VOA · Words and Their Stories
Advanced · C1learner speed5:142025-03-07public domain
Words and Their Stories is VOA's classic program about American English expressions and idioms — where phrases like 'break the ice' come from and how to use them. Native-like idioms in slow, clear speech: a rare combination for learners.
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01Now, the VOA Learning English program, Words and Their Stories.
02Today, we talk about a color found all throughout nature, green.
03Green is also very common in American English.
04Let's hear Warren Shear read a story about these colorful expressions.
05Green is an important color in nature.
06It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees.
07It is also the color of most growing plants.
08Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing.
09Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet ripe or finished.
10For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation.
11In the 15th century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed.
12A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in battle.
13By the 18th century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today, a person who is new in a job.
14About 100 years ago, greenhorn was a popular expression in the American West.
15Old-timers used it to describe a man who had just arrived from one of the big cities back east.
16The greenhorn lacked the skills he would need to live in the hard, rough country.
17Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb.
18The expression comes from the early 1900s.
19A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well.
20You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.
21The green revolution is the name given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains.
22The new plants produced much larger crops.
23The green revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural scientists who had green thumbs.
24Green is also the color used to describe the powerful emotion jealousy.
25The green-eyed monster is not a frightening creature from outer space.
26It is an expression used about 400 years ago by British writer William Shakespeare in his play Othello.
27It describes the unpleasant feeling a person has when someone has something he wants.
28A young man may suffer from the green-eyed monster if his girlfriend begins going out with someone else.
29Or that green-eyed monster may affect your friend if you get a pay raise and she does not.
30In most places in the world, a green light is a sign to move ahead.
31A green light on a traffic signal means your car can continue on.
32In everyday speech, a green light means approval to continue with a project.
33We want you to know we have a green light to continue this series next week.
34And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.
35Don't forget to tune in again for another story about American English expressions.
36Until next time, I'm Ana Mateo.
37I'm Ana Mateo.
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// transcribed with Whisper AI — reading it is easy; catching it by ear is the skill
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