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Now, the VOA Special English program, |
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WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. |
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In the early days of human history, |
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people survived by hunting wild animals, |
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or gathering wild grains and plants for food. |
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Then, some people learned to grow crops |
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and raise animals for food. |
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They were the first farmers. |
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Since the sixteenth century, |
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the word farm has meant agricultural land. |
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But a much older meaning |
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of the word farm is linked to economics. |
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The word farm comes from the Latin word, firma, |
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which means an unchanging payment. |
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Experts say the earliest meaning of the English word farm |
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was a yearly payment made as a tax or rent. |
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Farmers in early England |
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did not own their land. |
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They paid every year to use agricultural lands. |
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In England, |
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farmers used hawthorn trees along the edges of property. |
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They called this row of hawthorns a hedge. |
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Hedging fields was how careful farmers marked and protected them. |
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Soon, people began to use the word hedging to describe steps |
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that could be taken to protect against financial loss. |
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Hedging is common among gamblers who make large bets. |
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A gambler bets a lot of money on one team. |
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But, to be on the safe side, |
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he also places a smaller bet on the other team, |
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to reduce a possible loss. |
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You might say that someone is hedging his bet |
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when he invests in several different kinds of businesses. |
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One business may fail, but likely not all. |
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Farmers know that it is necessary to make hay while the sun shines. |
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Hay has to be cut and gathered when it is dry. |
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So a wise farmer never postpones gathering his hay |
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when the sun is shining. Rain may soon appear. |
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A wise person copies the farmer. |
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He works when conditions are right. |
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A new mother, for example, |
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quickly learns to try to sleep when her baby is quiet, |
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even in the middle of the day. |
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If the mother delays, she may lose her chance to sleep. |
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So, the mother learns to make hay while the sun shines. |
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Beans are a popular farm crop. |
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But beans are used to describe something of |
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very little value in the expression, |
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not worth a hill of beans. |
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The expression is often used today. |
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You could say, for example, |
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that a bad idea is not worth a hill of beans. |
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Language expert Charles Earle Funk said |
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the expression was first used almost seven hundred years ago. |
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He said Robert of Gloucester described a message |
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from the King of Germany to King John of England |
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as altogether not worth a bean. |
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(MUSIC) |
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This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, |
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was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano. |
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Maurice Joyce was the narrator. |
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I'm Shirley Griffith. |
