Friends英语赏析【117】Corny 俗气

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写!

Phoebe: I can’t believe it! I did it! I rode a bike! I never thought I’d be able to do that! Thank you Ross.
Ross: Oh hey, don’t thank me, thank yourself. You’re the one who faced her fears and ultimately overcame them.
Phoebe: Don’t be so corny Ross, it’s not an after-school special.

菲比:真不敢相信!我做到了!我会骑自行车了。我从来没想到我会骑自行车!谢谢你,罗斯。
罗斯:噢,没谢我,谢你自己吧。你直面自己的恐惧并最终战胜了它。
菲比:别那么俗气,罗斯,这又不是课后兴趣小组。

【世博视角】

I did it!我做到了!这是常用的一句话,什么事情做成功了,就可以说:I did it!意思是:I succeeded in doing it.或者是I did it successfully. 菲比从小到大一直没能拥有自己的自行车,所以不会骑,快三十岁才学会,自然兴奋异常,高喊:I dit it!

帮助菲比学会骑车的罗斯就来个老生常谈,一本正经地说菲比是因为克服了自己的恐惧心理,而不是因为自己的帮助。于是,一向心直口快且说话怪异的菲比才说:Don’t be so corny, Ross. 在电视剧中,菲比不喜欢罗斯说话一字一顿,而且总是枯燥的学究语言,所以,菲比才说罗斯有点“俗气”,学自行车这么简单的小事也要来个心理分析,搬出兴趣是学习动力的一套说教。It’s not an after-school special.意思是指extra-curricula activity for the special interest of students,也就是满足学生兴趣的课外活动。

今天学习的两个说法I did it!和corny都说明,口语中有很多简短而使用的词汇、短语其实能够很好地表达你的意思,平时应该多加积累。

Friends英语赏析【116】Take it from me 信不信由你

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写!

Rachel: Yeah, so let’s actually get started on the wedding plans!
Monica: Okay!
Chandler: Already?!
Rachel: Yeah, we got a lot to do! We gotta think about the flowers, the caterers, the music…
Chandler: Oh, I’ve got some thoughts on that.
Rachel: Oh wait Chandler, too many cooks…
Ross: Take it from me, as the groom all you have to do is show up and try to say the right name.

瑞秋:耶,让我们开始计划婚礼吧!
莫妮卡:好的!
钱德乐:现在就开始?
瑞秋:是啊,我们有很多事情要做呢。我们得考虑鲜花,宴会负责人,音乐…
钱德乐:噢,我倒是有些主意。
瑞秋:噢,钱德乐,主意太多了。
罗斯:相信我,新郎所要做的就是当天出现并且说出(新娘的)正确名字。

【世博视角】

莫妮卡和钱德乐可算是好事多磨,谈婚论嫁几个月,临了,婚礼的事情,未来新郎钱德乐虽然有些婚姻恐惧综合症,却也有些主意(I’ve got some thoughts on that.)。不过,他的一帮朋友争先恐后地出主意,瑞秋一听钱德乐有主意,马上接过话头,说:Too many cooks…这句话完整的应该是Too many cooks spoil the soup.厨师多了汤熬不好。有趣的是罗斯的建议:

as the groom all you have to do is show up and try to say the right name.
新郎所要做的就是当天出现并且说出(新娘的)正确名字。

这可是罗斯的亲身经历,血的教训。试想,钱德乐要是也像罗斯一样,婚礼上对莫妮卡说:我,钱德乐,愿意娶你,简妮斯,为妻。莫妮卡真会杀了他!
这里要注意的是all you have to do, what you have to do等有do的句子担任主语的话,系动词be后面直接接动词原型,而不需要动词不定式to。例如:

What I have to do tomorrow is simply get on a bus and arrive at the church on time.

罗斯说的:Take it from me,字面是“从我这儿拿过去吧”,意思是:相信我吧!或者可以翻译成更加口语话的说法:信不信由你!

Friends英语赏析【115】Run an errand 替人跑腿

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写!

Rachel: Jill?
Jill: (covers her eyes and starts crying) I’m sorry Rachel, I’m sorry…
Rachel: Oh, come on! You think that’s gonna work on me?! I invented that!
Jill: Right! But, I am sorry.
Rachel: All right, it’s okay. One little setback is okay, just don’t let it happen again, all right? Now since daddy paid for all this stuff, I should take it all away. But I’m just gonna take the-the pashmina. And the uh, and the uh pants. Y’know what, I’m just gonna take it all away, ‘cause that way you’ll just really learn the lesson. Okay? All right, I’m gonna run a couple of errands and I will see you at dinner.

瑞秋:吉尔?
吉尔:我很抱歉,瑞秋,对不起…
瑞秋:噢,少来了,你以为那对我有用?是我发明这一套的!
吉尔:是啊!不过我真的很抱歉。
瑞秋:好吧,没关系。一点小错误没关系,再别犯就好。既然你是花爸爸的钱买的这些东西,我就应该把它们都拿走,不过我就拿这条披肩好了,哦,还有这条裤子。算了,我都拿走了,这样你就能好好吸取一下教训,好吧?就这样,我还要去办点事,吃晚饭时见。

【世博视角】

说到“裤子”,可能大多数人都会用trousers一词,这没有错,可是在美国“裤子”却被习惯性的叫做pants, 也就是说trousers是英式英语。pants到了英国就被理解成“短裤”了,而在美语中“短裤”是underpants.

对话中瑞秋拿走了她妹妹刚买来的所有东西,目的是为了让她“吸取教训”, 用英语来表达就是learn a lesson, 比如我们常说的“从历史中汲取经验”就是learn the lessons of history。另外我们还可以说teach someone a lesson, 表示“给某人一个教训”,如:She decided to teach the boy a lesson.

errand, 意思是“差事”,常常与动词run 连用,表示出去办些小差事,说得不好听一点就是“替人跑腿”,例如:

I used to pick up her dry cleaning and run errands for her.
Peter cleaned equipment, ran errands, answered the phone — it was all routine.