[00:09.885]Now,the VOA Special English program WORDS

[00:14.664]AND THEIR STORIES.

[00:18.129]Hot is a simple,easily understood word.

[00:24.284]So are most ofthe expressions made with

[00:28.242]the word hot.

[00:29.666]But not always,

[00:31.597]as we shall see.

[00:33.527]The words hot potato,for example,

[00:38.855]give you no idea at

[00:40.737]all to the meaning of the expression,

[00:43.224]hot potato.

[00:45.306]The potato is a popular vegetable in

[00:48.909]the United States

[00:51.143].Many people like baked potatoes,

[00:53.178]cooked in an oven

[00:55.108]or fire.Imagine trying to carry a hot,baked potato

[00:59.583]in your hand.It would be difficult,even painful,

[01:03.445]to do so.

[01:05.530]Now we are getting close to the meaning of hot potato.

[01:10.103]Some publicly disputed issues are highly emotional.

[01:16.708]The issues must be treated carefully,or they will

[01:22.193]be difficult and painful if an elected official

[01:24.935]has to deal with them.As difficult and painful

[01:29.726]as holding a hot potato.

[01:34.652]One such hot potato is taxes.

[01:39.474]Calling for higher taxes can mean defeat for

[01:43.86]a politician.And yet,if taxes are not raised,

[01:48.370]some very popular government programs could be cut.

[01:53.244]And that also can make a politician very unpopular.

[01:56.240]So the questions must be dealt with carefully,

[02:01.674]the same way you would handle any other hot potato.

[02:06.392]Another expression is not so hot.If you ask someone

[02:14.822]how she feels,she may answer "not so hot.

[02:20.405]"What she means is she does not feel well.

[02:24.112]Not so hot also is a way of saying that you do not

[02:27.872]really like something.You may tell a friend that

[02:32.695]the new play you saw last night is not so hot.

[02:37.60]That means you did not consider it a success.

[02:41.481]A hot shot is a person,often a young person,

[02:47.17]who thinks he can do anything.At least he wants to

[02:51.180]try.He is very sure he can succeed.But often

[02:55.904]he fails.The expression was born in the military

[03:00.525]forces.

[03:01.235]A hot shot was a soldier who fired without

[03:05.701]aiming carefully.

[03:07.72]Hot is a word that is often used to talk about anger.

[03:13.933]A person who becomes angry easily is called a hothead.

[03:20.88]An angry person's neck often becomes red.

[03:23.642]We say he is hot under the collar.You could

[03:28.220]say that your friend is no hothead.But he

[03:32.432]got hot under the collar when someone took his radio.

[03:37.55]In nineteen sixty-three,hot line appeared as a new

[03:43.298]expression.

[03:45.481]The hot line was a direct communications link between

[03:49.898]the leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States.

[03:54.371]The hot line had an important purpose:to prevent

[03:57.974]accidental war between the two competitors during

[04:00.358]the period known as the Cold War.The American president

[04:06.406]and the Soviet leader were able to communicate

[04:09.248]directly and immediately on the hot line.This helped

[04:13.880]prevent any conflict during an international crisis.