Word Power

言语的力量

-Remember when you were a kid[1], and somebody said something mean[2]? You would reply, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me."

1. kid：在表示"小孩"时，我们最先想到的是child。而在电影对白中，在与美国人接触过程中，kid才是最口语化的词。

2. mean：这个词一眼看上去，好象挺简单。实际上，它表示的意思可丰富了！用得最多的是它的动词用法：意思是……。比如：我说话算话--I mean what I say. 而在这儿是形容词用法，表示"低劣的，令人不舒服的"。比如 a mean motive 卑鄙的动机。另外，它的词组用法也挺多的。比如，很多人都有自卑感，"自卑感"这个词就能用：have a mean opinion of oneself。"no mean"表示"很好的（东西）"，比如：He is a man of no mean ability. 他是一个能力很强的人。

According to the Journal of Women's Health and Gender Based Medicine, you were wrong. Words can be very painful.

When the department of anthropology at the University of Connecticut studied the emotional state of a group of working women of different cultural backgrounds, they found that those women who were routinely subject to[3] insults and demeaning remarks were 85 times more likely to be clinically depressed than those who were usually spoken to with favorable remarks and encouragement.

3. be subject to：容易……的，易患……的。你是一个喜欢责备别人的人吗？Are you a man who is subject to insults?

Say something nice today. That's all it takes to make a difference[4].

4. make a difference：这也是用得很多的一句话，比如，你可以对你的客户说，"您的意见对我们很重要。"可以这样说Your comments really make a difference.