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(MUSIC) |
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Now, the VOA Special English program |
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WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. |
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Every language has its own |
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special words and expressions. |
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And a story can be told |
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about each of them. |
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Hot is a simple, |
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easily understood word. |
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So are most of the expressions |
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made with the word hot. |
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But not always, |
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as we shall see. |
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The words hot potato, |
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for example, |
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give you no idea at all |
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to the meaning of |
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the expression, hot potato. |
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The potato is a |
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popular vegetable |
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in the United States. |
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Many people like |
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baked potatoes, cooked |
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in an oven or fire. |
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Imagine trying to carry a hot, |
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baked potato in your hand. |
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It would be difficult, |
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even painful, to do so. |
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Now we are getting close |
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to the meaning of hot potato. |
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Some publicly disputed issues |
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are highly emotional. |
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The issues must |
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be treated carefully, |
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or they will be difficult |
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and painful if an elected official |
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has to deal with them. |
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As difficult and painful |
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as holding a hot potato. |
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One such hot potato is taxes. |
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Calling for higher taxes |
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can mean defeat for a politician. |
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And yet, if taxes are not raised, |
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some very popular government |
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programs could be cut. |
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And that also can make |
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a politician very unpopular. |
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So the questions must |
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be dealt with carefully, |
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the same way you would |
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handle any other hot potato. |
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Another expression is not so hot. |
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If you ask someone |
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how she feels, |
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she may answer "not so hot." |
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What she means is |
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she does not feel well. |
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Not so hot also is a way of saying |
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that you do not really like something. |
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You may tell a friend |
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that the new play you saw |
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last night is not so hot. |
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That means you did not |
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consider it a success. |
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A hot shot is a person, |
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often a young person, |
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who thinks he can do anything. |
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At least he wants to try. |
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He is very sure he can succeed. |
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But often he fails. |
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The expression was born |
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in the military forces. |
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A hot shot was a soldier |
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who fired without aiming carefully. |
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Hot is a word that is often |
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used to talk about anger. |
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A person who becomes angry easily |
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is called a hothead. |
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An angry person's neck |
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often becomes red. |
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We say he is hot under the collar. |
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You could say |
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that your friend is no hothead. |
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But he got hot under the collar |
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when someone took his radio. |
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In nineteen sixty-three, |
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hot line appeared |
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as a new expression. |
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The hot line was a direct |
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communications link |
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between the leaders of |
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the Soviet Union |
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and the United States. |
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The hot line had an important purpose: |
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to prevent accidental war |
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between the two competitors |
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during the period known |
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as the Cold War. |
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The American president |
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and the Soviet leader were able |
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to communicate directly |
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and immediately on the hot line. |
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This helped prevent any conflict |
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during an international crisis. |
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(MUSIC) |
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You have been listening |
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to the VOA Special English program, |
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WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. |
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Our program was written |
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by Marilyn Rice Christiano. |
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I'm Warren Scheer. |
