你真的了解中国的筷子吗？

一双筷子，承载着中国人数千年的的情感和记忆，蕴藏着深厚的文化积淀。筷子夹起来的不仅仅是食物，更是家的味道、爱的味道。(CCTV)

央视公益短片▲

The Story of Chopsticks

We've discussed the story of the knife and fork, but there's another set of utensils used by billions of people around the world—and it has a truly ancient past. The Chinese have been wielding chopsticks since at least 1200 B.C., and by A.D. 500 chopsticks had swept the Asian continent from Vietnam to Japan. From their humble beginnings as cooking utensils to paper-wrapped bamboo sets at the sushi counter, there's more to chopsticks than meets the eye.

utensil

/juː'tensəl/ 表示“器皿，用具（指烹调用具）”，英文解释为“a thing such as a knife, spoon etc that you use when you are cooking”，如：

kitchen utensils 厨房用具

回顾下上周末在<中国高端酒店不卫生乱象被曝光>一文中刚出现过的cutlery，表示“餐具”，英文解释为“Cutlery consists of the knives, forks, and spoons that you eat your food with.”，举个🌰：

There was a serving spoon missing when she put the cutlery back in its box.

当她将银餐具装回盒子中时，少了一把分菜用的匙子。

wield

此处表示“拿着 (武器、工具或设备)”，英文解释为“If you wield a weapon, tool, or piece of equipment, you carry and use it.”，举个🌰：

He was attacked by a man wielding a knife.

他遭到一名持刀男子的袭击。

也可以指“拥有/掌握（权力/影响/权威等）”，英文解释为“If someone wields power, they have it and are able to use it.”如：wield power/influence/authority，举个🌰：

He remains chairman, but wields little power at the company.

他还是主席，但在公司内没有什么权力。

there's more to sb/sth than meets the eye

表示“比表面所看到的更为有趣（聪明等），比开始认为的还难以应付；比当初看上去的更复杂”，英文解释为“used to say that someone or something is more interesting, intelligent etc than they seem to be; If there is more to something than meets the eye, it is more difficult to understand or involves more things than you thought at the beginning.”

The fabled ruins of Yin, in Henan province, provided not only the earliest examples of Chinese writing but also the first known chopsticks—bronze sets found in tombs at the site. Capable of reaching deep into boiling pots of water or oil, early chopsticks were used mainly for cooking. It wasn't until A.D. 400 that people began eating with the utensils. This happened when a population boom across China sapped resources and forced cooks to develop cost-saving habits. They began chopping food into smaller pieces that required less cooking fuel—and happened to be perfect for the tweezers-like grip of chopsticks.

fabled

表示“传说中的; 寓言中的; 充满传奇色彩的”，英文解释为“If you describe a person or thing as fabled, especially someone or something remarkable, you mean that they are well known because they are often talked about or a lot of stories are told about them.”，如：

the fabled city of Troy 传说中的特洛伊城

boom

在外刊中经常出现的一个词，可以作动词也可以作名词，可以表示“（生意/经济）繁荣，兴旺，激增”，英文解释为“a quick increase of business activity”，如：economic boom经济繁荣，a sudden boom in the housing market 房产市场的突然兴旺；

也可以理解为“流行，风靡”，英文解释为“an increase in how popular or successful something is, or in how often it happens”

补充：baby boom

表示“生育高峰（期），婴儿潮”：an increase in the number of babies born during a particular period, compared to other times – used especially about people born between 1946 and 1964. 如：

the baby boom generation

生育高峰期出生的那一代人

例如，经济学人九月份的一篇文章就讲到“What to do about Africa’s dangerous baby boom”。

sap

表示“消耗，削弱（通常指力量/决心/信心等）”，英文解释为“to make something weaker or destroy it, especially someone’s strength or their determination to do something”，如：sap sb’s strength/courage/energy，举个🌰：

I was afraid the sickness had sapped my strength.

恐怕这场病已经消耗了我的力气。

chop

chop/chop up表示“切，劈，砍”，英文解释为“to cut something into smaller pieces”，举个🌰：

Chop the butter into small pieces.

把黄油切成小块。

tweezers

表示“镊子，小钳子”，英文解释为“a small tool that has two narrow pieces of metal joined at one end, used to pull or move very small objects”。

As food became bite-sized, knives became more or less obsolete. Their decline—and chopsticks' ascent—also came courtesy of Confucius. As a vegetarian, he believed that sharp utensils at the dinner table would remind eaters of the slaughterhouse. He also thought that knives’ sharp points evoked violence and warfare, killing the happy, contented mood that should reign during meals. Thanks in part to his teachings, chopstick use quickly became widespread throughout Asia.

obsolete

作形容词，表示“废弃的，淘汰的；过时的”，英文解释为“no longer useful, because something newer and better has been invented”，举个🌰：

Will computers render/make books obsolete?

计算机会把书籍淘汰掉吗？

近义词：out-of-date/outdated

slaughterhouse

表示“屠宰场”，英文解释为“a building where animals such as cows or pigs are killed for their meat”；

近义词：abattoir /ˈæbətwɑː/ a place where animals are killed for their meat 屠宰场

reign

表示“支配，盛行，主宰”，英文解释为“if a feeling or quality reigns, it exists strongly for a period of time”，If you say, for example, that silence reigns in a place or confusion reigns in a situation, you mean that the place is silent or the situation is confused. 举个🌰：

Silence reigned while we waited for news.

我们在等待消息的时候鸦雀无声。

Last night confusion reigned about how the debate, which continues today, would end.

昨晚，这场在今天继续进行的辩论将如何结束的问题令人困惑。

Different cultures adopted different chopstick styles. Perhaps in a nod to Confucius, Chinese chopsticks featured a blunt rather than pointed end. In Japan, chopsticks were 8 inches long for men and 7 inches long for women. In 1878 the Japanese became the first to create the now-ubiquitous disposable set, typically made of bamboo or wood. Wealthy diners could eat with ivory, jade, coral, brass or agate versions, while the most privileged used silver sets. It was believed that the silver would corrode and turn black if it came into contact with poisoned food.

blunt & pointed

blunt表示“钝的，不锋利的，不尖的”，英文解释为“not sharp or pointed”，从英文解释里也可以看出blunt的反义词就是sharp或者pointed，pointed作形容词表示“尖的”，也可以指话语、问题、批评等“尖锐的，犀利的”，如：a pointed question/look/remark 尖锐的问题/犀利的目光/刻薄的话

corrode

表示“腐蚀”，英文解释为“If metal or stone corrodes, or is corroded, it is gradually destroyed by a chemical or by rust.”，举个🌰：

He has devised a process for making gold wires which neither corrode nor oxidize.

他发明了一种制造程序，使金线既不会腐蚀也不会氧化。

Throughout history, chopsticks have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with another staple of Asian cuisine: rice. Naturally, eating with chopsticks lends itself to some types of food more than others. At first glance, you'd think that rice wouldn't make the cut, but in Asia most rice is of the short- or medium-grain variety. The starches in these rices create a cooked product that is gummy and clumpy, unlike the fluffy and distinct grains of Western long-grain rice. As chopsticks come together to lift steaming bundles of sticky rice, it's a match made in heaven.

staple

此处为名词，直接表示“主食；主要产品；主要活动；重要部分”，还可以指“订书钉”；作形容词时，则表示“基本的；主要的（食物、产品、活动）”，英文解释为“A staple food, product, or activity is one that is basic and important in people's everyday lives.”，举个🌰：

Rice is the staple food of more than half the world's population.

大米是世界上半数以上人口的主食。

lend itself to sth

表示“适合于，适用于，有助于”，英文解释为“If something lends itself to something else, it is suitable for that thing or can be considered in that way.”，举个🌰：

The novel's complex, imaginative style does not lend itself to translation.

小说复杂而充满想象力的风格无法翻译出来。

variety

此处表示“（动植物的）种类，品种”，英文解释为“a type of thing, such as a plant or animal, that is different from others in the same group”。

starch

表示“淀粉；含淀粉的食物”，英文解释为“a substance which provides your body with energy and is found in foods such as grain, rice, and potatoes, or a food that contains this substance”。

a match made in heaven

表示“天作之合”，英文解释为“A marriage that is likely to be happy and successful because the marital partners are very compatible”，当然不一定指婚姻，也可以指某两事物的完美结合，A very successful combination of two people or things.    

- END -

LearnAndRecord

2015年2月8日

2018年11月22日

第1384天

每天持续行动学外语