时间:2018-12-01 作者:英语课 分类:Words & Their Stories


英语课
WORDS AND THEIR STORIES - Soldier

By Jerilyn Watson


Broadcast: Sunday, May 29, 2005


This is Feel Marvin with Words and their Stories, a program in Special English on the Voice of America. We tell about some common expressions in American English.


A leatherneck or a grunt 1 do not sound like nice names to call someone. Yet men and women who serve in the United 2 States armed forces are proud of those names. And if you think they sound strange, consider doughboy and GI Joe.


After the American Civil War in the 1860s, a writer in a publication 3 called Beetles 4 Monthly 5 used the word "doughboy" to describe Civil War soldiers, but word expert Charles Funk says that early writer could not explain where the name started.


About 20 years later, someone did explain. She was the wife of the famous American General George Custer. Elizabeth Custer wrote that a doughboy was a sweet food served to navy 6 men on ships. She also said the name was given to the large buttons on the clothes of soldiers. Elizabeth Custer believed the name changed over time to mean the soldiers themselves.


Now, we probably most often think of doughboys as the soldiers who fought for the allies 7 in World War I. By World War II, soldiers were called other names. The one most often heard was GI or GI Joe. Most people say the letters "GI" were a short way to say general issue 8, or government issue. The name came to mean several things. It could mean the solider himself. It could mean things given to soldiers when they joined the military 9, such as weapons, equipment or clothes. And for some reason, it could mean to organize or clean. Soldiers often say we GI'd the place. And when an area looks good, soldiers may say the area is GI.


Strangely though, GI can also mean poor work, a job badly done. Some students of military words have another explanation of GI. They say that instead of government issue or general issue, GI came from the words galvanized iron 10. The American soldier was said to be like galvanized iron, a material produced for special strength.


The dictionary of soldier talk says GI was used for the words galvanized iron in a publication about the vehicles 11 of the early 20th century. Today a doughboy or GI may be called a grunt. Nobody is sure of the exact beginning of the word, but the best idea probably is that the name comes from the sound that troops 12 make when ordered to march long distances carrying heavy equipment.


A member of the United States Marines also has a strange name---leatherneck. It is thought to have started in the 1800s. Some say the name comes from the thick collars 13 of leather; early marines wore around their necks to protect them from cuts during battles. Others say the sun burned the marines' necks until their skin looked like leather.


This Special English program Words and their Stories was written by Jerilyn Watson. I am Feel Marvin.



1 grunt
v.嘟哝;作呼噜声;n.呼噜声,嘟哝
  • He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
  • I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽,他只哼了一声。
2 united
adj.和谐的;团结的;联合的,统一的
  • The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
  • The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。
3 publication
n.出版,发行;出版;公布,发表
  • They don't think this article is suitable for publication.他们认为这篇文章不宜发表。
  • The government has delayed publication of the trade figures.政府已将贸易统计数字延后公布。
4 beetles
n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )
  • Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来,然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
5 monthly
adj.每月的,持续一个月的,每月发生的;adv.每月,按月; n.月刊;(复数)monthlies:月经
  • The rent on his apartment was his biggest monthly expense.他的房租是每个月最大的开支。
  • The monthly rent is $15,inclusive of light and water.每月租金15美元,包括水电费在内。
6 navy
n.海军,海军人员,海军军力,藏青色
  • My brother is in the navy.我兄弟在海军服役。
  • He has transferred from the army to the navy.他从陆军转到海军。
7 allies
联盟国,同盟者; 同盟国,同盟者( ally的名词复数 ); 支持者; 盟军
  • The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。
  • A number of the United States' allies had urged him not to take a hasty decision. 美国的一些盟友已力劝他不要急于作决定。
8 issue
n.出版,发行,(报刊等)期、号,论点,问题,结果, (水,血等的)流出;vt.使流出,放出,发行(钞票等),发布(命令),出版(书等)发给;vi.发行,流出,造成...结果,进行辩护,传下
  • I bought the book the day after its issue.这书出版后的第一天,我就去买了它。
  • I'll support her down the line on that issue.在那个问题上我将全力支持她。
9 military
n.军队;adj.军事的,军人的,好战的
  • The area has been declared a closed military zone.这个地区已宣布为军事禁区。
  • The king was just the tool of the military government.国王只是军政府的一个傀儡。
10 iron
n.铁,熨斗,坚强,烙铁,镣铐;vt.烫平,熨,用铁包;vi. 烫衣服
  • The iron has lost its magnetic force.这块铁已失去了磁力。
  • We need an electrician to mend the iron.我们要请电工修理熨斗。
11 vehicles
n.运载工具;传播媒介;(为展露演员才华而)特意编写的一出戏(或电影等);[画]展色剂;交通工具( vehicle的名词复数 );车辆;传播媒介;手段
  • There is not much clearance for vehicles passing under this bridge. 车辆在这座桥下通过时没有多少余隙。
  • to carry out random spot checks on vehicles 对车辆进行抽检
12 troops
n.troop(复数)部队,军队
  • troops on active service 现役部队
  • The troops were ordered back to barracks . 士兵们被命令返回营房。
13 collars
衣领( collar的名词复数 ); 领子; (狗等的)项圈; (管子或机器部件的)圈
  • The best way to get stains off collars is to use liquid detergent at full strength. 去除领子上的污点最好的办法是使用未稀释的液体洗洁净。
  • Pedestrians had turned up collars, and trousers at the bottom. 行人们竖起了外套衣领,卷起了裤脚边。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
标签: word story soldier
学英语单词
all-in-service station
anemoside
anti-aeration plate
arrive at a discount
bartonias
be in convulsions
Belt Channel
bene esse
bold as a lion
bopster
carry coals
coding television picture
commensurate with international standards
convergent filtration
Cupidlike
cussler
daggar
demands
Dennstaedtia punctilobula
dipole reflector
disconnect rod
dissipation interaction
dry painting
effective signal
environment ecology
explosive gas indicator
gangen
genus helianthuss
Getxo
give sb. one's good honour
globular cementite
gripple
Hazen and Williams' formula
heat movement
hemp gasket
IACAC
idol worshiper
Ikeda,Hayato
immigrant vein
inconfinable
indoor bushing
isotropic indicatrix
Jennifer Lopez
JNACC
jump r.
Kempt, L.
long axis of mesentery
loose condition
lymphocryptoviral
magnetic heads
Moorish capital
n-nitrosomethylurea
no-oil-supply
nsss
one-commodity model
orange salad
Orco, Fiume
outdoor power house
Philasterina
pleiochasial
pollution of herbicide
potty-chair
pressostat
Prinivil
pulsating bending fatigue strength
quasi-hydrodynamic lubrication
quillwort
racing-car
rare earth deposits
red-wine
reservoir flood routing
rotaviral
sadiron
Schizozygine
scream blue murder
sewage disposal pump
soren aabye kierkegaards
source of local materials
space charge zone
spatial variable
spine chiller
sprote
stressed collar
sulfonylation
Sēdik'a
T-bank position control loop
televillages
temporary hearing defect
tetrazyl hydrazine
tgd
think out aloud
This is January
turn of expressions
United Nations High Commission for Refugees
upper end of evaporator
usnea florida
very long range (vlr)
wartworm
water-laden
weighing system
whin
wipes up