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Now, the VOA |
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Special English program |
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WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. |
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We present more |
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expressions about food. |
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They are from Elenir Scardueli, |
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a listener in Brazil. |
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My mother always told us |
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there is no use crying |
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over spilled milk. |
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That means you should not |
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get angry when something |
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bad happens |
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and cannot be changed. |
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People said my mother |
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was a good egg. |
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She would always |
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help anyone in need. |
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We never had to walk |
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on eggshells around her. |
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We did not have to be careful |
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about what we said or did |
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because she never got angry at us. |
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She also told us you have to |
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break some eggs to make an omelet. |
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This means you have to do |
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what is necessary to move forward. |
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My mother believed |
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you are what you eat. |
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A good diet is important |
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for good health. |
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She would always give us |
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nutritious food. |
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She liked serving us meat |
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and potatoes for dinner. |
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Meat and potatoes can also mean |
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the most important part of something. |
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It describes someone |
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who likes simple things. |
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Here is another expression |
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about meat: one man's meat |
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is another man's poison. |
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In other words, one person might |
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like something very much |
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while another person |
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might hate the same thing. |
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My father was also a good |
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and honest person. |
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People said he was the salt |
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of the earth. |
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He would never pour salt |
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on a wound, or make someone |
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feel worse about something |
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that was already |
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a painful experience. |
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However, sometimes |
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he told us a story that |
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seemed bigger than life. |
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So we had to take it |
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with a grain of salt. |
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That is, we could not |
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believe everything he told us. |
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My husband has a good job. |
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He makes enough money |
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to support our family. |
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So we say he brings home the bacon. |
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He can cut the mustard, |
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or do what is expected of him at work. |
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It is easy to find my husband |
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in a crowd. |
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He stands almost two meters tall. |
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He is a tall drink of water. |
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I take the train to work. |
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It is not a pleasant ride |
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because the train |
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can be full of people. |
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It is so crowded that |
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we are packed like sardines |
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– just like small fish in a can. |
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My supervisor at work |
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is sometimes out to lunch. |
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She is out of touch |
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and does not always know |
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what is going on in our office. |
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Yet she is right about one thing: |
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there is no such thing |
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as a free lunch. |
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Something may appear |
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to be free of charge, |
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but there may be a hidden cost. |
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When we fail to see problems |
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at work, my supervisor tells us |
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to wake up and smell the coffee. |
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We need to pay more attention |
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and fix the problem. |
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I once made a big mistake |
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at the office and felt foolish. |
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I had egg on my face. |
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Over the weekend, |
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my friend invited me to watch |
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a football game on television. |
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But I do not like football. |
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It is not my cup of tea. |
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We hope this program |
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has given you food for thought, |
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that is, something to think about. |
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(MUSIC) |
