Friends英语赏析【108】Hook 诱饵,吸引

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写!

Joey: Hey, Mr. Bing. That uh, hotel you stayed at called. Said someone left an eyelash curler in your room.
Chandler: Yes that was mine.
Joey: ‘Cause I figured you’d hooked up with some girl and she’d left it there.
Chandler: Yes that would have made more sense.

乔伊:嗨,宾先生,你住过的那家酒店打电话过来说,有人把睫毛膏拉你房里了。
钱德乐:是,那是我的睫毛膏。
乔伊:我猜想你准是和哪个女孩子勾搭上了,是她把睫毛膏给拉下了。
钱德乐:是,这样比较解释得通。

【世博视角】

Hook一词既可作名词,也可作动词。平时我们用的钩子,比如钓鱼钩、挂衣钩等,就是hook, 当然hook前面可以放一些名词来具体说明是什么钩子,如:boat hook, curtain hook。另外,hook还可以用来表示“诱饵”的意思,比如在电影市场普遍不景气的情况下,电影院就不得不搞点“名堂”来吸引观众了:

You always need a bit of a hook to get people to go to the theatre.

至于什么样的“名堂”才能吸引住顾客,What’s the best way to hook customers? 那可就是个大问题了。作为动词, hook的基本意思是“连接”,比如:

All the computers in the office are hooked together.

不过,hook常常用来表示“吸引”的意思,例如:

Cigarette ads designed to hook young people.

一旦你被吸引住了,那你可就上钩了,也就是 hook up with sb/sth, 如:

Did you ever hook up with Mary while you were there?

通常来说 hook up with sb 这个表达法带有点暧昧的意思; 在俚语中hooker就用来指“妓女”。

Friends英语赏析【107】Get carried away 忘乎所以

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写!

Chandler: Look, maybe I got carried away before. But there’s something you gotta know. If I’m the best, it’s only because you’ve made me the best.
Monica: Keep talking.
Chandler: I mean I was nothing before you. Call the other girls and ask. Which wouldn’t take long. But when I’m with you, and we’re together, OH…MY…GOD.

钱德乐:哦,可能我以前有点忘乎所以了,但有件事情你得知道。如果我是最好的,那也是因为你让我变得最好。
莫妮卡:接着说。
钱德乐:我的意思是在你之前,我可是一无是处,你可以打电话向别的女孩子求证,也就没几个。但当我和你在一起时,当我们身心合一时,噢,我的天!

【世博视角】

Be/get carried away 从字面上理解的话是“被带走”的意思,其实它是用来表示某人因为太兴奋、太生气、或者太入迷等,以至于有些忘乎所以了,如:I just got carried away because it was such fun. 我们平时所说的“入神”也可以用 be / get carried away 来表达, 比如在听音乐的时候:When we listen to music we should allow ourselves to be carried away into the musical paradise.

I’m with you. 与 We’re together. 这两句话看起来好像意思差不多,但它们所表达的含义还是有些细小的差别。在不同的上下文里,I’m with you. 可以解释为“我支持你”, 也可以解释为 “我和你在一起”,这里的“在一起”强调的是两人在同一个地方。We’re together所表示的则是两人之间存在着关系,比方说当我们看见两个异性在一起时很亲密,我们就会问别人说这两人是不是一对啊?Are those two together? 又比如:Mark and I have been together eight years now.

Friends英语赏析【106】Take the heat off 停止批评

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写!

Monica: Ross, could you come and help me with the spaghetti, please?
Ross: Yeah. (They go to the kitchen.)
Mrs. Geller: Oh, we’re having spaghetti! That’s…. easy.
Monica: I know this is going to sound unbelievably selfish, but, were you planning on bringing up the whole baby/lesbian thing? Because I think it might take some of the heat off me.

莫妮卡:罗斯,能过来帮我做意大利通心粉吗?
罗斯:好的。
盖勒夫人:哦,我们是要吃意大利通心粉呢!这个…容易。
莫妮卡:我知道我可能很自私,但你是否打算提孩子还有女同性恋的事情?因为,这样可以让他们少说我两句。

【世博视角】

Bring up是指打开关于某件事情的话题,比如,跟女朋友谈了两年恋爱了,就是无法开口提结婚的事情,担心她会因此而离开我:

We have a great time together, but I am just afraid to bring up the marriage and family topic. She might leave me.

为什么担心呢?因为她说过:It’s the end of a woman’s life when it comes to bringing up children. 这个地方的bring up就是抚养孩子的意思了。在老友记里面,莫妮卡想让罗斯提起离婚的事情,这样,莫妮卡的母亲就不会老盯着她找她的茬了。所以,take some of the heat off me中的heat指的就是adverse comments or hostile criticism,严厉的或者敌意的指责和批评。Take the heat off someone就是停止批评或指责某人。一般说来,公众人物比较害怕媒体的攻击,如:

Heat from the press forced the mayor to resign.
来自媒体的指责迫使市长提出辞呈。