Now, the Special English program Words and Their Stories.
Todays word is belittle. It was first used by Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.
Many years ago, a French naturalist, the Count de Buffon, wrote some books about natural history. The books were a great success even though some critics did not like them. Some critics said, Count Buffon is more of a poet than a scientist.
Thomas Jefferson did not like what the Count had said about the natural wonders of the New World. It seemed to Jefferson that the Count had gone out of his way to speak of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant.
This troubled Thomas Jefferson. He, too, was a naturalist -- as well as a farmer, inventor, historian, writer and politician. He had seen the natural wonders of Europe. To him, they were no more important than those of the New World.
In 1788, Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state, Virginia. While writing, he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of Count de Buffon. At that moment, Jefferson created a new word -- belittle. He said, The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic.
Noah Webster, the American word expert, liked this word. He put it in his English language dictionary in 1806: Belittle -- to make small, unimportant.
Americans had already accepted Jeffersons word and started to use it. In 1797, the Independent Chronicle newspaper used the word to describe a politician the paper supported. He is an honorable man, the paper wrote, so let the opposition try to belittle him as much as they please.
In 1844, the Republican Sentinel of Virginia wrote this about the opposition party: The Whigs may attempt to belittle our candidates...that is a favorite game of theirs.
In 1872, a famous American word expert decided that the time had come to kill this word. He said, Belittle has no chance of becoming English. And as more critical writers of America -- like those of Britain -- feel no need of it, the sooner it is forgotten, the better.
This expert failed to kill the word. Today, belittle is used not only in the United States and England, but in other countries where the English language is spoken. It seems that efforts to belittle the word did not stop people from using it.
You have been listening to the Special English program Words and Their Stories.
Im Warren Scheer.
2014届高考英语第一轮复习课时练习题14
【最新版】2014届高考英语一轮单元复习精品阅读理解提升文章精选一百篇 (89)
【最新版】2014届高考英语一轮单元复习精品阅读理解提升文章精选一百篇(101)
2014届高考英语第一轮复习课时练习题22
2014届高考英语第一轮复习课时练习题23
2014届高考英语第一轮复习课时练习题15
【最新版】2014届高考英语一轮单元复习精品阅读理解提升文章精选一百篇 (84)
2014届高考英语第一轮复习课时练习题17
2014届高考英语第一轮复习课时练习题18
【最新版】2014届高考英语一轮单元复习精品阅读理解提升文章精选一百篇 (88)
2014届高考英语第一轮复习课时练习题9
2014届高考英语第一轮复习课时练习题5
2014届高考英语第一轮复习课时练习题11
【最新版】2014届高考英语一轮单元复习精品阅读理解提升文章精选一百篇 (91)
2014届高考英语第一轮复习课时练习题2
2014届高考英语第一轮复习课时练习题16
【最新版】2014届高考英语一轮单元复习精品阅读理解提升文章精选一百篇 (98)
(北师大版)2014届高考英语一轮复习精选导学案语法强化系列专题2 代词
(北师大版)2014届高考英语一轮复习精选导学案语法强化系列专题8 非谓语动词
2016:请把这七种时尚潮流带走
(北师大版)2014届高考英语一轮复习精选导学案语法强化系列专题9 名词性从句
【最新版】2014届高考英语一轮单元复习精品阅读理解提升文章精选一百篇 (87)
【最新版】2014届高考英语一轮单元复习精品阅读理解提升文章精选一百篇 (100)
(北师大版)2014届高考英语一轮复习精选导学案语法强化系列专题1 名词与冠词
《孤独星球》选出2017年最值得一去的10大城市
2014届高考英语第一轮复习课时练习题24
【最新版】2014届高考英语一轮单元复习精品阅读理解提升文章精选一百篇 (90)
(北师大版)2014届高考英语一轮复习精选导学案语法强化系列专题3 形容词和副词
我国首个“网络空间安全战略”发布
【最新版】2014届高考英语一轮单元复习精品阅读理解提升文章精选一百篇 (85)
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |