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¿ERES UN TELEADICTO?: Este audio texto explica terminología cotidiana que te ayudará a conocer algunas expresiones "pintorescas" relacionadas con el entorno y los vínculos familiares.
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ARE YOU A COUCH POTATO? |
AUDIO |
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Now, the VOA Special English
program "Words and Their Stories". |
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Some
unusual words describe
how a person
spends his or her
time. For example,
someone who likes
to spend a lot of
time sitting or lying
down while
watching television is sometimes
called a couch
potato. A couch is a piece
of furniture that people
sit on while
watching television. |
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unusual: atípicas; spends: pasa; lying down: recostado/a; couch potato: teleadicto; couch: sofá, diván; a piece of furniture: un mueble; that people sit on: en el cual se sienta la gente; while watching: mientras mira; |
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Robert
Armstrong, an artist from
California, developed the term
couch potato in
nineteen seventy-six. Several
years later, he
listed the term as a trademark
with the United
States government. Mister
Armstrong also
helped write a funny
book about life
as a full-time television
watcher. It is called the “Official
Couch Potato
Handbook”. |
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developed: creó; term: palabra, vocablo; nineteen seventy-six: 1976; as a trademark: como marca registrada; full-time: a tiempo completo; television watcher: televidente; handbook: guía de referencia, manual; |
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Couch
potatoes enjoy watching
television just as
mouse potatoes enjoy
working on computers. A
computer mouse is the
device that moves the
pointer, or cursor, on a
computer screen. The
description of mouse
potato became
popular in nineteen ninety-three.
American writer
Alice Kahn is said to
have invented the
term to describe young
people who spend
a lot of time
using computers. |
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enjoy: disfrutan; just as: de la misma forma que; mouse potatoes: adictos al Internet o la computadora; mouse: ratón (informática); device: dispositivo; moves the pointer (cursor): desplaza el cursor; screen: pantalla; nineteen ninety-three: 1993; is said to have invented: se dice que ha inventado; |
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Too much
time inside the
house using a computer or
watching television
can cause someone
to get cabin fever.
A cabin is a simple
house usually
built far away from the
city. People go to a
cabin to relax and
enjoy quiet time. |
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too much time: excesivo tiempo; can cause: puede causar que; cabin fever: irritabilidad por el encierro prolongado; cabin: cabaña (generalmente de madera); built far away: construída lejos de; to relax: a relajarse; quiet time: paz, meditación; |
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Cabin fever
is not really a disease.
However, people
can experience boredom and
restlessness if
they spend too
much time inside
their homes. This is
especially true
during the winter when it
is too cold or
snowy to do things
outside. Often
children get cabin
fever if they
cannot go outside to
play. So do
their parents. This
happens when there
is so much snow
that schools and even
offices and stores are
closed. |
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disease: enfermedad; boredom: aburrimiento; restlessness: inquietud, nerviosismo; true: real; too cold or snowy: demasiado frío o nieve; outside: afuera; so do their parents: lo mismo les ocurre a los padres; even offices: incluso las oficinas; are closed: cierran sus puertas; |
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Some people
enjoy spending a
lot of time in their
homes to make them
nice places to
live. This is called
nesting
or cocooning. Birds
build nests out of
sticks to hold their
eggs and baby
birds. Some insects
build cocoons
around themselves for protection
while they grow
and change. Nests and
cocoons provide
security for wildlife. So
people like the
idea of nests and cocoons,
too. |
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to make them: para transformarlos en; nice places to live: lugares agradables para vivir; nesting or cocooning: anidamiento (tendencia actual en la cual la gente socializa cada vez menos y se va retirando a su hogar al cual convierte en su fortaleza); birds build nests: las aves construyen nidos; out of sticks: a partir de ramitas; to hold: para sostener; baby birds: pichones; cocoons: capullos; provide security: proveen seguridad; people like: a la gente le agrada; |
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The terms
cocooning and nesting became
popular more than
twenty years ago.
They describe
people buying their
first homes and
filling them with
many things. These people then had
children. |
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more than twenty years ago: hace más de veinte años; their first homes: sus primeros hogares; filling them: llenándolos; then had children: luego tuvieron hijos; |
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Now these
children are grown and
have left the nest.
They are in college. Or
they are married and
starting families of
their own far
away. Now these
parents are living
alone without children in
their empty nest.
They have become
empty nesters. |
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are grown: son adultos; have left the nest: han abandonado el nido; in college: en la universidad; starting families: formando familias; of their own: propias; alone without children: solos sin hijos; empty nest: nido vacío; empty nesters: padres cuyos hijos crecieron y se fueron de casa (en psicología a esta situación familiar se la define como "síndrome del nido vacío"). |
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This VOA Special English program "Words and Their Stories" was written by Jill Moss. I’m Faith Lapidus. |
