何产生的。其中一个这样的说法就是：carry a chip on your shoulder（准备随时吵嘴、打架的样子 ）。这种随时准备干仗的人对任何必须要和他打交道的人来说都是个问题。他似乎在等着找麻烦。有时他的样子看上去就像在说，“我就是对什么都不爽，但你又能怎样吧？”
A chip is a small piece of something, like a chip of wood. How did this chip get on a person's shoulder? Well, experts say the expression appears to have been first used in the United States more than one hundred years ago.
Chip是指一些东西的碎屑，例如木头碎屑。碎屑怎么会跑到人的肩膀上去呢？专家表示，这种说法似乎在100多年前首次在美国应用。
One writer believes that the expression might have come from an old saying. The saying warns against striking too high, or a chip might fall into your eye. That could be good advice. If you strike high up on a tree with an axe, the chip of wood that is cut off will fall into your eye. The saying becomes a warning about the dangers of attacking people who are in more important positions than you are.
一位作家相信这一说法可能来自一句谚语。这个谚语警告人们砍木头时不要砍的太高，否则碎屑可能会落到眼睛里。这应该是一个很好的建议。如果你用斧头砍树时砍的位置太高，砍掉的木头碎屑就会落到你的眼睛里。这个谚语变成了人们袭击比自己位置更重要的人的危险警告。
Later, in the United States, some people would put a real chip on their shoulder as a test. They wanted to start a fight. They would wait for someone to be brave enough to try to hit it off.
后来在美国，一些人会在肩膀上放上真正的碎屑作为测试。他们想挑起事端，看谁敢将这些碎屑打落。
The word chip appears in a number of special American expressions. Another is chip off the old block. This means that a child is exactly like a parent.
Chip还出现在很多特殊的美国说法中。另一个说法是chip off the old block，意思是酷像父母的小孩子。
This expression goes back at least to the early sixteen hundreds. The British writer of plays, George Colman, wrote these lines in seventeen sixty-two. "You'll find him his father's own son, I believe. A chip off the old block, I promise you!"
这个说法至少要追溯到17世纪初。英国剧作家乔治·科尔曼（George Colman）在1762年这样写道：“我相信，你会发现他就是他父亲的亲生儿子。我向你保证，他们就像一个模子里刻出来的。”
The word chip can also be used in a threatening way to someone who is suspected of wrongdoing. An investigator may say, "We're going to let the chips fall where they may." This means the investigation is going to be complete and honest. It is also a warning that no one will be protected from being found guilty.
Chip还可以用来威胁涉嫌不法行为的人。调查人员可能会说，“We're going to let the chips fall where they may.(我们将采取行动不计后果)。”意思是，调查过程将是全面和诚实的。这也是一个警告，即任何人都不能逃脱法律的制裁。
Chips are often used in card games. They represent money. A poker player may, at any time, decide to leave the game. He will turn in his chips in exchange for money or cash.
Chips（筹码）还常用于纸牌游戏中，它们代表的是钱。扑克牌玩家可能随时会决定离开这个游戏。他会把自己的筹码兑换成现金或支票。
This lead to another meaning. A person who finished or died was said to have cashed in his chips. Which is a way of saying it is time for me to finish this program.
这引申出另一个意思。一位完成工作或去世的人会被说成have cashed in his chips（筹码已兑现，引申意思是工作完成或去世了）。用这个说法也能表示，是时候结束这次节目了。
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今天我们来讲几个由chip这个词发展而来的习惯用语。第一个是：the chips are down。习惯用语the chips are down来历已久。它来自扑克牌桌。描绘的是下赌注的筹码都已经放在桌面上而打扑克的人即将摊牌一决输赢的当头。
这是最让人提心吊胆的时刻，因为结果未见分晓。后来人们把这个习惯用语广泛地应用在其它场合。我们听个例子来体会它的意思吧。说话的人在回忆自己的一段艰难时光。当时他被解雇，但是又急需一份工作来养家糊口。我们听听他是怎么说的：
例句-1：I had a wife and kids to support, so the chips were really down. But I found out who my real friends were. Pete started phoning people with connections and got me a new job in a week.
他得负担妻子儿女的生活，所以失去工作全家人的生计就没了着落。在这当口上最能看出谁是真正的患难之交。好朋友Pete马上开始打电话和关系多的人联络。只一个星期就为他找到了一份新工作。
他的工资是全家大小的生活来源。在没找到新工作前，他失业等于断了全家的生计，所以这里的习惯用语the chips were down描绘令人担忧悬念的局面。
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我们再听个例子。竞选一个大州的州长位置的候选人，在投票前两星期的民意测验中看到自己的得分大大落后于对手。这让他很担心。这会儿他在跟手下的募款人员讲话：
例句-2：Look, with my support slipping, the chips are down. If you don't raise another million this week for more TV ads, I don't think I have a ghost of chance to get enough votes to win!
他说：看，我的支持率下滑。这种形势令人忧虑悬念。你们务必在这星期内筹款一百万美元，用来作更多的电视广告，否则我赢得选举胜利的希望就全完了。
这里的the chips are down意思也是情况不妙、令人担心。
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我们再学个包括chip这个词的习惯用语：chip in。 在习惯用语chip in里， chip是个动词，它的来源是在牌还没发下前每个打扑克的人得把同等数目的筹码扔到桌面中央下头注。这就叫chip in。头注和打牌过程中下的赌注最后都归这付牌的赢家。Chip in已被用到日常生活的各方面，在收钱凑分子买一样东西送人的时候时候你常会听到人们说chip in。我们听个例子：
例句-3：Bill, you know Sally in accounting. Well, her mother died last night. We'd like to send flowers. Most people are chipping in five dollars. Would you like to chip in too?
他说：Bill， 你认识会计处的Sally 吧。她母亲昨晚去世了。我们想送鲜花。多数人都凑分子出五块钱，你要不要也凑一份？
这里的chip in意思是为了同一个目的每人出一份钱，凑在一起。
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最后还有点儿时间，我们再学个也用chip这个词的习惯用语：cash in one's chips。 Cash作名词的时候指“现金，” 但是在短语cash in里面cash是动词。 Cash in原来的意思是赌局完结时去帐房把自己手上的筹码交进去换成现金，作个了断。 Cash in one's chips被人们沿用到日常生活中，指的不是赌局完毕，而是人生的终点。换句话说就是如一场赌博般的人生收场了。我们来听个例子。说话的是个退役军人。他刚刚得到一个怀消息。
例句-4：I just heard that Charley, my best friend in the army, cashed in his chips last week in Chicago. I haven't seen him in 25 years but back then we were as close as any two men could be.
他说：我刚听说我服役时最好的朋友Charley上星期结束了他的一生。我跟他虽然有二十五年没见面了，但是在当年我俩可是比谁都要好。
这段话里的cashed in his chips含义是结束了他的一生。