世博英语

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！

第五十七篇

Rachel和Ross为他们的孩子Emar雇了个男保姆Sandy。Rachel对Sandy的表现很满意， 但Ross却很受不了Sandy，所以决定解雇他：

Ross: Sandy… Hi, we uhm… we kinda need to talk. I’m afraid it’s not working out.
Sandy: Oh…
Ross: Yeah, uhm… I mean, Rachel and I, think you are great… with Emma… uhm… We just feel…
Rachel: YOU! You feel!
Ross: I… just feel that the… the chemistry isn’t right. I’m sorry. We’re… we’re more than happy to give you good recommendation…
Sandy: Oh, no, no, no… That’s okay. I got a lot of offers from other families. I just picked you guys because… I liked you the best.
Rachel: Oh, damn you Geller!
Ross: Anyway, uhm…Well, I’m glad there’s no hard feelings.
Sandy: No, none at all. You need to be happy with whoever is in your home… Although if you don’t mind telling me, what was your problem? Maybe it’s something I can work on in the future.
Ross: No, you know, it’s uhm… nothing you did, it’s… it’s uhm… my issue.
Sandy: What is it…? Please…?
Ross: You know, I’m just not uhm… that comfortable with a guy who’s as sensitive as you.
Sandy: That’s fair.

【世博视角】

Sandy对于照顾孩子还是很有一套的，这点连Ross也不得不承认，但Ross又说 “I… just feel that the… the chemistry isn’t right. I’m sorry.” chemistry的原意是“化学”。化学反应不但存在于自然界，也存在于人与人之间。有些人刚一见面就会互生好感，比如：As soon as we met I could feel the chemistry between us.而有些人虽然彼此的为人都不错，但碰在一块儿却怎么也起不了反应, 又比如：Charles is a nice guy, but the chemistry isn’t right.就像对话中的Sandy，虽然他的工作表现和为人都很好，可Ross就是不喜欢他，不过Ross说他很乐意向别人推荐Sandy。

Sandy倒是不愁找不到工作的，先前就有好几家人家要雇他做保姆呢，不过他最终选择了Rachel和Ross是因为他最喜欢他们俩(I got a lot of offers from other families. I just picked you guys because… I liked you the best.)Rachel一听这话又骂了Ross一句“Oh, damn you Geller!” damn 一词在口语中的出现频率可是相当高的。在遇到不顺心的事，或者为什么而生气时，很多人都会用到它，比如你家的电话老是时好时坏，你很可能就会说：Damn that telephone!（这该死的电话！）又比如你不小心把车钥匙给锁在车里了，你肯定也会懊恼道：Damn! I’ve locked my keys in the car.

Ross很高兴Sandy对于他的回绝并没有感到生气，他说：“Well, I’m glad there’s no hard feelings.”hard feelings 可以解释为“不快”或者“芥蒂”，比如有的人说话很冲，这就会引起口角和不快：His harsh words can lead to arguments and hard feelings. 另外，我们还可以用“no hard feelings”来表示自己并不生某人的气或者让某人别生自己的气，例如：

I have no hard feelings towards Steve.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out, but no hard feelings, eh?

最后Sandy想知道Ross为什么会解雇他，Ross回答说：“You know, I’m just not uhm… that comfortable with a guy who’s as sensitive as you.”其实Ross解雇Sandy的真正原因是他不能接受男保姆，更何况Rachel还这么喜欢这个男保姆。

*本篇所讲到的表达法:

chemistry
hard feelings

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！

第五十七篇

Rachel: Hi!
Monica: Hey!
Phoebe: Hey!
Rachel: So what’s the final head count on my baby shower?
Phoebe: About twenty, a couple people from work who had something else to do.
Monica: Also both of your sisters called and neither can make it.
Rachel: What?! You mean they’re not coming to a social event where there’s no men and there’s no booze?! That’s shocking! I don’t care, as long as my mom’s here.
Monica: Oh my God, your mother!
Rachel: What?! My mom’s not gonna be here?!
Monica: Well, given that we forgot to invite her it would be an awfully big coincidence if she was.
Rachel: My God!
Monica: Well it wasn’t my fault, Phoebe was in charge of the invitations!
Phoebe: Well I don’t, I don’t have a mother so often I forget that other people…
Monica: Oh give it a rest!
Rachel: So my mother is not coming to my baby shower?!
Phoebe: No.

【世博视角】

先来看一下什么是baby shower，它其实有点类似于我们这里为满月的孩子所办的“满月酒”， 只不过美国的这种baby shower是为即将出生的婴儿所办的聚会，参加的亲朋好友都会带一些婴儿用品来送给母亲。在对话中，Monica和Phoebe正在为Rachel的baby shower做准备，Rachel想知道会有多少人来参加她的baby shower, 所以她问：So what’s the final head count on my baby shower? head count指的就是“人数”。Phoebe回答说人数是20， 有一些同事有事不能来(a couple people from work who had something else to do.) Monica 又说Rachel的两个姐妹也打电话来说她们来不了了（Also both of your sisters called and neither can make it.）make it 在这里并不是制作什么东西的意思，而是表示“能够做到某事”例如：

I’m really sorry, but I won’t be able to make it on Sunday after all.
Frank was very ill, and the doctors didn’t think he’d make it.

Rachel觉得她的姐妹们很过分，都不来参加她的baby shower，就因为这种聚会男人是不参加的，而且也不供应酒精饮料（What?! You mean they’re not coming to a social event where there’s no men and there’s no booze?! That’s shocking!）booze在俚语可以用来指烈酒或酒精饮料。不过Rachel又说她也不在乎她的姐妹们来不来，只要她妈妈会来参加就好了(I don’t care, as long as my mom’s here.) as long as… 是一关联词，表示“只要…就…”，也可以写成so long as…, 如：As long as we keep playing well, we’ll keep winning games.

说到妈妈，Monica如梦初醒般叫了声“Oh my God, your mother!”这下Rachel可急了，难道她母亲也不会来参加？（My mom’s not gonna be here?）Monica她们根本就忘了邀请Rachel的母亲了，她要是会来那才怪呢，所以Monica说：Well, given that we forgot to invite her it would be an awfully big coincidence if she was. given that放在句首表示“考虑到…”, 又比如：Given the circumstances, you’ve done really well.

接下来Monica马上说那可不是她的错，Phoebe是负责去邀请人的，所以这应该是她的责任 （Well it wasn’t my fault, Phoebe was in charge of the invitations!）我们来看看Phoebe又有什么话好说：Well I don’t, I don’t have a mother so often I forget that other people… (噢，我没有，没有母亲，所以我常常忘记别人的…)。Phoebe的确不知道自己的生母是谁，而养母后来又自杀了，但她拿这个来作理由就让Monica很不以为然，因此她打断道：Oh give it a rest! 从字面上理解是说“就让它休息一下吧”，其实Monica的意思是让Phoebe别拿她自己的母亲来说事儿。

*本篇所讲到的表达法:

head count
make it
so/as long as
given that

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！

第五十五篇

自从Joey和Rachel上次“约会”之后，Joey就对Rachel产生了一种超乎友情之外的感觉，这天晚上他来找Chandler想和他谈谈这事：

Joey: Hey, Chandler, you got a minute? I-I really need to talk to you.
Chandler: Oh! Uh, yeah! Is this a cold pizza talk or a leftover meatloaf talk?
Joey: Well, neither.
Chandler: Oh my God, what’s up?
Joey: I don’t know. It’s-it’s just…lately, I’ve been feeling… Okay, here’s what it is…You know what? I feel a lot better, thanks!
Chandler: Oh no-no, no you don’t, just come back.
Joey: All right. Okay. You and Monica, friends for a long time, and sure there are rules, but then you went to London. Oh, no, but that’s different. I mean, there are rules there, too! You know what I mean?
Chandler: Do you?
Joey: It was different for you guys! I mean, I mean, you were both in the same place, right?
Chandler: In London?
Joey: Yeah.
Chandler: Yes. When Monica and I were in London, we were both in London.
Joey: You know what? This is a bad idea. Forget it. Forget it, and listen, do me a favor, this conversation was between you and me.

【世博视角】

通常如果Joey晚上来找Chandler的话肯定没别的事情，就是和吃有关，所以Chandler一听Joey要找他谈谈就问这次的谈话究竟关于“冷比萨”还是“剩下的肉馅饼”（Is this a cold pizza talk or a leftover meatloaf talk?），leftover作为形容词只能放在名词之前使用，表示“吃剩下的、用剩下的”，如：a few pieces of leftover carpet。不过leftover也可直接用作名词，表示“吃剩下的食物”，通常以复数形式出现，如：Give the leftovers to the dog.

Joey的回答（Well, neither.）让Chandler紧张起来，他惊叫道：Oh my God, what’s up? 要知道很少有什么事情能让Joey不谈吃的。Joey尝试着想要告诉Chandler他对于Rachel的感觉（I don’t know. It’s-it’s just…lately, I’ve been feeling… Okay, here’s what it is…You know what? I feel a lot better, thanks!），好不容易开了个头，Joey又忽然改变了主意，不想再谈了。在Chandler的请求之下，Joey又尝试着想要从Chanlder那里寻求一些肯定，因为Chandler和Monica当初就是好朋友，直到后来他们去过伦敦之后，他们的关系才发生了变化而成为恋人的。来看看Joey说了些什么：You and Monica, friends for a long time, and sure there are rules, but then you went to London. Oh, no, but that’s different. I mean, there are rules there, too! You know what I mean? 显然Joey知道自已说出来的话很乱，他想知道Chandler是否能明白他的意思，Chandler反问Joey说：Do you? (你自己明白吗？)

Joey接着解释说：It was different for you guys! I mean, I mean, you were both in the same place, right? Joey所说的in the same place是指当时Chandler和Monica在伦敦里时彼此都对对方“另眼相看”了，可一头雾水的Chandler却不太明白这in the same place究竟是指的是“哪里”，于是玩起了文字游戏说：When Monica and I were in London, we were both in London.（当Monica和我在伦敦时，我们当然是在同一个地方）。这句话让Joey彻底没了心情，他说：You know what? This is a bad idea. Forget it. Forget it, and listen, do me a favor, this conversation was between you and me. 当我们想和别人交换一些比较私密的想法时除了对别人说don’t tell anybody else 之外，还可以用一个更简单的表达法，那就是between you and me, 如：Between you and me, I think she has a problem with her boyfriend.
*本篇所讲到的表达法:

leftover
between you and me