节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-06-22
难易度:Medium
关键字:critical, commerce, appropriate, prompt, coin, acronym
Welcome back, everybody.
Every word has a story.
The next word we'll look at is taxi.
It's an abbreviation of taximeter cab, which is what Londoners called taxis back
in the early 1900s.
You've already noticed the word "tax" in the word taxi.
Yes, the two words are related because when you ride in a taximeter cab, you can
expect to pay a tax or a small fee.
OK. Let's resume our lesson now on line 16.
Fun Language Facts.
The word taxi appears in English, German, French, Swedish, Spanish and
Portuguese.
Goodbye can also be heard in many languages.
It came from "God bye," which came from "God be with you." Some words in English
have interesting origins.
The word onion comes from the Latin word unio, which means "large pearl." The
word tips is actually an acronym that stands for "To Insure Prompt Service.".
That makes a lot of sense considering that tips help people to do things better
or more efficiently.
With so many fun facts to learn and share, language learning should never be
dull!
Right before the break we said that languages appropriate words from other
languages.
Now we said "appropriate," it means to take and use it for their own purposes,
kind of like borrowing.
Well, we have an example of that kind of word.
OK. This example is the word taxi.
Maybe you've heard this word before.
That means a yellow car, usually yellow, that goes and will take people from one
place to another if you pay the money.
That's right.
The taxi is what you stand on the side of the street and lift your arm up, and
they pull over, and you pay them to take you to a new location.
Now that word taxi, we also say "cab" if you need to know what it means.
But taxi appears in English, German, French, Swedish, Spanish and Portuguese.
Whoo. OK. So that word has been borrowed or appropriated in each of those
languages.
And so when you travel to countries that speak these languages, you can use that
same word.
That's right.
You can always get a taxi in any of these language speaking countries.
OK. So how about another example?
Goodbye can also be heard in many different languages.
That's right.
Even shortened ways we say now, we say bye or bye-bye.
So there's many different languages that use that phrase goodbye.
But we say it all the time, Ryan.
We... we say it every day to people.
Do we know where it comes from?
OK. Yeah. Let's learn a little bit more about this phrase.
It originally came from the phrase "God bye," which came from "God be with you,"
a very common phrase to say to people as they were leaving in old English.
In old English, that's right, you would say, "And God be with you" because it's
a way of saying may your journey be blessed.
May the way you go be easy and peaceful that God be traveling with you.
And as people got lazy, they shortened it to "God bye" for "God be with you."
And obviously, that God bye just added an "o" and became Goodbye.
It changed to goodbye.
And so this is originally meant to be a blessing you say to people as they're
leaving.
And so remember that, each time you say bye-bye, you are actually... it's came
from being a blessing to them.
That's right.
Now we need to be careful with the words we say.
You don't know where they come from or really what their meanings are.
So don't be rude or hateful when you say things.
Absolutely. You need to be kind, so.
But some English words have some very interesting origins.
That's right.
Now we see that goodbye came from God bye.
I think that's an interesting origin.
And an origin is where something comes from.
OK. So how about another example of some interesting beginnings, or interesting
origins?
The word onion comes from the Latin word unio, which means large pearl.
Now think about that for a second.
We don't think of a pearl being very... an onion being very much like a pearl
because a pearl is beautiful, and an onion makes your eyes water.
But it kind of looks like one.
That's right.
A pearl, we know, is usually a very valuable stone-type or gem that comes from
an oyster.
And so an oyster is that... kind of like a clamp creature.
You open it up and you can get that pearl, a very white small round shape, out
of it.
And so it's white and round, you said.
And so that's like an onion is white and kind of that shiny rounded... It's
really pretty.
And it kind of looks like a... an onion could kind of look like it if you use
your imagination.
Yeah, a very large pearl.
So the word "tips" is another example.
It is actually an acronym that stands for To Insure Prompt Service.
So we have tips for you, we say that very often - tips to remember.
Now we learn that this is actually an acronym.
And an "acronym" is a word that is created by taking the first letter of a set
of words to create a new word.
So To Insure Prompt Service, T-I-P-S, the word tips.
Exactly. OK.
So "to insure," that means to make sure something happens.
And the word here "prompt," that means that something happens very quickly.
That's right, happens quickly and on time.
So if you have a tip, it can be done correctly and quickly.
Make sure you get good service.
Now that makes a lot of sense considering that tips help people to do things
better or more efficiently.
Well, and now we know the word acronym as well.
You can use acronyms in all different fun situations.
All right. We've learned a lot of fun English facts.
And with so many fun facts to learn and share, language learning, well, it
should never be dull.
It should never be boring.
That's right.
We hope that learning English can actually be a fun and exciting experience as
you learn fun facts.
All right. Now let's watch today's skit.
Languages change with the times.
Did you know that?
Yes, things do change.
People coin new words.
Shakespeare did that a lot.
Shakespeare?
Yeah. He was a master at creating new words.
His works contain 2,035 new words.
So many?
Yeah, including critical, excellent and countless.
Do you want to know the other 2,032?
No, thanks. That won't be necessary.
Oh, OK.
Well, last year the dictionary added 150 new words.
M-commerce was a new word.
Do you know what m-commerce is?
Not really.
Well, now it's in the dictionary.
You can look it up.
Good idea.
Did you know the word taxi is used in many languages?
So is the word goodbye.
Goodbye?
I like that word.
Yeah, me too.
It means God be with you.
And other words have interesting meanings too.
I'm sure they do.
Onion means large pearl.
And tips, T-I-P-S, means To Insure Prompt Service. Tips.
That makes sense.
Yeah. Language has so many fun facts.
I really like to learn them and share them.
Yes. I can see that.
Language is never dull, no.
No, never.
Yeah. So what is the favorite word that I share with you today?
I like the word goodbye.
Goodbye?
Yes!
Goodbye.
Oh. I guess I have to go now.
Uh, goodbye.
Yes, goodbye.
(Music).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And that concludes our Language Tips today.
I'll see you next time. Bye-bye.
Thank you, Michelle.
Without language, it would be impossible to communicate.
One thing that makes languages interesting is they change all the time.
They change when new words are coined, or when existing words find wider
meanings to fit new situations.
And of course, words are borrowed from other languages too.
Friends, if you've got a fun fact about a word or phrase in your mother
language, share it with us in the Studio Classroom English Corner or Chat Room.
Now take care and have a fantastic Friday.