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And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
歡迎收聽VOA慢速英語《詞匯掌故》節目。
Today we talk about an expression, or idiom, involving an animal – a monkey to be exact.
今天我們談論一個涉及一種動物——確切地說是猴子——的習語。
Monkeys are intelligent animals, and they often do funny things.
猴子是聰明的動物，它們經常做有趣的事情。
So, the English language has some monkey expressions that describe a fun situation.
所以，英語中有一些有關猴子的短語是用來描述有趣的情況的。
For example, to monkey around means to do things that are not useful or serious.
例如，monkey around（胡鬧，搗蛋）的意思是做一些無用或不嚴肅的事情。
And if something is more fun than a barrel of monkeys, it is very fun!
如果某件事比“一桶猴子”更有趣，那這件事就太有趣了！
But what if you had to carry a monkey around with you every minute of every day ... on your back?
但如果你每天每時每刻都背著一只猴子走來走去……會怎么樣呢？
That may not be so fun.
那可能就沒那么有趣了。
And that brings us to today’s expression – to have a monkey on your back.
這就引出了今天的短語——to have a monkey on your back（壓力山大；重擔在肩）。
If you have a monkey on your back, you have a problem that cannot be easily solved.
have a monkey on your back的意思是你有一個不容易解決的問題。
And you possibly have had that problem for a long time.
你可能已經有這個問題很長一段時間了。
To have a monkey on your back can also mean to carry a great emotional weight.
have a monkey on your back也可以表示承受巨大的情感負擔。
This weight comes from a bad decision or perhaps a feeling that you have done something wrong.
這種重量來自一個錯誤的決定，或者可能來自你做錯了某件事后的感覺。
But the expression is used in more situations than that.
但這個短語可以在更多的情況下使用。
It is often used to describe a serious problem, worry, or concern that makes life difficult or unpleasant.
它經常被用來描述使生活變得困難或不愉快的嚴重的問題或擔憂。
Sometimes we use this idiom to describe a situation that is not our fault.
有時我們用這個習語來形容一種不是我們的錯的情況。
It could be a hardship or condition from which we suffer.
這可能是一種困難，即我們所遭遇的境況。
Here are some examples.
下面是一些例子。
A man grew up in extreme poverty.
一個人在極端貧困的環境中長大。
For a time, it was a monkey on his back.
有一段時間，他壓力山大。
But getting a good education was the first step to getting the monkey off his back.
但是，接受良好的教育是讓他擺脫困境的第一步。
If a woman has a gambling, alcohol, or drug addiction, we could say she has a monkey on her back.
如果一個女人有賭癮、酒癮或毒癮，我們可以說她賭癮/酒癮/毒癮纏身。
It could last for many years or even a lifetime.
它可能會持續很多年，甚至一輩子。
However, if she could solve or end the problem, we could say she finally got the monkey off her back!
然而，如果她能解決這個問題，我們可以說她終于擺脫了困境！
There is another expression that also means having a monkey on your back.
還有另一個短語，意思和“have a monkey on your back（壓力山大；重擔在肩）一樣”。
That expression is a millstone around someone’s neck.
這個短語是a millstone around someone’s neck。
A millstone is a very large, heavy stone used for grinding things such as grain or corn.
磨石是一種非常大、很重的石頭，用于研磨谷物或玉米等東西。
It crushes things easily.
它很容易把東西壓碎。
So, we also use the word millstone to describe a serious responsibility, problem, or concern.
因此，我們也用“磨石”來形容嚴重的責任、問題或擔憂。
For example, student debt is a millstone for many young people.
例如，學生債務對許多年輕人來說是一個沉重的負擔。
We could also say the debt is a millstone around their necks or a monkey on their backs.
我們也可以說，債務讓他們不堪重負。
And that’s all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories! Until next time … I’m Anna Matteo.
以上就是本期《詞匯掌故》節目的全部內容。下次見。我是安娜·馬特奧。
譯文為可可英語翻譯，未經授權請勿轉載！
