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And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。
Have you ever looked closely at a piece of wood?
你曾经仔细观察过一块木头吗？
If you have, you might have noticed its beautiful grain.
如果你曾观察过，你可能会注意到它美丽的纹理。
When talking about wood, grain describes the appearance of cell fibers in the wood.
当谈到木头时，纹理指的是木头中细胞纤维的外观。
A wood's grain is important when choosing the right sort of wood for a project.
在为一个项目选择合适的木材时，木材的纹理很重要。
Different kinds of wood have different grains, which affect their appearance, strength, and usefulness.
不同种类的木材有不同的纹理，纹理会影响木材的外观、强度和用途。
Paying attention to a wood's grain helps you to know how to work with it.
注意木头的纹理可以帮助你知道如何处理它。
For example, if you are cutting a wood board with the grain, you would use a tool called a rip saw.
例如，如果你在切一块有纹理的木板时，你会使用一种叫做手锯的工具。
If you are cutting across the grain, you would use a crosscut saw.
如果你要横切纹理，你会使用横切锯。
Cutting against the grain is more difficult.
逆着纹理切则更困难。
If you work against the wood grain, you might tear out pieces of wood or even damage your tools.
如果你逆着纹理切，你可能会撕裂木片，甚至损坏你的工具。
And that brings us to our expression: to go against the grain.
这就引出了我们的短语：to go against the grain（不正常，违反常理；与……格格不入）。
If you go against the grain, you do something differently from what is normal or usual.
“go against the grain”表示做一些正常情况下不会做的事情。
An idea or action that goes against the grain is difficult to do or accept.
违反常理的想法或行为很难做或接受。
Usually, it goes against a person's ideals, beliefs, or principles.
通常，它违背了人的理想、信仰或原则。
If an idea or action goes against the grain, it is the opposite of what you believe is right or normal.
go against the grain表示想法或行为不正常。
You might find it difficult to accept.
你可能会发现这很难接受。
In some situations, it takes courage to go against the grain of what others are saying or doing and stand up for what you believe in.
在某些情况下，你需要勇气去反对别人所说或所做的，坚持你所相信的。
Let's say a friend of yours is offered a sales job.
假设你的一个朋友获得了一份销售工作。
To do the job well, he must convince people to buy things they don't need.
为了做好这项工作，他必须说服人们购买他们不需要的东西。
He is a very honest man.
他是一个非常诚实的人。
So, for him this job goes against the grain.
因此，对他来说，这份工作不正常。
To go against the grain can also mean to do things differently from others.
“To go against the grain”也可以指做事方式与他人不同。
Sometimes we want to go against the grain.
有时，我们想违背常规。
We don't want to do things the way everyone else does.
我们不想按照其他人做事的方式做事。
Artists often try to go against the grain and ignore the common, popular trends of the day.
艺术家们经常试图反其道而行之，无视当今普遍流行的趋势。
Now, let's hear the expression used between two friends.
现在，我们来听听两个朋友是如何使用这个短语的。
Did you hear about Jenny taking that corporate banking job?
你听说珍妮接受了那份企业银行的工作了吗？
I did! I'm really happy for her.
我听说了！我真的为她感到高兴。
Happy? You must be kidding. Jenny is an artist. In college, we used to protest against big banks.
高兴？你一定是在开玩笑。珍妮是一位艺术家。上大学时，我们常常抗议大银行。
I know we did. But life is different now. We're older and have bills to pay. And I think Jenny wants to send her little sister to college.
我知道我们曾经抗议过大银行。但如今的生活不同了。我们年纪大了，有账单要付。我想珍妮想送她的妹妹上大学。
I know. But a corporate job? Jenny? It just goes against the grain for her.
我知道。但是一份企业工作？珍妮？这对她来讲不正常。
Look, we need to support our friend. Anything less would go against the grain for me.
听着，我们得支持我们的朋友。少一点都是在和我唱反调。
And that's the end of this Words and Their Stories. Until next time … I'm Anna Matteo.
以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。下次见……我是安娜·马特奥。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
