Friends英语赏析【123】Chip in 凑份子

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Monica: Hey, Rach, did you make your money?
Rachel: No, not even close. Forget Vail, forget seeing my family, forget shoop, shoop, shoop.
Monica: Rach, here’s your mail.
Rachel: Thanks, you can just put it on the table.
Monica: (insistently) No, here’s your mail.
Rachel: Thanks, you can just put it on the table.
Monica: (gives her an envelope) Would you just open it?
(Rachel opens it. Inside is the money she needed.)
Rachel: Oh my god, oh, you guys are great.
Monica: We all chipped in.

莫妮卡:嗨,瑞秋,挣够钱了吗?
瑞秋:没有,差远呢!滑雪是不成了,回家也没戏,还有“嗖嗖嗖”的感觉。
莫妮卡:瑞秋,你的信。
瑞秋:谢谢,就放桌上吧。
莫妮卡:(坚持说)不,给你信。
瑞秋:谢谢,还是放桌上吧。
莫妮卡:(用信封敲了她一记)你就不能打开看看吗?
(瑞秋打开信,里面正是她需要的钱。)
瑞秋:噢,上帝!哦,你们真好!
莫妮卡:我们凑的。

【世博视角】

Not even close字面意思是:连近都算不上,都不是,这是个强调的说法,中文可以译为:差远了,连边一没沾上。如:

A: Did he manage to get that position? 他谋到了那份职位了吗?
B: Not even close. 连边也没沾上。

Forget about something字面意思是忘了某件事情,口语里指某件事情没指望了,没戏了,干脆忘了吧。是个常用的表达方法。瑞秋拼命挣钱想去滑雪,钱没挣够,还赔了客人一些钱。所以,她非常伤心。滑雪时“嗖嗖嗖”那种特爽的感觉说什么也体验不到了。等她从信封里拿出够滑雪的钱时,莫妮卡说:We all chipped in.这个chip in是个习惯用语,意思是to contribute money or labor,凑份子,合力做事情,如:We all chipped in for beer.我们凑钱买啤酒。

Chip in还有to interrupt with comments; interject. 打断别人的话,插话的意思。如:

He chipped in our discussion.

Friends英语赏析【122】All over someone 围攻某人

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Monica: I mean, why should I let them meet him? I mean, I bring a guy home, and within five minutes they’re all over him. I mean, they’re like- coyotes, picking off the weak members of the herd.
Paula: Listen. As someone who’s seen more than her fair share of bad beef, I’ll tell you: that is not such a terrible thing. I mean, they’re your friends, they’re just looking out after you.
Monica: I know. I just wish that once, I’d bring a guy home that they actually liked.
Paula: Well, you do realise the odds of that happening are a little slimmer if they never get to meet the guy..

莫妮卡:我是说,为什么要让他们跟他见面呢?我带个男的回家,不出5分钟,他们就来围攻他了,就像是一群土狼,专门拣弱小的羊。
葆拉:你听着,我是过来人了,听我的没错:这不是什么坏事情,他们都是你的朋友,只是为你好。
莫妮卡:我知道,我就是希望他们能够有那么一次会喜欢上我带回来的人。
葆拉:你不让他们见他,怎么指望他们能够喜欢他呢?

【世博视角】

Within five minutes they’re all over him. 这句话里的all over someone是指围攻某人,一起指责某人。如:

Whenever he makes a mistake, his classmates are all over him.
他一犯错误,同学就全部过来围攻他。

The odds of that happening are a little slimmer这句话里的the odds就是the chances,机会、可能性的意思。与它搭配的是slimmer(slim的比较形式),原意是苗条的,这里指小的,也就是可能性很小,几乎不可能。如:

If you do not have enough money, the odds of making money are really slim.
要是你没有钱的话,赚钱的机会就非常少了。

Friends英语赏析【121】Horse Around 胡闹

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Rachel: God. I forgot how much I love driving. I have got to get my license renewed.
Ross: (shocked) You don’t have a valid driver’s license—Okay that is it! Pull over right now!
Rachel: Oh Ross you’re so tense! You just gotta relax, okay? Just need to relax all right? Just need to relax… (She takes her hands off of the wheel.)
Ross: (grabbing the wheel) What-what are you doing?! Are you—Okay that’s not funny! Just stop horsing around!
Rachel: I am not horsing around, okay? I am Porsching around.

瑞秋:上帝!我已经忘记我是多么喜欢开车了,我的驾照要更新了。
罗斯:(惊呆了)你的驾照失效了—–好了,到此为止吧!现在就靠边!
瑞秋:哎,罗斯,你这么紧张干吗?放松点好不好?尽管放松好不好?放松点…(她的手离开了方向盘)。
罗斯:(抢过方向盘)什么—你在干什么?!你你—-哎,这不是什么好玩的事情!不要再胡闹了!
瑞秋:我没有胡闹,拜托了!我只是开得像个保时捷跑车而已。

【世博视角】

Renew: to arrange for the extension of,即延期的意思,比如renew a contract延期一份合同。看来,瑞秋已经好久不开车了,驾照需要延期,甚至完全的更新,车技肯定是不行的了。罗斯一听,这还了得!所以,他说:Okay that is it! Pull over right now! 英文中that is it的意思是就这么着了,就这么多了,到此为止,不可以再继续下去。而pull over是开车的时候常用的一句话,也是警察常常会对你说的一句话,意思是靠边停车。在美国无照驾驶也是要重罚的,因此,罗斯本来只是担心瑞秋车技生疏,开快车,现在更要担心被警察逮住,无照驾驶的时候,旁边的司机也是有连带责任的,也要重罚的,这一点跟中国的交通法是相似的。所以,罗斯像警察一样大喊:Pull over right now!

当瑞秋故意把手从方向盘上松下来的时候,罗斯紧张极了,一面抢过方向,一面喊:Stop horsing around! 这句里的horse,名词的意思大家都知道,但千万不要以为动词的意思就是像马一样奔跑,其实,horse around是个俚语,意思就是“胡闹”。而瑞秋的回答更加精妙:

I am not horsing around, okay? I am Porsching around.

Porshe是保时捷,应该只是个汽车的名称,自然是名词,但瑞秋把它当动词讲,妙趣横生。首先,这是一辆保时捷跑车,用其名称Porshe来形容其动作算是有趣的用法,其次,Porshe around这个地方的意思就是像保时捷那样行驶,既符合该跑车的身份和用途,又说明瑞秋只是正常开车,没有什么不对,同时,也易让人将horse around只是当作像马一样奔跑,自然Porshe就应该快一点。最后,Horse和Porshe发音很接近,听起来别有一番滑稽的味道。