分类： Friends英语赏析

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！

第六篇

Monica 要去付一个约会(date), 大伙都想知道什么时候能见见那个人, 可Monica就是死活不答应:

Joey: So when do we get to meet the guy?
Monica: Let’s see, today’s Monday… Never.
All: Oh, come on! Come on!
Monica: No. Not after what happened with Steve.
Chandler: What are you talking about? We love Schhteve! Schhteve was schhexy!.. Sorry.
Monica: Look, I don’t even know how I feel about him yet. Just give me a chance to figure that out.
Rachel: Well, then can we meet him?
Monica: Nope. Schhorry.
[Monica and Paula are at work.]
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.

【世博视角】

现在我们知道Monica为什么不肯带那个人来见大伙了，她可是有经验教训的(Not after what happened with Steve)。一听到Steve这个名字，最爱嘲弄别人的Chandler来劲了，马上模仿起Steve说话漏风的语调来，这下Monica可是更加下定决心了。

随后Monica在上班时与同事Paula谈起此事，她抱怨说每次她把约会的对象带回家后那些老友们就会针对他(I bring a guy home, and within five minutes they’re all over him.),Monica说他们就像“土狼(coyote)”一样，找到一个弱处就痛下其手。(They’re like- coyotes, picking off the weak members of the herd.)。 大家有没有觉得这句话和我们所说的 “捏软柿子”有异曲同工之妙呢？

Paula 认为事情并不像Monica说得那么糟，作为过来人，她说那些老友们只是在替Monica 严把质量关而已(they’re just looking out after you)。显然Paula以前就很倒霉地遇到过很多 “质量”不好的人，(as someone who’s seen more than her fair share of bad beef), 真是那行人说那行话，作为厨师的Paula很有趣地把那些“质量”不好的人比作了“bad beef”。

Monica最后说她很希望那些老友们都能喜欢她带回家的那个人，哪怕是一次也好(I just wish that once, I’d bring a guy home that they actually liked)。 Paula回答说: “那种机率很小如果你永远不让他们见那个人(Well, you do realize the odds of that happening are a little slimmer if they never get to meet the guy.)。 odds这个词在这句话当中其实就相当于chance, 只是它更加强调与数字有关的机率，比如：If you are male, the odds are about 1 in 12 of being color-blind.（如果你是男性，那就会有1/12的可能是色盲）。另外，slim作为形容词原本是形容女孩子身材苗条的，但它经常用来修饰chance、odds 、hope等词，表示 “机会渺茫”。

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！

第五篇

这一天大伙又像往常一样坐在一个名叫 Central Perk 的咖啡屋里闲聊，Phoebe刚约会回来：

Phoebe: (entering) Hi guys!
All: Hey, Pheebs! Hi!
Ross: Hey. Oh, oh, how’d it go?
Phoebe: Um, not so good. He walked me to the subway and said ‘We should do this again!’
All: Ohh. Ouch.
Rachel: What? He said ‘we should do it again’, that’s good, right?
Monica: Uh, no. Loosely translated ‘We should do this again’ means ‘You will never see me naked’.
Rachel: Since when?
Joey: Since always. It’s like dating language. Y’know, like ‘It’s not you’ means ‘It is you’.
Chandler: Or ‘You’re such a nice guy’ means ‘I’m gonna be dating leather-wearing alcoholics and complaining about them to you’.
Phoebe: Or, or, y’know, um, ‘I think we should see other people’ means ‘Ha, ha, I already am’.
Rachel: And everybody knows this?
Joey: Yeah. Cushions the blow.

【世博视角】

Ross 问Phoebe她的约会(date)怎么样 (how did it go?)，Phoebe 回答说不怎么好，那人送她到地铁(subway)后说了句( We should do this again!)就结束了。大伙听到这都心知肚明了，只有不谙世事的Rachel还转不过弯来，于是大伙便给Rachel补习了一下 “约会语言(dating language)”，比如刚才的这一句 We should do this again. 就可以理解为You will never see me naked. (我们永远不会 “赤诚” 相对啦！)。Rachel显然还不太相信每个人都知道这种约会语言的弦外之音，Joey给了肯定的答复，并说了句Cushions the blow. 要理解这句话什么意思，还得先来看看cushion这个词，作为名词,它就是我们日常用的 “靠垫”。大家平时肯定有过和朋友或兄弟姐妹在家打打闹闹的经历，虽是闹着玩，但有些人的手脚特别重，这时我们就会随手抓起一个靠垫去遮挡一下，这就是cushion the blow, 其引申出来的含义就是 “减少（不愉快事物）影响”，例如：He has lost his job, but he’s got a lot of money in the bank, so that will cushion the blow. 当然cushion也可单独做动词用，表示 “减缓…冲力、效力”，如：They had put mattresses on the ground to cushion his fall.

相信那些有过恋爱或相亲经历的人都用过所谓的dating language, 其目的只是为了不使对方太过难堪而已 (cushion the blow)。

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！

第四篇

上回说到Ross因为前妻的事而感到非常郁闷，他担心万一老天只给每个男人安排了一个女人怎么办？那他岂不是再也找不到自己的另一半了？碰到这种情况，我们大半会劝人家说”天涯何处无芳草”，可Joey是个好吃之人，所以他就很有趣地把 “芳草” 比作了 “冰激凌”，他教导Ross说：”What are you talking about? ‘One woman’? That’s like saying there’s only one flavour of ice cream for you. Let me tell you something, Ross. There’s lots of flavours out there.（你在说什么啊？ 一个女人？ 这就好比天下就只有一种味道的冰激凌似的。我来告诉你Ross, 冰激凌的口味多着呢。)” 末了他还对Ross说了句grab a spoon, 意思是鼓励Ross抓起匙子准备好去品尝各式”冰激凌”。

这天晚上正好Ross和Rachel单独在一起：

ROSS: Okay. You know you probably didn’t know this, but back in high school, I had a, um, major crush on you.
RACHEL: I knew.
ROSS: You did! Oh…. I always figured you just thought I was Monica’s geeky older brother.
RACHEL: I did.
ROSS: Oh. Listen, do you think- and try not to let my intense vulnerability become any kind of a factor here- but do you think it would be okay if I asked you out? Sometime? Maybe?
RACHEL: Yeah, maybe…
ROSS: Okay… okay, maybe I will…
RACHEL: Goodnight.
ROSS: Goodnight.
(Rachel goes into her room and Monica enters the living room as Ross is leaving.)
Monica: See ya…. Waitwait, what’s with you?
Ross: I just grabbed a spoon.

【世博视角】

Ross向Rachel承认说他在高中时暗恋过她( back in high school, I had a major crush on you). major 在这里相当于big的意思，have a crush on sb 就表示喜欢某个人，这种喜欢有可能只是一时的迷恋，有句话说得好：It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone ，an hour to like someone，and a day to love someone- but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

使Ross觉得有些意外的是，Rachel早就知道这个小秘密了，呵呵，女孩子对于感情方面的事情总是比较敏感的。于是Ross又说：”I always figured you just thought I was Monica’s geeky older brother. （我总觉得你只是把我看作是Monica的土包子哥哥）”。Geek在美语当中是用来专指那些穿着很土气，而且很boring的人。而对于figure 这个词许多人恐怕只是把它作为名词来用，它可以表示数字(number)或是女性的身材(woman’s body)，但在口语中，figure经常是被用作动词来表示think, believe, feel等等, 比如：We figured (that) you’d want to rest after your journey.

没想到Rachel说她确实是那样认为的, 接着Ross鼓足了勇气吞吞吐吐地问Rachel是不是改天能约她(do you think it would be okay if I asked you out? Sometime? Maybe?) , 生怕Rachel因为同情而点头，他还插了一句and try not to let my intense vulnerability become any kind of a factor （别让我这种很受伤的样子影响你）。

Rachel笑盈盈地回答说maybe, 看到这儿我想Ross应该马上就顺水推舟了，可是他okay了老半天，(我等得急啊…) 居然憋出句maybe I will… 。真是昏倒，要换作是Joey的话早就顺着杆子往上爬了。

尽管我们看得着急，Ross可是在那儿独自高兴呢，这时Monica出来和他说再见，看到他那美滋滋的样子就问有什么事情(what’s with you?), 腼腆的Ross觉得自己刚才可是grab a spoon了，哈！我觉得他真是可爱极了:-)