月度归档： 2022年8月

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！

第三十九篇

Ross决定和现在的女朋友Emily结婚了。这一天他来找Rachel谈话：

Ross: So listen uh, I know you and I haven’t really had a chance to talk since uh, Emily and I decided to get married, and uh, I was just wondering how you were.
Rachel: Oh.
Ross: I know if you were getting married I’d feel, kinda….. y’know.
Rachel: Yeah. Yeah. Definitely, well it definitely took me by surprise, but I’m okay.
Ross: Yeah?
Rachel: Yeah.
Ross: All right, I just wanted to check.
Rachel: Oh, that’s sweet.
Ross: You’re great. And I-I know someday this will happen for you too. You just hang in there.
Rachel: Uhh, hang in there?
Ross: Oh, no, I didn’t mean, uh…
Rachel: I mean maybe you didn’t hear about a serious relationship called me and Joshua?
Ross: Oh, I thought you guys had just been on like four dates, I didn’t realise that had become anything, yet.
Rachel: Oh, no-no-no, no-no-no, it has become, it has—yeah.

【世博视角】

Ross与Rachel以前有过一段恋情，现在Ross要和别人结婚了，他想问问Rachel的感受，因为他说如果换作是Rachel要和别人结婚的话，他心里也会觉得不是滋味的(I know if you were getting married I’d feel, kinda….. y’know.) you know 可以说是一个口头禅几乎一直挂在老美的口上的，有些人说话每隔几个词就要来句you know, 本来它是用来说明双方都心知肚明但又不太好明说或是不愿详细解释的事情，就像对话中Ross所用的那样，他想Rachel应该知道他所指的那种感觉，因此来了一个you know.

Rachel说她虽然对Ross 要结婚的事情确实感到有些措手不及，但她对此没啥问题（it definitely took me by surprise, but I’m okay.）take somebody by surprise是一个常用的短语，表示某事发生得很突然，让某人有些不知所措，如：The question took her by surprise. 这个短语还可以说成是 catch somebody by surprise, 又如：He caught me by surprise and I sounded foolish.

听Rachel说她没什么问题，Ross就放心了。然后他安慰Rachel说总有一天，她也会结婚的(You’re great. And I-I know someday this will happen for you too. You just hang in there.) hang in there这个短语常常用来鼓励别人坚持做某事，也就是我们平时说的“撑住，顶住”的意思，比如：We decided to hang in until we had figured out why the experiment failed. Rachel目前还没有找到合适的对象,如果她hang in there的话不就永远也结不了婚了嘛，所以她反问Ross说：Uhh, hang in there?（嗯？撑在那儿？）于是Ross知道自己用错词了。

Rachel才不想hang in there呢，她马上说其实她现在已经有人了，虽然她和那个叫Joshua才出去了四回，但他们已经确立关系了(It has become a serious relationship.) 看来Rachel对于Ross的婚事还是心存疙瘩的。

*本篇所讲到的表达法:

take / catch somebody by surprise
hang in there

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！

第三十八篇

Joey与他的女朋友Kathy分手了。Joey对Chandler说他怀疑Kathy是因为别人而与自己分手的，这时Chandler向Joey坦白道：

Chandler: It’s me. I’m the other guy.
Joey: What?
Chandler: Yeah, I mean when you were late last night, Kathy and I got to talking, and one thing led to another and…
Joey: And what?! Did you sleep with her?!
Chandler: No! No! No! I just kissed her.
Joey: What?!! That’s even worse!!
Chandler: How is that worse?!
Joey: I don’t know! But it’s the same!
Chandler: Look, I’m sorry! But there’s nothing I can do, I think I’m in love with her!
Joey: Who cares?! You went behind my back! I would never do that to you!
Chandler: You’re right, I have no excuses! I was totally over the line.
Joey: Over the line?! You-you’re-you’re so far past the line, that you-you can’t even see the line! The line is a dot to you!

【世博视角】

原来Chandler正是Joey所说的the other guy, Kathy正是因为他而与Joey分手的。Joey觉得很不可思议，这是怎么回事呢？Chandler与Kathy之间本就存有很微妙的感情，用Chandler自己的话来说就是 “Every time we’re in the room together there’s this weird like energy between us.(每当我们同在一间屋子时，我俩之间就有这种说不清道不明的 )” 而那一天Kathy来找Joey, 而他正好不在，于是Kathy就和Chandler聊了起来，结果聊着聊着就不对了，他们之间的导火线被点燃了，然后就one thing leads to another, 听到这儿，Joey还以为Chandler和Joey 上床了呢，其实Chandler只是吻了Kathy。现在让我们来看一下one thing leads to another这个表达法，我们知道有些事情的发生会像连锁反应一样，一旦开了头就会不受控制，如果要向别人一一解释其发生的经过会比较麻烦，因此人们常常用one thing leads to another来简略地说明，比如：One thing led to another and, before I knew it, I had invited her family to stay.

虽然Chanlder只是吻了Kathy, 但在Joey看来这和与Kathy上床没什么差别，因为他同样是背着Joey做了对不起他的事，go behind someone’s back 就表示“背着某人做某事”，也可以说behind someone’s back, “背地里…”, 这个说法和我们中文里说的几乎完全对应呢，通常来说背别人做的事情都不会是什么好事，如：

I thought I trusted him, but I found out yesterday he went behind my back and told everyone about it.
He agrees with his boss to his face, but then criticizes him behind his back.

Chandler觉得内心有愧，所以才向Joey坦白的，他说他这样做是 “I was totally over the line.”这句话让我想起我们小时候在课桌上划的“三八线”，如果坐在旁边的人有任何东西越过了这条三八线，我们可是会不客气的。现在已完全越过 “三八线”Chandler只能等着让Joey“不客气”了。

*本篇所讲到的表达法:

one thing leads to another
go behind someone’s back

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！

第三十七篇

咖啡馆里，正在和Monica聊天的Chandler被一位漂亮女子所吸引，踌躇了一会儿之后，Chandler鼓起勇气向那位女子走去：

Chandler: Hi, I-I was just sitting over there, and uhh, Chandler. My name is Chandler. Did I say that?
Kathy: No, you didn’t. Hi, I’m Kathy.
Chandler: Uh Kathy, with K or a C?
Kathy: With a K.
Chandler: Oh-oh-hey!
Kathy: Wow! You are really good at this.
Chandler: Hey, come on, give me a break, I’m out on a limb here.
Kathy: I’m sorry, you’re right, I apologize, but I should tell you that I’m waiting for a date. Oh, and there he is now.
Joey: Hey!
Chandler: Hey! Hey, hey-hey, hey.
Joey: Hey, I see you guys already met, huh?
Chandler: Yes-yes, I was just trying to figure out a way to uh, demonstrate how I could get my exceptionally large feet into my even bigger mouth.
Joey: Didn’t I tell ya? Always showing off

【世博视角】

刚开始Chandler还蛮自然的，可等问完那女子的名字之后，他就不知再说什么了，那位叫名叫Kathy的女子看出了Chandler的尴尬，但她还是夸了他一句说：Wow! You are really good at this. 好话并不是句句都顺耳的，对于有自知之明的人来说尤其如此，Chandler明明不善于和女孩子“搭讪”，可对方还说他对此很有一套，这听上去简直有点像反话，所以Chandler对Kathy说：Hey, come on, give me a break, I’m out on a limb here. (哎，得了，别嘲弄了我，我可处境尴尬着呢)。在前几篇中我们讲到过break这个词，作为名词它可以解释为“休息”或是 “分手”，而今天我们又能学到一个和break有关的口语 give somebody a break, 意思是“放某人一马”或“饶某人一回”，比如你欠了别人的钱，别人来要债，可是你的发薪日还没到，这时你就可以求求人家说：Give me a break, you guys! I can’t get the money until Friday. 又比如说你平时穿衣都不太讲究，可今天却穿了一套名牌，于是你的朋友同事都纷纷调侃起你的人模狗样来，弄得你怪不好意思的，这时你也可以对他们说一声：Give me a break, okay?

在Chandler的那句话里还有一个习惯表达法，那就是out on a limb, 首先来看一下limb这个词，它可以解释为“人的肢干、树的分支”，我们知道树的分支离树的主干越远，它的承受力也就越小，如果你不幸正挂在枝头，也就是out on a limb, 那就表示你的处境不妙，有点孤立无援的意思，例如：

I’ve already gone out on a limb; there is nothing more I can do for you.
I want this project to succeed just as much as you do, but I am not willing to go out on a limb.

听到Chandler那么一说，Kathy也觉得她刚才的那句好话说得并不好，因此向Chandler道了歉。然后她告诉Chandler说自已是来和人约会的(I’m waiting for a date.) 正说着，和她约会的那个人来了，原来是Joey, 这下Chandler丑大了，他居然去“搭讪”他好朋友的女朋友，所以他只好他自嘲道：I was just trying to figure out a way to uh, demonstrate how I could get my exceptionally large feet into my even bigger mouth (我正琢磨着怎么来演示我是如何把自己的大脚塞进我那大嘴巴的)。Chandler所说的这句话其实来源于一个习惯用语：put your foot in your mouth, 没人愿意把自己的脚丫子塞进自己的嘴里的，同样也没人愿意自己说错话，put your foot in your mouth 表达的就是这个意思，例如：

I’ve really put my foot in it this time. I didn’t realize that was her husband!
She’s a little weird isn’t she? Oh no, have I put my foot in my mouth? Is she a friend of yours?

Joey没注意到Chandler的一脸苦笑，还以为他又在卖弄他的幽默呢，于是他对女朋友Kathy说：Didn’t I tell ya? Always showing off. (我跟你说了吧，他老是卖弄! ) show off 就是我们平时所说的“买弄”，“爱出风头”，又如：He’s always showing off and trying to impress his classmates.

*本篇所讲到的表达法:

give somebody a break
out on a limb
put your foot in your mouth
show off