2023年01月29日 VOA慢速英语：一等奖

 

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
现在，来自 VOA Learning English的 Words and Their Stories 。
 
See if you can guess the meaning of first dibs from the following exchange:
看看你能不能从下面的交流中猜出first dibs的意思：
 
A: "Hi, I was calling about the house for rent, and I was wondering if it's still available."
A：“你好，我打电话是关于房子出租的，我想知道它是否仍然可用。”
 
B: "Yes, well, it is empty, at the moment—but I can't rent it out yet. My nephew is interested, and he's got first dibs on it, so I'm waiting to hear from him."
B：“是的，好吧，它现在是空的——但我还不能出租它。我的侄子很感兴趣，他有优先权，所以我在等他的消息。”
 
A: "Oh, OK—do you know how long it'll be until he decides?"
A：“哦，好的——你知道他要等多久才能做出决定吗？”
 
B: "Um, you know, it could be a month. I'm not really sure."
B：“嗯，你知道，可能是一个月。我不太确定。”
 
Here, the owner is giving his nephew a chance to rent the house before anyone else can. Having first dibs on something means having the right to get something before anyone else.
在这里，房主让他的侄子有机会在其他人之前租到房子。拥有优先权意味着有权先于其他人获得某物。
 
We can have first dibs on one thing or on one or more things from a collection of objects. For example, you can say: "She has first dibs on the World Cup tickets."
我们可以对一件事物或一组对象中的一件或多件事物有优先权。例如，您可以说：“她优先购买世界杯门票。”
 
In both examples, note that we use the preposition on before a noun.
在这两个例子中，请注意我们在名词前使用介词on 。
 
American dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster says the expression first dibs likely comes from a children's game called dibstones played in 17th-century Britain. Children would try to catch small objects like pebbles on the backs of their hands. The objects were called dibstones or dibs.
美国词典出版商 Merriam-Webster表示，first dibs一词很可能来自17 世纪英国玩的一种名为dibstones的儿童游戏。孩子们会试图用手背抓住像鹅卵石这样的小物体。这些物体被称为dibstones或dibs。
 
By the early 1900s, get first dibs was in common use in American English.
到 1900 年代初，get first dibs在美式英语中很普遍。
 
Here are the verbs we often use with the expression:
以下是我们经常与表达式一起使用的动词：
 
You can have first dibs. You can get first dibs. Someone can give you first dibs, or you can give first dibs to others. And when you call first dibs, that means you claim possession even if nobody said you could choose first.
你可能先分裂了。你可以先得到分裂。有人可以把之前的分割给你，或者你可以把之前的分割给别人。当您调用 pre-split 时，这意味着您声称拥有所有权，即使没有人说您可以预选。
 
If you call first dibs, you should only do so if you think other people probably do not want, or care about, the thing you are claiming. Otherwise, people might view you as selfish or not respectful of the rights of others, and that could create conflict.
如果您提前打电话，只有在您认为其他人可能不想要或不关心您的要求时才应这样做。否则，人们可能会认为您自私或不尊重他人的权利，这可能会造成冲突。
 
Can you think of something you'd like to have first dibs on? You can let us know in the comments section.
你能想到你想先开始做的事情吗？您可以在评论部分告诉我们。