Japanese

  04:18 

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J01

Words and Their Stories -- a program about the spoken word, about the English language as Americans speak it. Today, the expressions: "the white-haired boy," "to split hairs," and other phrases about the hair.

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J02

You will always find among us "the white-haired boy," sometimes called "the fair haired boy." He gets special treatment as if he were above everybody else. You will find him everywhere -- in school, in college, at home, or where you work.

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J03

In school, he is teacher's pet, her darling, who can do nothing wrong. Sometimes, she lets him do little jobs for her. He comes to class in the morning all shiny and clean. He is always raising his hand, ready with an answer to teacher's questions, and he knows all the answers. He "gets into your hair," especially if you are at the bottom of the class, and teacher thinks you are stupid. How you hate the brat!

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J04

At college, he walks, more often strides across the school grounds, as if he owned them. What broad shoulders, what muscles he has!, He makes the girls happy by just smiling at them. He has the mark of success on him.

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J05

At home, the fair-haired boy is mother's choice -- her favorite. Sometimes he is the oldest son, at times the youngest. If you are in-between, you are out of luck.

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J06

On the job, you meet another one of these white-haired boys. You can't escape them. For some strange reason he is the man who is always moved ahead. He gets better and better jobs with more and more money, but you stand still wondering why and trying to explain to yourself why you hate him so much. Then you discover that there are others who share your feelings, ready "to let their hair down" to tell you their private thoughts. One of them asks, "What does he have that I haven't got?" You ask yourself the same question. Finally, there comes a day when you decide to stop hating him. Is it perhaps because he has been made boss, and you find yourself working for him?

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J07

It took time "to get this man out of your hair." But you can never seem to do so with a certain kind of person who often "makes your hair stand on end." He is a man who loves "to split hairs." He is always criticizing something for the most trivial, unimportant reasons. We call him a quibbler. His criticisms and objections are quibbles about as thin as a single hair. And can you think of anything thinner? But our quibbler will even split that hair to keep up his criticism and dispute. It is maddening to get into an argument with one of these hairsplitters. You always end up exactly where you started -- nowhere.

Voice of America

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