2022年11月13日 VOA慢速英语：“背上一只猴子”不是笑事

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
现在，来自美国之音学习英语的单词和他们的故事。

Today we talk about an expression, or idiom, involving an animal – a monkey to be exact.
今天我们谈论一个表达，或者成语，涉及动物——确切地说是猴子。

Monkeys are intelligent animals, and they often do funny things. So, the English language has some monkey expressions that describe a fun situation.
猴子是聪明的动物，他们经常做有趣的事情。所以，英语中有一些猴子的表达方式来描述有趣的情况。

For example, to monkey around means to do things that are not useful or serious. And if something is more fun than a barrel of monkeys, it is very fun!
例如，monkey around 意味着做一些无用或不严肃的事情。如果有什么东西比一桶猴子更有趣，那就太有趣了！
 
But what if you had to carry a monkey around with you every minute of every day ... on your back? That may not be so fun.
但是，如果您必须每天每时每刻都背着一只猴子……背着怎么办？那可能没那么有趣。

And that brings us to today's expression – to have a monkey on your back.
这让我们想到了今天的表达方式——背上有一只猴子。

If you have a monkey on your back, you have a problem that cannot be easily solved. And you possibly have had that problem for a long time.
如果你背上有一只猴子，你就有了一个不容易解决的问题。你可能已经有这个问题很长时间了。

To have a monkey on your back can also mean to carry a great emotional weight. This weight comes from a bad decision or perhaps a feeling that you have done something wrong.
背上有一只猴子也意味着要承受很大的情感负担。这种重量来自一个错误的决定，或者可能是你做错了什么的感觉。
 
But the expression is used in more situations than that.
但这个表达用在更多的情况下。

It is often used to describe a serious problem, worry, or concern that makes life difficult or unpleasant. Sometimes we use this idiom to describe a situation that is not our fault. It could be a hardship or condition from which we suffer.
它通常用于描述一个严重的问题、担忧或使生活变得困难或不愉快的担忧。有时我们用这个成语来描述不是我们的错的情况。这可能是我们遭受的困难或状况。

Here are some examples.
这里有一些例子。

A man grew up in extreme poverty. For a time, it was a monkey on his back. But getting a good education was the first step to getting the monkey off his back.
一个人在极度贫困中长大。一时间，他的背上是一只猴子。但接受良好的教育是让猴子摆脱困境的第一步。
 
If a woman has a gambling, alcohol, or drug addiction, we could say she has a monkey on her back. It could last for many years or even a lifetime. However, if she could solve or end the problem, we could say she finally got the monkey off her back!
如果一个女人有赌博、酗酒或毒瘾，我们可以说她背上有只猴子。它可以持续很多年甚至一生。但是，如果她能解决或结束这个问题，我们可以说她终于把猴子从背上拿下来了！

There is another expression that also means having a monkey on your back.
还有另一种表达方式，也意味着背上有只猴子。

That expression is a millstone around someone's neck.
< br/>这个表达是某人脖子上的磨石。

A millstone is a very large, heavy stone used for grinding things such as grain or corn. It crushes things easily. So, we also use the word millstone to describe a serious responsibility, problem, or concern.
磨石是一种非常大、很重的石头，用于研磨谷物或玉米等东西。它很容易压碎东西。所以，我们也用磨石这个词来形容严重的责任、问题或担忧。

For example, student debt is a millstone for many young people. We could also say the debt is a millstone around their necks or a monkey on their backs.
例如，学生债务是许多年轻人的磨石。我们也可以说债务是脖子上的磨石或背上的猴子。
 
And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories!
这就是我们为这个词和他们的故事所拥有的所有时间！