Friends英语赏析【24】我的侄子恨我

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第二十四篇

这一天Ross 带着他和前妻生的儿子Ben来Monica家里玩。有趣的是,每当Monica一抱Ben,他就开始哭,弄得Monica十分沮丧地说:

Monica: He hates me. My nephew hates me.
Ross: Come on, don’t do this.
Monica: What if my own baby hates me? Huh? What am I gonna do then?
Chandler: Monica, will you stop? This is nuts. Do you know how long it’s gonna be before you actually have to deal with this problem? I mean, you don’t even have a boyfriend yet.

【世博视角】

“My nephew hates me(我的侄子恨我)” 听到Monica这么说,Ross马上安慰她道“Come on, don’t do this.” come on 可以说是口语中出现频率最高的几个词组之一,它在不同的情况下可以表达不同的含义,在刚才的对话中,Ross 说come on 是用来安慰Monica的,他的儿子Ben怎么会恨Monica呢,可能只是不喜欢被她抱而已。come on还可以用来催促别人,如:Come on! We’re going to be late. 生活中有些人很喜欢打架,碰上点事情就会拉开架式,嘴里喊着come on向别人挑衅。此外,当别人说了一些让你难以置信的话时,你也可以说上一句 come on 以示怀疑。

Ross的安慰显然不起作用,Monica担心地说:“What if my own baby hates me? Huh? What am I gonna do then (如果我自己的孩子恨我呢?那时我该怎么办? ” 这时,在一旁的Chandler听不下去了,他觉得Monica未免担心过早了一点,她连男朋友都还没有呢,还谈什么孩子呀,所以他有点刻薄地说“Monica, will you stop? This is nuts. Do you know how long it’s gonna be before you actually have to deal with this problem? I mean, you don’t even have a boyfriend yet.” 在这句话中,this is nuts其实就是 this is crazy的意思。Nut这个词的本意是“坚果”, 但在俚语中,nut可以用来指人,比如说 He is a nut.意思是“他是个疯子”。又比如说有些人对于某项活动特别爱好,以至于到了疯狂的地步,这时我们也能用nut来指这类人,例如:Ian’s a tennis nut – he plays every day. nut的复数形式nuts可以作为形容词来用,意思和用法都和crazy 一样,可以直接跟在动词后面,例:

You must be nuts to go climbing mountains in winter.
My sister will go nuts when she finds out I’ve lost her key.
Sophie’s nuts about dinosaurs (恐龙).
I’m nuts over Harrison Ford.

*本篇所讲到的口语表达法:

come on
nut & nuts

Friends英语赏析【23】回扣

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写!

第二十三篇

Monica: (on phone) Yeah, hi, it’s Monica. I just got paged.
Chandler: I’m just saying that sometimes we like to do stuff that costs a little more.
Joey: And you feel like we hold you back.
Chandler: Yes.
Rachel: Oh!
Chandler: No.
Monica: Leon, Leon. Shhh! Guys. (They quiet down.) Wait, I don’t understand. Those steaks were just a gift from the meat vendor. That was not a kick back. I’ll just replace them and we can forget the whole thing. What corporate policy? No. (Listens) Yeah. (Listens) Okay. (Hangs up) I just got fired.

【世博视角】

对于page这个词, 我们最熟悉的解释就是“页数”,其实它还可以作动词使用,表示“呼叫某人”,在beeper (呼机) 大行其道的时候,page的使用频率可是相当高的,那时我们总会说“有事呼我”(You can always page me if anything important comes up.)在Monica所说的 “I just got paged.” 这一句话中,page 就是作此解释。

在Monica回电的时候,其他几个老友又争论起关于花钱的事情来了,Chandler说“I’m just saying that sometimes we like to do stuff that costs a little more.(我只是说有时候我们喜欢做一些需要花多一点钱的事情)”stuff 是经常出现在口语中的一个词,它可以笼统地表示“任何东西或是事情”,注意这是个不可数名词,例如:

What’s all this stuff on my desk?
I’m telling him we don’t want all that stupid stuff here.
I think he has the right stuff for the job.

Chandler, Ross和Monica三个人赚钱比较多,因此就比较“小资”, 可Joey、Rachel和Phoebe三人的情况就不同了,所以Joey马上说“And you feel like we hold you back.(你觉得是我们拖累你们了)” hold back 也是个常用的词组, 它可以用来表示 “阻止、阻碍、防止移动”等意思,如:

No one can hold back the wheel of history.
Her hair was held back by two clips.

hold back 还常常表示“抑制某种感情”:

Joe held back his anger.
She bit her lip to hold back the tears.

Joey所说的正是Chandler所想的,所以他就很诚实地回应说Yes, 这下可引发了一声场口水大战,害得在一旁打电话的Monica都听不到电话那头在说什么了。等她让大伙安静下来之后,却发现自己被解雇了,原因是她拿了供应商的“小礼物”,而公司却认为是 “a kick back”, 也就是 “回扣”。

*本篇所讲到的口语表达法:

stuff
hold back
kick back

Friends英语赏析【22】请客

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写!

第二十二篇

Phoebe、Rachel和Joey这三个穷光蛋正坐在沙发上聊天,这时Monica、Chandler和Ross走了进来:

Chandler: Gee, Monica, what’s in the bag?
Monica: I don’t know, Chandler. Let’s take a look.
Phoebe: Oh, it’s like a skit.
Monica: Why, it’s dinner for six. 5 steaks, and an eggplant for Phoebe.
Ross: Whoo!
Phoebe: Cool.
Monica: Yeah, we switched meat suppliers at work, and the new guys gave me the steaks as sort of a thank you.
Ross: But wait, there’s more. Hey, Chandler, what is in the envelope?
Chandler: By the way, this didn’t seem so dorky in the hall.
Ross: Come on.
Chandler: Why, it’s six tickets to Hootie and the Blowfish! The Blowfish!
Monica: It’s on us, all right, so don’t worry. It’s our treat.

【世博视角】

skit 是幽默小品文章或短剧,不知大家有没有觉得Chandler和Monica 之间的对话一唱一答的,搞得像说相声一样,难怪Phoebe 说“Oh, it’s like a skit.”

那袋子里有什么呢?“Why, it’s dinner for six. 5 steaks, and an eggplant for Phoebe.”原来是用作晚餐的五块牛排,还是一只为Phoebe准备的茄子(因为她是素食主义者)。这句话开头的这个why,和第一句当中的gee 一样,都是语气词,它们总是放在句首,用来表示一种“惊讶”,比如:Why, I bet you never had the slightest intention of keeping your promise.(哈,我敢说你从来就没有一点点说话算数的意思。) 看过上篇讲解的朋友们都知道Monica现在是餐厅的采购主管,于是她把肉品供应商给换了 (we switched meat suppliers at work) ,而这五块牛排就是那家新的供应商给的,算是一点“小意思” (and the new guys gave me the steaks as sort of a thank you.)

接下来Ross又加入“表演”了,他问Chandler信封里有什么 (But wait, there’s more. Hey, Chandler, what is in the envelope?) “Why, it’s six tickets to Hootie and the Blowfish!(是六张去Hootie and the Blowfish音乐会的门票)” 听到这个好消息,Phoebe、Rachel和Joey三个人应该很兴奋才对呀?怎么没反应呢?Chandler又强调了一下说 “The Blowfish!”, 还是没反应。

Monica猜想他们可能又在担心没钱的问题,所以赶紧说“It’s on us, all right, so don’t worry. It’s our treat.” 平时我们吃别人吃什么东西时总会说“这算在我头上”,用英文说的话就可以是“It’s on me.”, 很简单吧。当然你也可以说 “It’s my treat.” treat作为名词的话可以解释为“款待、招待、请客”。又比如吃完饭结帐时,如果你想请客,就可以说“I’d like this lunch to be my treat.”要是你和对方比较熟的话,也可以简单地说一句“This is my treat.”

*本篇所讲到的口语表达法:

skit
gee/why
It’s on me.
This is my treat.