ByAnnaMatteo

17April

AndnowWordsandTheirStoriesfromVOALearningEnglish.

OnthisprogramweexplorewordsandexpressionsinAmericanEnglish.Today,youmightwanttorollupyoursleeves.Wearegoingtogetourhandsdirty!

Timetogetyourhandsdirty...inagoodway!

Figuratively,thatis.

Playinginmudisapopularactivityformanychildrenallaroundtheworld.Whatchilddoesntlovemixingjusttherightamountofwateranddirttogettheperfectmud?

Ifyouwanttogofarther,youcanmakemudpies!Shapethemudintocirclesandthendecoratethemwithlittlesticksandstones,flowers,andleaves–basicallyanysmallitemyoufindontheground.

Orperhapsmakingmudpiesisnotyourthing.Maybejustdigginginthemudismoreyourspeed,ortoyourliking.

Thefeelofmudinyourhandscanbegoodforadultstoo.Infact,manypeoplepayalotofmoneyforfaceandbodymudtreatments.

Maybethatisonereasonpeopleliketogardenormakethingsfromclay.Youmustgetyourhandsdirty.

Andthatisourexpressionfortoday.

"Gettingyourhandsdirty"isausefulexpression.Andithastwoverydifferentuses.

Thefirstoneisforhonest,hardworkingpeople.IfIamwillingtogetmyhandsdirty,itmeansIamwillingtodothehardworkofaprojectmyself.Idonotgivethedirtyworktoothers.

Now,that"hardwork"coulddealwithactualdirtoritcouldjustmeanthehardpartsofaproject.Itjustmeansthatyouarewillingtorollupyoursleevesanddowhateverhardworkisneededtofinishajob.

Forexample,letssaymygoodfriendisrunningformayor.Thereisalotofhardworkneededtowinanelection.So,Ihelpgathersignaturestogetherontheelectionballot.Iwalkaroundneighborhoodsandpassoutinformationtohundredsofvoters.Shedoestoo.Sheisnotafraidtogetherhandsdirtyandneitherisherteamofvolunteers.Whenshewins,shethanksusallforourhardwork.

Okay,nowitisfouryearslater.Myfriendhasbeeninofficeandhasbe