For example, the word circus is used to describe any noisy place with a lot of activities going on.

VOA: special.2009.01.11

Anne Lindbergh described how women had to perform many jobs that pulled them in different directions like a circus performer.

VOA: special.2009.06.28

The name is based on a funny joke many years ago on a British television show, "Monty Python's Flying Circus."

VOA: special.2010.08.01

And if the room is really noisy, she may say it is a three ring circus.

VOA: special.2009.01.11

The most celebrated American circus in the 1800s was P. T. Barnum's "Greatest Show on Earth."

VOA: special.2009.01.11

She photographed men dressed as women, circus performers, and even patients with severe mental limitations.

VOA: special.2009.08.09

The circus has been popular for so long that it is not surprising that words and expressions connected with it are part of everyday speech.

VOA: special.2009.01.11

One of the most famous places in ancient Rome was the Circus Maximus.

VOA: special.2009.01.11

Now they rode this wild horse of a boat like circus men.

VOA: special.2010.03.06

"What circus act we women perform every day of our lives.

VOA: special.2009.06.28

They also went to the circus, the theater,and even to factories.

VOA: special.2009.11.15

Circus is a word with a long, interesting history.

VOA: special.2009.01.11

Clowns are a very special part of the circus.

VOA: special.2009.01.11

It was about people who performed in the circus.

VOA: special.2009.05.31

She might say, "This place is a circus.

VOA: special.2009.01.11

The modern circus developed in the 19th century.

VOA: special.2009.01.11

Barnum's circus had many new acts.

VOA: special.2009.01.11

Between events,just as in a circus, rodeo clowns act silly to entertain children in the audience.

VOA: standard.2010.01.25

Stimson says he worries that a civilian trial could become a circus if Mohammed tries to turn it into a propaganda event for al-Qaida.

VOA: standard.2009.11.25