用月光洗净你的手（是时候弄脏你的双手了）

And now Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English. On this program we explore words and expressions in American English.

现在是美国之音慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。在这个节目中，我们会探索美式英语中的词汇和表达。

Today, you might want to roll up your sleeves. We are going to get our hands dirty!

今天，你可能要卷起袖子了。我们要去弄脏我们的手！

Figuratively, that is. Playing in mud is a popular activity for many children all around the world.

比如说， 这样。玩泥巴是世界各地许多孩子喜爱的活动。

What child doesn't love mixing just the right amount of water and dirt to get the perfect mud? If you want to go farther, you can make mud pies!

哪个孩子不喜欢混合适量的水和泥土得到完美的泥巴呢？如果你想更进一步，你可以做泥饼！

Shape the mud into circles and then decorate them with little sticks and stones, flowers, and leaves – basically any small item you find on the ground.

把泥土弄成圆形状，然后用小木棍、石头、花朵、树叶 —基本上是你在地上能找到的任何小东西来装饰它们。

Or perhaps making mud pies is not your thing. Maybe just digging in the mud is more your speed, or to your liking.

或者也许你不喜欢做泥饼。也许只有挖泥巴更符合你的速度，或者符合你的喜好。

The feel of mud in your hands can be good for adults too. In fact, many people pay a lot of money for face and body mud treatments.

手握泥巴的感觉对成年人也有好处。事实上，很多人会花很多钱来做面部和身体的泥处理。

Maybe that is one reason people like to garden or make things from clay. You must get your hands dirty. And that is our expression for today.

也许这是人们喜欢园艺或用粘土做东西的一个原因。你必须弄脏你的手。这就是我们今天要介绍的表达方式。

"Getting your hands dirty" is a useful expression. And it has two very different uses.

"Getting your hands dirty"是一个很实用的表达方式。它有两个非常不同的用法。

The first one is for honest, hardworking people. If I am willing to get my hands dirty,

第一个是为诚实，勤劳的人。如果我愿意get my hands dirty，

it means I am willing to do the hard work of a project myself. I do not give the dirty work to others.

意思是我愿意自己做项目中的艰苦工作。我不会把脏活给别人干。

Now, that "hard work" could deal with actual dirt or it could just mean the hard parts of a project. It just means that you are willing to roll up your sleeves and do whatever hard work is needed to finish a job.

现在，"hard work"可以指处理实际的污垢，也可以只是指项目中困难的部分。它只是意味着你愿意卷起袖子，做任何艰苦的事情来完成一项工作。

For example, let's say my good friend is running for mayor. There is a lot of hard work needed to win an election.

比如说，我的好朋友要竞选市长。要在选举中获胜，需要做许多艰苦的工作。

So, I help gather signatures to get her on the election ballot. I walk around neighborhoods and pass out information to hundreds of voters.

所以，我帮她收集签名，让她参加选举投票。我在附近走动，向数百名选民传递信息。

She does too. She is not afraid to get her hands dirty and neither is her team of volunteers. When she wins, she thanks us all for our hard work.

她也是如此。她不怕脏活累活，她的志愿者团队也不怕。当她赢了，她感谢我们所有人的努力工作。

Okay, now it is four years later. My friend has been in office and has become very powerful.

好吧，现在是四年之后了。我的朋友已经就任，而且权力很大。

In fact, you could say that power has gone to her head. She is not thinking clearly or legally when she asks me to do her a favor. . . .

事实上，你可以说权力冲昏了她的头脑。当她让我帮她一个忙的时候，她脑子不太清楚，没有思考其合法性。

That brings us to the other way we use the expression "get your hands dirty". This way is for dishonest people.

这让我们想到了"get your hands dirty"这个表达的另一种用法。这是为那些欺诈，不诚实的人准备的。

Let's imagine that my friend, the Mayor, calls me into her office and asks me to do something for her – something illegal.

让我们想象一下，我的市长朋友，把我叫到她的办公室，让我为她做一些事情 ——— 一些非法的事情。

She wants me to ask a building developer for money for her re-election campaign. In return she will give him some city business.

她想让我向建筑开发商要钱帮她竞选连任。作为回报，她会给他介绍一些城里的生意。

She promises me that nothing will happen. But she simply can't risk getting her hands dirty.

她向我保证什么都不会发生。但她就是不能冒险弄脏自己的手，亲自做这件事。

I tell her that I really can't risk going to jail. I also tell her that we are no longer friends.

我告诉她我真的不能冒进监狱的风险做这件事。我还告诉她我们不再是朋友了。

And that is the end of this Words and Their Stories! Until next time . . .

以上就是本期《词汇掌故》的全部内容。

I'm Anna Matteo.

我们下期再见，安娜·马特奥为您播报。

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