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And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。
December is a special month when many people celebrate holidays around the world.
12月是一个特殊的月份，世界各地的许多人都在庆祝节日。
There is the Winter Solstice celebration called Dongzhi in China and Toji in Japan.
中国和日本都有冬至节。
Jewish people celebrate eight days of Hanukkah.
犹太人庆祝为期八天的光明节。
And African American culture has seven days of Kwanzaa that ends on New Year's Day.
非裔美国人的文化里有为期七天的宽扎节，宽扎节在元旦结束。
In many places around the world, today is a holiday – Christmas!
在世界各地的许多地方，今天是节日——圣诞节！
So, we will talk about holiday expressions that you can use in American English.
因此，我们将讨论你在美式英语中可以使用的有关节日的短语。
Let's start with the holiday spirit.
我们从节日气氛开始吧。
If you are in the holiday spirit, you feel good about holidays and are looking forward to them.
如果你沉浸在节日气氛中，表明你对假期感觉良好，并且很期待假期。
Some people get into the holiday spirit weeks, even months before the actual holiday.
有些人在真正的假期前几周甚至前几个月就沉浸在节日气氛中。
However, for some people, the holiday season can be a sad time.
然而，对于一些人来说，假日季节可能是一个悲伤的时刻。
Or some people just do not like holidays.
或者有些人不喜欢假期。
If you are not really into holidays, for whatever reason, you can say, "I'm not really in the holiday spirit."
如果你真的不喜欢假期，无论出于什么原因，你都可以说：“我真的无法沉浸在节日的气氛中。”
But let's say you love holidays and are in the holiday spirit.
但是，假如你喜欢假期，并且沉浸在节日的气氛中。
If you get invited to some special holiday events, you can say you'll be there with bells on.
如果你被邀请去参加一些特别的节日活动，你可以说“you'll be there with bells on（你非常想参加）”。
For example, if I invite you to a holiday party or dinner, you can say, "Thanks! I'll be there with bells on!"
例如，如果我邀请你参加一个节日聚会或晚餐，你可以说：“谢谢！我超想去的！”
This doesn't mean that you will actually wear bells.
它的意思不是你真的会戴上铃铛。
It means you are very excited to attend the event.
它的意思是你对参加这次活动感到非常兴奋。
However, if you want to wear bells... well, you can do that too!
然而，如果你想戴上铃铛……好吧，你也可以这么做！
The expression I'll be there with bells on does not have to be used just for a holiday party.
“I'll be there with bells on”这句话不一定只用于节日派对。
For example, let's say you are invited to a birthday party, you can also say you'll be there with bells on.
例如，假设你被邀请去参加一个生日聚会，你也可以说你非常想去。
Now for better or worse, gift-giving is a big part of many holidays.
无论是好是坏，送礼物是许多节日的一大部分。
So, let's talk about some expressions that come from gift-giving.
那么，我们来谈谈送礼物时会用到的一些短语吧。
Sometimes the best things in life are very small and simple.
有时候，生活中最美好的事物都是非常微小和简单的。
For those things you can say, good things come in small packages.
对于那些东西，你可以说，“good things come in small packages（好东西不在个大）”。
This expression means you should not judge a gift, or anything, based on its size.
这个短语的意思是你不应该根据礼物或任何东西的大小来判断它的价值。
Many smaller items may be of high quality or value.
许多较小的物品可能是高质量或高价值的。
For Christmas in the United States, many people put gifts under the Christmas tree.
在美国的圣诞节，许多人在圣诞树下放礼物。
But some people also have stockings for small, less costly gifts and sweets.
但有些人也有长袜，可以放一些不那么昂贵的小礼物和糖果。
They stuff these stockings with them.
他们把这些礼物塞进袜子里。
So, the gifts are called stocking stuffers!
所以，这些礼物被称为圣诞袜小礼物！
Many workplaces celebrate the holidays with gift-giving.
许多工作场所通过赠送礼物来庆祝节日。
But who has the money to buy gifts for all their coworkers? Not many.
但谁有钱给所有的同事买礼物呢？不是很多。
That is why we use Secret Santa for gift-giving with a large group.
这就是我们用神秘圣诞老人和一大群人一起送礼的原因。
Everyone in the group picks the name of one other person.
小组中的每个人都会选择另一个人的名字。
That is the person you buy a gift for, and you become their Secret Santa.
这就是你买礼物的对象，你就成了他们的神秘圣诞老人。
It is also common for large families or large friend groups to have a Secret Santa.
对于大家庭或大型朋友团体来说，拥有神秘圣诞老人也是很常见的。
It saves everyone money and it is a lot of fun.
它为每个人节省了钱，而且很有趣。
Many children who celebrate Christmas are warned that Santa is watching them throughout the year.
许多庆祝圣诞节的孩子被警告说，圣诞老人一年到头都在看着他们。
If they are good, they go on the nice list.
如果他们表现好，他们就会被列在好名单上。
If they are bad they go on the naughty list.
如果他们表现不好，他们就会被列入淘气名单。
Naughty means your behavior is a little bad.
Naughty的意思是你的行为有点不好。
And parents tell children that those on the naughty list will not get any gifts or they will get something they don't want, like a lump of coal in their stockings.
父母告诉孩子们，那些在淘气名单上的人不会得到任何礼物，或者他们会得到他们不想要的东西，比如他们的圣诞袜里的一块煤。
So, if you are on Santa's naughty list, do not expect to get anything nice under the tree.
所以，如果你在圣诞老人的淘气名单上，别指望在圣诞树下能得到什么好东西。
You will just get a lump of coal in your stocking.
你的圣诞袜里只会有一块煤。
And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. Until next year ... I'm Anna Matteo!
以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。下次见……我是安娜·马特奥。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
