錢不嫌多

世界上幾乎每一種語言都有表達“錢不嫌多”這一意思的諺語，在本期《小詞大義》中，我們來學習英語中與此相關的短語。

Almost every language in the world has a saying that a person can never be too rich. Americans， like people in other countries， always want more money. One way they express this is by protesting that their jobs do not pay enough. A common expression is， “I am working for chickenfeed.” It means working for very little money. The expression probably began because seeds fed to chickens made people think of small change. Small change means metal coins of not much value， like nickels which are worth five cents.

An early use of the word chickenfeed appeared in an American publication in 1930. It told about a rich man and his son. Word expert Mitford Mathews says it read， “I’ll bet neither the kid nor his father ever saw a nickel or a dime. They would not have been interested in such chickenfeed.”

Chickenfeed also has another interesting meaning known to history experts andWorld War Two spies and soldiers.

Spy expert Henry S. A. Becket writes that some German spies working in London during the war also worked for the British. The British government had to make the Germans believe their spies were working. So， British officials gave them mostly 1 information. It was called chickenfeed.

The same person who protests that he is working for chickenfeed may also say， “ I am working for peanuts.”She means she is working for a small amount of money. It is a very different meaning from the main one in the dictionary. That meaning is small nuts that grow on a plant.

No one knows for sure how a word for something to eat also came to mean something very small. But， a peanut is a very small food.

The expression is an old one. Word expert Mitford Mathews says that as early as 1854， an American publication used the words peanut agitators. That meant political troublemakers who did not have a lot of support.

Another reason for the saying about working for peanuts may be linked to elephants. Think of how elephants are paid for their work in the circus. They receive food， not money. One of the foods they like best is peanuts.

When you add the word gallery to the word peanut you have the name of an area in an American theater. A gallery is a high seating area or balcony above the main floor.

The peanut gallery got its name because it is the part of the theater most distant from where the show takes place. So， peanut gallery tickets usually cost less than other tickets. People pay a small amount of money for them.

美國人和其他國家的人一樣，總是想要賺更多的錢。他們表達這一欲望的其中一種方式是抗議所得工資太少。 “I am working for chickenfeed.”是常用的一個句子，從字面理解是“我在為掙點雞食工作”，而雞食很容易讓人聯想到微不足道的零錢，因此這句話的意思是“我在為微薄的工資而工作”。

“chicken”還有另外一個有趣的意思，這要追溯到二戰時期。一些德國間諜在倫敦期間也同時為英國效力。英國政府必須使德國相信這些間諜依舊在工作，所以會提供一些假情報給他們，這個就叫做“chickenfeed”。

除了“working for chickenfeed”之外，還有一個表達工資微薄的短語是“working for peanuts”。“peanut”一詞是“花生”的意思，至于為什么將其與微薄報酬聯系起來還沒有確切的記載。有一種說法是與在馬戲團表演的大象有關，大象沒有報酬，只有食物作為獎勵，而花生則是他們最喜歡的食物之一。

“gallery”表示美國劇院中主層之上的邊座或頂層樓座，“peanut gallery”是指離舞臺較遠的區域，票價遠低于其他位置。