听力文本

Welcome to VOA Learning English's program Words and Their Stories.

Life is not perfect. Things go wrong. We make mistakes. We have mishaps and failures.

But mistakes, mishaps and failures are nothing compared to a fiasco!

A fiasco is something that goes completely wrong often in a ridiculous or embarrassing way. It is dramatic and sometimes absurd. These are all important words when talking about fiascos. They are what make fiascos different from other types of failures.

Fiasco is an Italian word meaning "bottle." The Italians use the word fiasco in a phrase that literally means "to make a bottle." But Italians also use it to mean "a dramatic mess." Many word experts are not sure why "making a bottle" means something is a complete failure.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "fiasco" entered English in the mid-1800s. At that time it meant a "breakdown in a dramatic or musical performance." Basically, a theatrical screw up.

Perhaps the best way to explain fiasco is with a story.

Our story begins at an outdoor wedding. A beautiful tent is set up outside. A group of jazz musicians are playing. And 100 guests are dressed in their best clothes.

Unfortunately, the bride's best friend, the maid of honor, is sick. She is taking lots of medication. She also never drinks alcohol. But today, she celebrates her best friend's marriage with a glass of champagne.

The mixture of alcohol and medicine affects her terribly. Not realizing what she is doing, she dances wildly on the dance floor. She yells loudly, "I love these two people!"

This usually would not be a problem. But her timing is bad. She interrupts the bride and groom during their first traditional dance as man and wife.

People laugh nervously. Perhaps they think this is part of the ceremony. So, this is a faux pas, a mistake. But the wedding is not a wreck or a disaster. It can be fixed.

We are still far from a fiasco.

But as the best man leads the maid of honor back to her seat, his foot catches on the tablecloth. Candles fall and catch the tablecloth on fire. The fire quickly spreads to the curtains. People jump up, screaming.

Just then a fire truck appears. As a dozen firemen run into the tent, they knock over the four-story, $2000 wedding cake.

The cake crashes to the floor. The firemen slip on the cake. Then their hose trips a group of people who fall backward into the bird cage. The birds -- meant to celebrate peace and love -- are now freaking out and flying into people's hair.

Now the wedding is a disaster, but still not fiasco.

The maid of honor flees the scene in the expensive, rental bridal car. But a rope from the tent gets caught in the door. As she pushes hard on the gas pedal, the tent crashes to the ground with all the guests and birds still under it.

The entire wedding party and a flock of frightened birds escape from under the tent just as the rental car drives into the lake. They all run over to see if the maid of honor is okay.

But with too many people standing on the wooden pier, the dock breaks. Dozens of wedding guests splash into the lake.

Welcome to the world of FIASCO!

No one is hurt. People often aren't seriously hurt in a fiasco. That would make it a tragedy. But it is safe to say that this wedding is a fiasco!

Fiascos may be complete failures. But sometimes they are our best stories. I'm Anna Matteo.

重点解析

1.nothing compared to 无法与...相比
The risk is as nothing compared to the gain.
所冒风险与所得相比不足挂齿。

2.screw up 搞砸了
That cute girl won't eat you if you screw up this date.
如果你搞砸了这次约会，那个可爱的女孩又不会吃了你。

3.faux pas 失礼，失态
Applying for the same job twice, or accidentally addressing a cover letter to the wrong employer would be major faux pas that you definitely want to avoid.
两次申请一份相同工作，或者不小心将一份求职信发给错误的雇主是你绝对需要避免的重大失礼的地方。

4.knock over 打翻
Easy does it! You might knock over the plant!
万万小心啊！你可能会打翻那个花盆的。

参考译文

欢迎来到VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目。

生活并不完美。事情会出问题，我们会犯错误。我们会遭遇各种不幸和失败。

但与“惨败”相比，这些错误、不幸和失败就不算什么了！

fiasco（惨败）是指事情完全不对，并且通常都是一种非常荒唐或者令人尴尬的方式。通常是戏剧性的，有时很荒唐。谈及fiasco一词时，通常会用到这些词。正是这些才将fiasco与其他类型的失败区分开来的。

fiasco是一个意大利词汇，意为bottle（瓶子）。意大利人将该词用于词组“to make a bottle”中，字面意思为“制造瓶子”。但意大利人还用此表示“戏剧性的混乱局面”。很多单词专家并不确定为什么“making a bottle”意思为惨败。

根据《牛津字典》，fiasco一词于19世纪中期收录于英语中。当时意为“戏剧表演或者音乐表演中的惨败”。即戏剧搞砸了。

或许最好通过一则故事对该词进行讲解。

故事发生在一场户外婚礼上。屋外撑起了漂亮的帐篷。很多爵士音乐人正在演绎。100名亲朋好友身着盛装来此参与。

不幸的是，新娘最好的朋友，即伴娘，生病了。伴娘服用了很多药物。她从不饮酒。但今天喝了一杯香槟，庆祝好朋友的婚礼。

酒精与药物混合之后，对她造成了严重影响。她意识不到自己在做什么，在舞池疯狂地跳起舞来。她大声嘶喊：“我喜欢这两个人。”

通常来说这不是什么问题。但她选择的时间很差。她打断了这对新人作为夫妻所跳的第一支舞。

人们紧张兮兮地笑了起来。或许这也是典礼的一个环节。因此，这只是个faux pas（失礼），是一个mistake（错误）。但婚礼还并非是灾难。因此还可以补救。

这离fiasco还远得很。

但当伴郎将伴娘领回座位时，踩到了桌布。蜡烛倒地，桌布着起火来。火迅速蔓延至窗帘。人们尖叫着跳起来。

随后，消防车赶到。十多个消防员冲进帐篷，打翻了价值2000美元的四层结婚蛋糕。

蛋糕摔到地上。消防员在蛋糕上打滑。手中的软管绊倒了一群退到鸟笼的人。这些鸟本来是要庆祝和平和爱情，现在乱作一团，扑腾乱飞。

现在婚礼成了一场disaster，但还不是fiasco。

伴娘逃到花重金租来的新娘婚车中。但帐篷中的一根绳子卡在了车门。伴娘一踩油门，帐篷坍塌倒地，所有亲戚好友以及那些鸟还在帐篷下。

整个婚礼派对的人，以及那些受到惊吓的鸟纷纷从帐篷下逃出，而租来的婚车冲到了湖里。人们争相赶来看伴娘是否还好。

但由于太多人站在木制的码头，码头坍塌了。众多婚礼宾客纷纷落入湖中。

欢迎来到FIASCO的世界！

没人受伤。在fiasco中，人们受的伤通常都不严重。这就让情况变成一场悲剧了。但可以肯定地说，这场婚礼是个fiasco。

fiasco可以是指彻底失败。但有时候却是我们最好的故事。我是安娜·马特奥。