Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

現(xiàn)在是美國之音慢速英語詞匯掌故節(jié)目。

Today’s word is belittle. It was first used by Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.

今天要談到的單詞是belittle（貶低、輕視）。美國第三任總統(tǒng)托馬斯·杰斐遜（Thomas Jefferson）首次使用這個(gè)詞。

 

Many years ago, a French naturalist, the Count de Buffon, wrote some books about natural history. The books were a great success even though some critics did not like them. Some critics said, "Count Buffon is more of a poet than a scientist."

許多年前，法國博物學(xué)家布豐伯爵寫了一些有關(guān)自然史的書。這些書大獲成功，盡管有些評論家不喜歡它們。有些人批評說，“布豐伯爵與其說是一個(gè)科學(xué)家，不如說是一個(gè)詩人?！?/span>

 

Thomas Jefferson did not like what the Count had said about the natural wonders of the New World. It seemed to Jefferson that the Count had gone out of his way to speak of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant.

杰斐遜不喜歡伯爵對新大陸自然奇觀的說法。在杰弗遜看來，伯爵對美洲自然奇觀的描述脫離了他一貫的方式，似乎它們無足輕重。

 

This troubled Thomas Jefferson. He too was a naturalist, as well as a farmer, inventor, historian, writer and politician. He had seen the natural wonders of Europe. To him, they were no more important than those of the New World.

這讓杰弗遜非常氣惱。他也是一個(gè)博物學(xué)家，同時(shí)還是農(nóng)民，發(fā)明家，歷史學(xué)家，作家和政治家。他曾縱覽歐洲自然奇觀。對他來說，那些并不比新大陸的自然奇觀強(qiáng)多少。

 

In seventeen eighty-eight, Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state, Virginia. While writing, he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of Count de Buffon. At that moment, Jefferson created a new word – belittle. He said, "The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic."

1788年，杰弗遜寫到他的家鄉(xiāng)弗吉尼亞州。在寫作時(shí)，他想到了那些自然美景，隨后又想到了布豐伯爵的話。在那一刻，杰斐遜創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)新詞 - belittle。他說：“布豐伯爵認(rèn)為，大自然輕視她在大西洋彼岸創(chuàng)造的奇景?！?/span>

 

Noah Webster, the American word expert, liked this word. He put it in his English language dictionary in eighteen-oh-six. ‘Belittle – to make small, unimportant.’

美國詞典專家諾亞·韋伯斯特（Noah Webster）很喜歡這個(gè)詞。1806年，他將這個(gè)單詞收入他的英語詞典（注：這個(gè)就是著名的韋氏詞典哦）。 "Belittle - 解釋為to make small-unimportant（小看，輕視）"。

 

Americans had already accepted Jefferson’s word and started to use it. In seventeen ninety-seven, the Independent Chronicle newspaper used the word to describe a politician the paper supported. "He is an honorable man," the paper wrote, "so let the opposition try to belittle him as much as they please."

美國人已接受杰斐遜的這個(gè)單詞并開始使用。1797年，獨(dú)立紀(jì)事報(bào)用這個(gè)詞來描寫一個(gè)他們支持的政治家。“他是一個(gè)高尚的人，”報(bào)紙寫道，“因此反對派愛怎么貶低他，都隨他們?nèi)グ?。?/span>

 

In eighteen forty-four, the Republican Sentinel of Virginia wrote this about the opposition party: "The Whigs may attempt to belittle our candidates ... that is a favorite game of theirs."

1844年，弗吉尼亞的共和黨哨兵報(bào)這樣描寫反對派：“輝格黨可能試圖貶低我們的候選人……那是他們慣用的伎倆?！?/span>

 

In eighteen seventy-two, a famous American word expert decided that the time had come to kill this word. He said, "Belittle has no chance of becoming English. And as more critical writers of America, like those of Britain, feel no need of it, the sooner it is forgotten, the better."

1872年，美國一位著名的詞匯專家認(rèn)為，是時(shí)候封殺這個(gè)詞了。他說：“Belittle不可能成為英語。隨著越來越多的美國作家開始和英國作家一樣，覺得它一無所是，它越早被遺忘越好?！?/span>

 

This expert failed to kill the word. Today, belittle is used, not only in the United States and England, but in other countries where the English language is spoken. It seems that efforts to belittle the word did not stop people from using it.

但這位專家未能封殺這個(gè)詞。今天，belittle不僅在美國和英國，還在其他使用英語的國家得到了廣泛應(yīng)用。看來，貶低這個(gè)詞所作的努力并未阻止人們使用它。

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