Learning English. I'm Neil.

學習英語。我是尼爾。

And I'm Rob.

而我是羅布。

In this programme, we're talking about biscuits!

在這個節目中，我們要討論的是餅乾!

Biscuits - a subject very close to my heart -

something important to me and that interests me.

對我來說很重要的東西，我很感興趣。

I know, Rob. You are a biscuit connoisseur after

我知道，羅布。你是一個餅乾行家後，

all. And in the UK, many of us love to nibble

都是。而在英國，我們很多人都喜歡啃食。

on these sweet treats. And we have lots of

在這些甜食。我們有很多

names for them too.

也為他們取名。

Yes, we have the chocolate digestive, the

是的，我們有巧克力消化器，是的。

garibaldi, the custard cream and the jammie

加里波第、吉士忌廉和詹米酒。

dodger. It's making my mouth water.

躲避者。這讓我口水直流。

I can see. But we're not going to be

我可以看到。但我們不會是

tucking into any biscuits today.

今天吃到任何餅乾。

Instead, we'll be looking at the origins

相反，我們要看的是起源。

and the language of this humble

卑微的語言

snack. And before we do that, Rob,

宵夜。而在這之前，羅布。

let's test your knowledge of biscuits

考考你對餅乾的認識。

with a question. The British aren't the

帶著疑問。英國人並不是

only fans of biscuits. So in which country

只有餅乾的粉絲。那麼在哪個國家

are barazeks traditionally eaten?

Barazeks是傳統的吃法嗎？

Is it in... a) Syria, b) Morocco, or c)Spain?

是在......a)敘利亞，b)摩洛哥，還是c)西班牙？

Hmmm, well, I have not eaten one, but I'll

嗯，好吧，我還沒吃過，但我會的。

have a guess at Syria.

猜測一下敘利亞。

OK, I'll reveal the right answer later on.

好吧，我待會再揭曉正確答案。

But now, let's talk more about biscuits,

但現在，我們再來談談餅乾。

also sometimes known as cookies.

有時也稱為餅乾。

They come in all shapes, sizes

它們有各種形狀和大小

and varieties.

和品種。

They can be sweet or savoury - but

它們可以是甜的，也可以是鹹的--但是......。

I prefer the sweet ones that are crisp,

我更喜歡吃甜的，是脆的。

crunchy and are good for dunking

脆脆的，很適合灌湯。

in my tea. 'Dunking' means dipping into

在我的茶裡。"浸 "的意思是浸入

liquid for a short period of time.

短時間內的液體。

But enough about your eating habits,

不過關於你的飲食習慣就不多說了。

Rob. Let's find out how the biscuit got

搶。讓我們來看看餅乾是怎麼得到的。

its name. It's something the BBC

它的名字。這是BBC的東西

Radio 4 programme Word of Mouth has

第四電臺節目 "口碑 "已

been exploring. Dr Laura Wright, a

一直在探索。勞拉-賴特博士，一位

historical linguist from the University of

歷史語言學家

Cambridge, explains its origins...

劍橋，解釋它的起源...

From Latin 'biscoctum' - twice cooked.

來自拉丁語 "biscoctum"--兩次煮熟。

And it comes to us via Anglo-Norman French,

而它是通過英倫法語傳給我們的。

but it's bread that's been cooked twice to

但這是麵包，已經被煮了兩次，以

extract all the moisture so that it goes hard,

把所有的水分提取出來，這樣就會硬起來。

and it'll stay fit for consumption for a

而它將保持適合食用的時間。

long time, which is why you can take it to sea

長時間，這就是為什麼你可以把它帶到海里去

and have a sea biscuit... and from the

吃一塊海餅乾... 還有從

1500 at least we spelt it like it sounds 'bisket'

1500，至少我們把它拼成了 "bisket"。

but at some point, in the 1800, we started to

但在某些時候，在1800年，我們開始。

prefer the French spelling for

寧可用法語拼寫

reasons of poncy-ness!

龐然大物的原因

So, the English word for biscuits has its origins

所以，餅乾的英文單詞起源於

in Latin. It describes cooking bread twice to

拉丁語。它描述了將麵包煮兩次，以

make it hard. This baking process meant a

使其變得堅硬。這個烘烤過程意味著一個

biscuit could be kept for a long time, and as

餅乾可以保存很長時間，而作為

Dr Wright said, it would stay fit for consumption

賴特博士說，它將保持適合食用的狀態

- another way of saying edible or able

- 能吃

to be eaten.

要吃的。

That's why they were taken on long

這就是為什麼他們被帶著長

sea voyages - but they weren't like the

但他們並不像其他國家的人那樣

biscuits we eat now - they were plain,

我們現在吃的餅乾--它們是普通的。

simple and very hard baked.

簡單而又非常硬朗的烘托。

Interestingly, the word biscuit used to

有趣的是，餅乾這個詞曾被用於

be spelt B-I-S-K-E-T but the French

B-I-S-K-E-T，但法國人卻拼成了B-I-S-K-E-T

spelling B-I-S-C-U-I-T was later adopted.

後來採用了B-I-S-C-U-I-T的拼法。

Biscuits are a handy go-to snack for

餅乾是一種方便快捷的零食，可用於

when I'm hungry or bored. But how

當我餓了或者無聊的時候。但如何

did biscuits become such a popular

餅乾何以大行其道

foodstuff and how did we come to

食物，我們是怎麼來的

depend on them so much?

如此依賴他們？

It's something Anastasia Edwards, author

這是阿納斯塔西婭-愛德華茲，作者。

of Biscuits and Cookies, A Global History,

餅乾和曲奇的全球歷史。

talked about in the Word of Mouth

口碑相傳

programme. Listen to the word she uses

節目。聽聽她用的詞

to mean 'food' in her explanation.

在她的解釋中，是指 "食物"。

One key fact in the rise in the popularity

崛起的一個關鍵事實是

of the biscuit is meal times. Before the

的餅乾是用餐時間。之前的

Industrial Revolution, people have a later

工業革命，人們有了後來

breakfast and earlier supper. By the

早餐和較早的晚餐。到了

end of the Industrial Revolution,

工業革命的結束。

breakfast is much earlier, the

早飯吃得更早，

evening meal is much later, so you've

晚飯時間較晚，所以你已

got this big gap of time where people

得到了這個大的時間差距，人們

need sustenance, and so lunch comes

飯來張口，飯來張口

to greater prominence and tea time

嶄露頭角，茶餘飯後

comes to greater prominence, and

凸顯出來，而

snacking - so there's this great

零食 - 所以有這個偉大的。

opportunity for biscuits - something

餅乾的機會--一些

small, something ready, something

小東西，準備好了，有東西

easily consumable, not expensive,

易消耗，不昂貴。

you know, a bit of a sugar rush.

你知道，一點點的糖衝。

Right, so it was the Industrial Revolution

對，原來是工業革命

that led to the rise - that's the increase -

導致上升 - 這是增長 -

in the popularity of biscuits. Because

在餅乾的流行中。因為

the time between breakfast and dinner

趁早

in the evening increased, people got

傍晚時分，人們得到了

hungry and they needed food to give

飢餓和他們需要食物給

them energy - what Anastasia

他們的能量 - 什麼阿納斯塔西婭

called 'sustenance'.

稱為'供養'。

So, this is when smaller meals, such as

所以，這時小餐，如

lunch or tea, became important or

午餐或茶點，成為重要或

more well-known - it had greater

更知名--它有更大的

prominence. And this included snacking

突出。而這其中就包括零食

on biscuits. These were cheap and

餅乾上。這些都是便宜和

easily consumable - easy and

容易消耗--容易和

quick to eat. And because of their

吃得快。而且由於它們

ingredients, they gave you a

成分，他們給你一個

sugar rush - a quick blast of energy.

Of course, now, we eat biscuits

當然，現在我們吃的是餅乾。

at any time, and because of their

在任何時候，由於他們

sugar content, we know to only eat

含糖量，我們知道只吃

them in moderation Rob!

他們在適度的搶！

I think a packet a day is fine - but

我覺得一天一包就可以了--但是... ...

a whole box, well, that would

一整盒，嗯，那將

really take the biscuit!

勝券在握

Take the biscuit! Good idiom

吃餅乾！好成語

there, Rob, to mean 'be the most foolish,

在那裡，羅布，意思是 "是最愚蠢的"。

annoying or surprising thing to do'.

惱人或令人驚訝的事情'。

But now let s find out the answer to

但現在讓我們找出答案

my quiz question. Earlier, I asked

我的測驗題。早些時候，我問

which country are barazeks

巴拉澤克是哪個國家的

traditionally eaten in?

傳統的吃法在?

And I thought Syria. Was I right?

我還以為是敘利亞呢我說的對嗎？

Yes, you were. Well done.

是的，你是。幹得好

You are a smart cookie! Barazeks

你是一個聰明的餅乾！巴拉澤克斯

are biscuits filled with roasted sesame

芝麻燒餅

seeds and pistachio chips.

種子和開心果片。

They sound delicious. I would love to try some.

他們聽起來很好吃。我很想嘗試一些。

OK, well we've been discussing the

好了，好了，我們一直在討論的

language of biscuits and mentioned

餅乾的語言，並提到

some of these words. 'Dunking' describes

其中的一些詞語。'灌籃'形容的是

dipping something, like a biscuit, into

餅乾之類的東西浸入

liquid for a short period of time.

短時間內的液體。

Describing something as being fit

將某物描述為合適

for consumption means it is edible -

食用的意思是可以食用--

which is another one of our words

這也是我們的另一種說法

and means 'it can be eaten'.

並有'可以吃'的意思。

'Sustenance' is another word for food.

'供養'是食物的另一個詞。

And something that has 'prominence'

還有一些具有'突出性'的東西

is important or more well-known.

是重要的或比較知名的。

And when you get a 'sugar rush', you

當你有了 "糖癮"，你就會

get a quick blast of energy from,

從中獲得快速的能量。

unsurprisingly, eating something

稀裡糊塗

containing lots of sugar.

含有大量的糖分。

OK, well, we only get six minutes for

好了，好了，我們只有六分鐘的時間了

this programme - that's the way the

這個節目--就是這樣的

cookie crumbles - so we're out of time.

餅乾崩潰 - 所以我們的時間。

Bye for now.

暫時再見。

Goodbye.

再見了