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Japanese
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04:34
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J01 |
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Words and Their Stories -- a program in Special English. Every word has
its own story. Where did it come from? What does it mean? And how did it
get into the language? Today's word is "crow. "
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J02 |
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The crow has long been a part of man's history. More than any other bird,
the crow has been both denounced and praised. Some have feared it as a
messenger of evil. To the farmer, the crow is a hungry robber who swoops
down to eat his corn shoots. Most people, however, see the crow as a big
noisy troublesome bird. It is easy, then, to understand how the crow got
its name into the language.
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Any person who talks loudly about himself or his deeds, is said "to crow
about himself " This meaning of the word came from Old English or French.
But there is a saying about the crow in America that is different. And
that is this: When a person says something in a loud and boastful way and
later must admit he is wrong, he is said to be eating crow. No one knows
how this saying got started, but one story about it appeared in a
Louisiana newspaper in 1851:
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A man who owned a boarding house served poor food, and his customers
complained about it. One day they complained so loudly that the owner of
the house laughed at them and said, "Why, I can eat anything and enjoy
it!" Some decided to test him. They killed a large crow, and cooked it and
made it look nice. Secretly, however, they added hot pepper, snuff, and
salt. They put the tasty-looking dish before the owner and invited him to
eat. The owner took a big bite out of the crow, but it was horrible. He
pushed the dish away from him, and said, "Yes, I can eat crow, but I'll be
damned if 1 like it."
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From then on, the story says: "When anyone says something but later must
admit he was wrong, he is said to be eating crow."
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J06 |
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In 1948, many journalists and opinion poll takers had to eat crow. At that
time, President Harry S. Truman was campaigning to stay in office. His
opponent was Republican Thomas E. Dewey of New York. Most journalists and
poll takers were sure that Dewey would win. One of them was H.V.
Kaltenborn. Before the final election count was known, he broadcast over
the radio that Dewey had won. President Truman, on election night, had
gone to bed early. The next morning, Mr. Kaltenborn was shocked to learn
that Truman had won. Truman laughed at the poll takers and journalists. He
made fun of them on the radio. Many Americans enjoyed seeing experts admit
they were wrong, being forced, so to speak, "to eat crow."
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Voice of America
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