Now, the VOA Special English
program "Words and Their Stories". |
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Today, we
tell about "horse"
expressions. In the past,
many people
depended on horses for
transportation, farming and other
kinds of work. A
lot of people still
like to ride
horses. And horse racing is
also popular. So
it is not surprising that Americans
still use
expressions about the animals. |
today we tell about: hoy hablamos de; depended on: dependía de; farming: agricultura, labranza; kinds of: tipos de; still like to ride: todavía les gusta cabalgar; horse racing: las carreras de caballos; it is not surprising that: no sorprende que, no llama la atención que; still use: sigan utilizando; |
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Long ago,
people who were
rich or important
rode horses that were
very tall. Today,
if a girl acts
like she is better
than everyone else,
you might say
she should "get off
her high horse". |
who were rich: que eran adinerados; rode: cabalgaban, montaban; very tall: muy altos; acts like she is: se comporta como siendo; better than everyone else: la mejor de todos/as; get off her high horse: bajarse/apearse del burro, bajarse de la parra, bajarse del pedestal (en Argentina, solemos decir "aterrizar"); |
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Yesterday,
my children wanted
me to take them
to the playground. But I had to finish
my work, so
I told them to "hold
your horses" –
wait until I finish
what I am doing.
My two boys
like to compete
against each other and
play in a violent
way. I always tell
them to stop "horsing
around" or someone
could get hurt. |
playground: parque con juegos infantiles; hold your horses: aguantarse, tener paciencia; in a violent way: en forma violenta; wait until: esperar hasta que; horse around/about: retozar, juguetear, bromear; could get hurt: podría lastimarse; |
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We live in a
small town. It
does not have any
exciting activities to
offer visitors. My
children call it a "one-horse
town". |
exciting activities: actividades emocionantes, entretenidas; one-horse town: pueblucho, pueblo de poca monta, poco interesante; |
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Last night,
I got a telephone
call while I was watching
my favorite
television show. I decided
not to answer it because "wild
horses could not
drag me away" from the
television – there was
nothing that could
stop me from doing
what I wanted to
do. |
wild horses could not drag me away: por nada del mundo me apartarían (literal = ni unos caballos salvajes podrían alejarme del televisor). |
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Sometimes
you get information "straight
from the horse's mouth". It
comes directly from the
person who knows
most about the
subject and is the best source.
Let us say your
teacher tells you
there is going to be a
test tomorrow. You
could say you
got the information "straight
from the horse's mouth".
However, you would
not want to call
your teacher a horse! |
straight from the horse's mouth: de propia boca, de labios del mismo interesado (literal = directamente de la boca del caballo); who knows most: que más sabe; about the subject: sobre el tema; the best source: la mejor fuente; let us say: digamos que; to call your teacher a horse: decirle caballo a tu profesor; |
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You may
have heard this
expression: "You can
lead a horse to
water, but you cannot
make him drink". That means you can
give someone
advice but you cannot
force him to do
something he does not
want to do. |
you may have heard: debes haber escuchado; you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink: puedes darle un consejo a alguien, pero no puedes obligarlo a que lo siga.(literal = puedes llevar un caballo al agua pero no puedes obligarlo a beber); force him to do something: obligarlo a hacer algo (que); |
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Sometimes a
person fights a battle that
has been decided or keeps
arguing a question that has been
settled. We say this is
like "beating a
dead horse". |
fight a battle: pelear, entrar en pleito; keeps arguing a question: sigue discutiendo un asunto; that has been settled: que ya ha sido resuelto; this is like: esto es algo así como; beat a dead horse: seguir hablando de algo que ya pasó de tiempo, debatir sobre un asunto que se terminó; perder el tiempo en algo que no saldrá a cabo (literal = azotar a un caballo muerto); |
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In politics, a "dark-horse
candidate" is someone
who is not well
known to the public. Sometimes,
a dark horse
unexpectedly wins an election. |
a dark-horse candidate: un candidato que surge como presidente de la mañana a la noche, un "ilustre desconocido"; dark horse: contendiente o ganador desconocido; vencedor inesperado; persona que puede dar una sorpresa en una competición; unexpectedly wins: gana inesperadamente; |
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Another
piece of advice is "do not
change horses in
midstream". You would not
want to get off
one horse and on to another
in the middle of a river. Or
make major changes
in an activity that has already
begun. In the past, this
expression was used as an
argument to re-elect a
president, especially
during a time when
the country was at war. |
a piece of advice: un consejo; do not change horses in midstream: no cambies de parecer a mitad de camino (literalmente = no cambies de caballo en el medio del río); to get off one horse: bajarte de un caballo; make major changes: hacer cambios fundamentales; that has already begun: que ya ha comenzado; an argument: un argumento, un alegato; to re-elect: para reelegir; at war: en guerra. |
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This VOA Special
English program was
written by Shelley
Gollust. I'm Faith Lapidus. |
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AND NOW A BIT OF HUMOR WITH A LAST EXPRESSION
horse sense: sentido común, buen discernimiento. |
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