Special English 又叫“慢速英语”，是VOA 专为全世界非英语国家初学英语的听众安排的一种简易、规范的英语广播节目。该节目创始于50年代末期，是VOA 的专家们研究如何与世界各地的英语学习者进行交际的产物。它正式开播于1959年10月。当时只面向欧洲和中东，但由于这个节目适合许多国家英语学习者的需要，所以它的广播对象不久就扩大到世界其他地区，并很快在全世界范围内产生了广泛的影响。现在这个节目对欧洲、非洲和拉丁美洲每晚广播一次，对加勒比地区每晚广播一次（星期天除外），对东南亚广播次数最多，每天上午两次，晚上三次。
　　30多年来，VOA 为了办好Special English节目，进行了大量的调查研究工作，对播音速度、内容及用词范围都作了具体规定，基本上达到了既能为英语学习者提供信息，又不损害英语本身风格的目的，使之成为VOA 独具特色，拥有最大量听众的节目。
　

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2008.11.30

Top Brass: What American Workers Call Their Employers

　　I'm Susan Clark with the Special English program, Words and Their Stories.

　　（MUSIC）

　　The Italians have an old saying, "Il dolce far niente."  The words mean it is sweet, or enjoyable, to do nothing.

　　On weekends and during holidays, many of us enjoy doing nothing. But most of the time we have to work. And, to keep our jobs, we must work hard. Our employer will not like it if we do nothing.

　　American workers often call their employers bosses. The word boss comes from the Dutch word, baas, meaning master.

　　Sometimes company bosses are called the brass. They also are sometimes called top brass, or brass hats.

　　Experts disagree about how these strange expressions started. But, they may have come from Britain. Leaders of the nineteenth century British army wore pieces of metal called oak leaves on their hats. The metal, brass, has a color similar to that of gold. So a leader or commander came to be called a member of the brass.  Or he might have been called a brass hat.  Or, even the top brass.

　　By the nineteen forties, the expression had spread beyond military leaders. It also included civilian officials.

　　A newspaper in the American city of Philadelphia used the term in nineteen forty-nine. It called the most important police officials, top brass.

　　Other expressions that mean boss or employer have nothing to do with brass or hats. One of these is big cheese.  A cheese is a solid food made from milk.

　　The expression probably started in America in the late nineteenth century. Some experts believe it comes from a word in the Uersian or urdu languages —— chiz. The meaning is a thing.  So the meaning of big cheese may be a big thing.

　　Other experts say the word cheese in this expression was really an incorrect way of saying chief. The word chief means leader. So the expression may mean big leader.

　　An employer usually does not object to being called boss. But most workers would not call their employers big cheeses, top brass or brass hats to their faces.

　　These words are not really insulting. But neither do they show great respect.

　　Employers also have expressions to describe their workers. One of them that describes a good worker is that he or she works like a Trojan.

　　This expression probably comes from the ancient writings of the Greek poet Homer. He wrote about the Trojans who lived in the city of Troy. He said Trojans worked very hard to protect their city.

　　Now, the expression often is used to describe an employee who works hard for a company. A loyal, hard-working employee is said to work like a Trojan.

　　So be happy if your company's brass hats say you work like a Trojan. They may consider you valuable enough to increase your pay.

　　（MUSIC）

　　This Special English program, Words and Their Stories, was written by Jeri Watson. I'm Susan Clark.

★★★ 往期节目列表 ★★★