Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
現(xiàn)在是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)詞匯掌故節(jié)目。

Some expressions describe people who are important, or who at least think they are. One such expression is bigwig.
一些短語(yǔ)用來(lái)描述重要人物，或者至少自己認(rèn)為重要的人物。其中一個(gè)這樣的短語(yǔ)就是bigwig。

In the seventeenth century, important men in Europe began to wear false hair, called wigs. As years passed, wigs began to get bigger. The size of a man's wig depended on how important he was. The more important he was -- or thought he was -- the bigger the wig he wore. Some wigs were so large they covered a man's shoulders or back.
17世紀(jì)歐洲的重要人物開(kāi)始戴假發(fā)，這種假發(fā)被稱為wigs。隨著歲月流逝，假發(fā)開(kāi)始變得越來(lái)越大。一個(gè)人所戴的假發(fā)的大小取決于他的重要性。他越重要--或者自認(rèn)為越重要--他所戴的假發(fā)就越大。一些假發(fā)大到遮住了他們的肩或背。

Today, the expression bigwig is used to make fun of a person who feels important. People never tell someone he is a bigwig. They only use the expression behind his back.
今天，bigwig被用于嘲笑那些自認(rèn)為重要的人。人們從來(lái)不會(huì)告訴某人他是bigwig，只會(huì)在他背后這么說(shuō)。

Big wheel is another way to describe an important person. A big wheel may be the head of a company, a political leader, a famous movie star. They are big wheels because they are powerful. What they do affects many people. Big wheels give the orders. Other people carry them out. As in many machines, a big wheel makes the little wheels turn.
Big wheel是另外一種描述重要人物的方式。Big wheel可能是公司負(fù)責(zé)人、政治領(lǐng)袖、或著名影星。他們是Big wheel，因?yàn)樗麄儤O具影響力。他們的所作所為能夠影響很多人。Big wheels下達(dá)命令，其他人來(lái)貫徹落實(shí)。就像在許多機(jī)器中，大輪帶動(dòng)小輪轉(zhuǎn)。

Big wheel became a popular expression after World War Two. It probably comes from an expression used for many years by people who fix parts of cars and trucks. They said a person rolled a big wheel if he was important and had influence.
二戰(zhàn)后，Big wheel變成一個(gè)常用表達(dá)，它可能源于轎車(chē)或卡車(chē)修理工人使用了很多年的一種說(shuō)法。這些工人稱，如果一個(gè)人很重要而且有影響力，就由他來(lái)轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)大輪。

The top of something is the highest part. So it is not surprising that top is part of another expression that describes an important person. The expression is top banana. A top banana is the leading person in a comedy show. The funniest comedian is called the top banana. The next is second banana. And so on.
某個(gè)物體的頂部是最高的部分，所以top是另一個(gè)描述重要人物的短語(yǔ)的一部分，這并不奇怪。這個(gè)短語(yǔ)就是top banana。Top Banana是喜劇中的主角。最有趣的喜劇演員被稱為top banana，接下來(lái)就是second banana。以此類(lèi)推。

Why a banana? A comedy act in earlier days often included a part where one of the comedians would hit the others over the head with a soft object. The object was shaped like the yellow fruit: the banana.
為什么用banana來(lái)表示呢？早期的戲劇表演通常都包含這樣一個(gè)部分：其中一個(gè)喜劇演員會(huì)用一個(gè)柔軟的物體敲打其他人的頭。這個(gè)物體的形狀就像香蕉。

Top banana still is used mainly in show business. Yet the expression can also be used to describe the top person in any area.
Top banana仍主要用于娛樂(lè)行業(yè)。然而，這個(gè)短語(yǔ)還可以用來(lái)形容任何領(lǐng)域的重要人物。

A kingpin is another word for an important person. The expression comes from the game of bowling. The kingpin is the number one pin. If hit correctly with the bowling ball, the kingpin will make all the other nine pins fall. And that is the object of the game.
Kingpin（首領(lǐng)、頭目）是另一個(gè)形容重要人物的短語(yǔ)。這個(gè)短語(yǔ)來(lái)自保齡球。Kingpin是保齡球中最重要的球瓶。如果正確地用保齡球擊中它，kingpin能讓其它九個(gè)球瓶都落下去。而這就是打保齡球的目標(biāo)。

So, the most important person in a project or business is the kingpin. If the kingpin is removed, the business or project is likely to fail.
因此，一個(gè)項(xiàng)目或企業(yè)中最重要的人就被稱為kingpin。如果kingpin被撤職，這個(gè)企業(yè)或項(xiàng)目就可能會(huì)失敗。

Kingpin is often used to describe an important criminal, or the leader of a criminal gang. A newspaper may report, for example, that police have arrested the suspected kingpin of a car-stealing operation.
Kingpin通常被用于描述一個(gè)重要的罪犯，或者犯罪團(tuán)伙的頭目。例如報(bào)紙可能會(huì)報(bào)道說(shuō)，警察逮捕了偷車(chē)團(tuán)伙的頭目。

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