Friends英语赏析【112】That’s it 只能这样

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写!

Monica: Ross? Let’s go.
Ross: Oh yeah, about telling Mom and Dad, I was thinking about maybe writing a letter.
Monica: Alright, you know what? That’s it. You’ve had your chance.
Monica: Mom! Dad! Ross smoked pot in college!
Mr. and Mrs. Geller: What?!
Ross: You are such a tattletale! Mom, Dad, you remember that-that time you walked in my room and smelled marijuana?
Mr. and Mrs. Geller: Yes.
Ross: Well I told you it was Chandler who was smoking the pot but it was me. I’m sorry.

莫妮卡:罗斯,去啊。
罗斯:噢,关于向爸妈坦白的事情,我在想能不能以写信的形式告诉他们?
莫妮卡:好啦,够了。你已经错过机会了。爸,妈,罗斯在大学里吸过大麻!
盖勒先生和太太:什么?
罗斯:你真会告状!爸,妈,记得那次你们在我的寝室里闻到大麻味道吗?
盖勒先生和太太:记得啊。
罗斯:哦,当时我告诉你们是钱德乐在吸大麻,但其实是我,对不起。

【世博视角】

That’s it 这个口语表达法在不同的上下文中会有不同的含义。在以上的对话中,莫妮卡对于罗斯一直不肯直接向父母坦白事实这一事情感到十分生气,所以才忍无可忍地说了句that’s it, 意思是“够了”或“到此为止”,又比如:That’s it! I’m not staying here to be insulted. 另外,that’s it还可以用来表示某件事或某个情况就这么样了,已经无法再改变了,比方说在碰到一些无可奈何的事情时,我们总会说“那就只能这样了,我们已无能为力”,That’s it then. There’s nothing more we can do.

再看一下pot这个词,它的原意是指烹饪用的锅子或是壶等器具,但在美国俚语中pot的意思就相当于marijuana,也就是“大麻”。

Tattletale是指那些喜欢告状的小孩子,一般来说只有孩子们才会用这个词,所以当罗斯这么说莫妮卡时就显得他很孩子气,因而引来了一片笑声。

Friends英语赏析【111】Have a soft spot for 偏爱

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写!

Ross: Okay-okay! Two very good points, look I’ve known you both a long time, and I’ve never seen either of you one/millionth as happy as you’ve been since you’ve got together. Do you really want to throw that all away over a room? That is so silly. Now wh-what is more important, love or silliness?
Chandler: Well, we are fond of the silliness, but we also have a soft spot for the love.
Monica: Love is the best medicine.

罗斯:好啦,好啦。听我说两点:我认识你们俩很久了,在你们走到一起之前,我从没见你们两个有这么快乐过。你们真的要因为一个房间而丢掉快乐吗?那真是太愚蠢了。什么更重要呢?爱情还是愚蠢?
钱德乐:哦,我们喜欢愚蠢,不过我们更喜欢爱情。
莫妮卡:爱情是最好的药方。

【世博视角】

Be fond of 这一词组可以用来表示“喜欢”的意思,后面既可以跟上something,也可以是somebody。be fond of sb 要比like sb所表达的程度更深一点,相当于like somebody very much,近乎于love sb的意思。例如:

Jack’s quite fond of her, isn’t he?
I was very fond of my Uncle Jim.

此外,我们还可以说 be fond of doing sth, 表示经常喜欢做某事,不过有时这种爱好可能会使别人有些受不了,例如:

Susan’s very fond of hiking and backpacking.
My grandfather was very fond of handing out advice to all my friends.

乍一看soft spot这个表示法,大家可能会认为它就是中文里所说的“软肋”,其实“软肋”所对应的英文表示法应该是 weak spot, 而have a soft spot for sb/sth所表达的意思是“偏爱”,比如我就对我的小侄子有些偏爱,尽管他有时很淘气,但我就是对他“没脾气”:

I always have a soft spot for my younger nephew.

Friends英语赏析【110】Smooth-talking 花言巧语来说服

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写!

Rachel: Hi!
Monica: Hey, look at you! Where have you been?
Rachel: Oh, I went to have pizza. With Danny.
Monica: How did that happen?
Rachel: That yeti is one smooth talker.
Monica: I hope you’re not full, ’cause dinner’s almost ready.

瑞秋:嗨
莫妮卡:嘿,瞧你!上哪儿去啦?
瑞秋:噢,去吃比萨了,和丹尼一起。
莫妮卡:怎么会和他一起去呢?
瑞秋:那野人挺会说的。
莫妮卡:希望你还有胃口,晚饭马上就要好了。

【世博视角】

Smooth一词的基本解释是“平滑的”,“顺畅的”,比如说到丝绸我们就会用smooth来形容,广告中常说的“如丝般顺滑”就是silky smooth。在生活中有些人说话也很“顺滑”他们很善于用一些花言巧语来说服或欺骗别人,英语中就管这类人叫做smooth talker/operator,或者形容他们为smooth-talking, 例如:

a smooth-talking salesman
She fell for his smooth talk and handed over $1000 for him to invest.
You ought to be careful with her. She’s a very smooth operator who can make you agree to almost anything.

另外,对话中出现的yeti本身是指传说生活在喜玛拉雅山上的雪人。