世博英语

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！

第五十一篇

Rachel: Hey Pheebs?
Phoebe: Huh?
Rachel: I’m having dinner with my dad tomorrow night, do you wanna come?
Phoebe: Sure. Yeah, he’s kinda sexy.
Rachel: Oh no, no, I’ll be there too.
Phoebe: Okay so, we’ll just come up with some kind of signal if it’s going well you can take off.
Rachel: No Phoebe! I just need you there for support. I haven’t told him I’m pregnant yet.
Phoebe: Oh. Why not?
Rachel: ‘Cause I know he’s gonna flip out and I hate it when he’s angry.
Phoebe: Oh Rachel, this is all so ‘Papa don’t preach.’
Rachel: What Phoebe? Wait! One time he caught me smoking he said if he ever saw me doing that again he’d make me eat the entire pack.
Phoebe: Wow! Oh well, I will be there!
Rachel: Thank you.

【世博视角】

Rachel明天晚上要和父亲去吃饭（I’m having dinner with my dad tomorrow night），说到将要发生的事情，我们一般会用将来时态表达，但如果我们十分肯定某件事情在不远的将来一定会发生时，就可以像Rachel那样用一般进行时来表示。

一般说来，我们不会邀请自己的朋友去和父母吃饭，但Rachel却想让Phoebe一起去，因为Rachel怀孕了，她没有勇气告诉自己的父亲，她说：‘Cause I know he’s gonna flip out and I hate it when he’s angry. flip这个动词的基本解释是“翻转”，比如flip a coin 就是“扔硬币（以做决定）”, 在办公室时我们还会用到flip chart “活动白板”，而在对话中Rachel所说的这个flip 却是指“变得很生气”的意思，后面可以跟上介词out，如：Her father flipped (out) when he saw the phone bill.

不就是给老爸说两句嘛，Phoebe觉得没什么，大不了对他说一句‘Papa don’t preach.’ preach原意是指“布道”, 但它常常会被用来表示贬义，比如有的人就很喜欢教训别人，动不动就搬出一堆大道理，像和尚念经似的，让人听得很烦，父母们好像尤其如此，所以有些孩子就会说：Mom, stop preaching – I’m old enough to take care of myself. 又比如：You’re always preaching honesty, and then you lie to me.

‘Papa don’t preach.’说这话对于Rachel的爸爸可不起作用，他除了preach之外，还会威吓呢，有一次他就对Rachel说如果他再发现Rachel抽烟，他就要Rachel把一整包烟都吃下去（One time he caught me smoking he said if he ever saw me doing that again he’d make me eat the entire pack.）看来Rachel的爸爸真是蛮厉害的，所以Phoebe马上答应Rachel说到时她会去的。

*本篇所讲到的表达法:

flip
preach

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！

第五十篇

万圣节(Halloween)又到了，Monica开了一个Halloween Party,并要求到场的人都穿上costumes, 也就是各类装束。Phoebe把自己打扮成漫画人物Supergirl, 而Monica扮的正好是Supergirl的对手Catwoman。

Monica: Hey Joey?
Joey: Yeah.
Monica: You read comic books right?
Joey: Exclusively.
Monica: Who do you think would win in a fight, Catwoman or Supergirl?
Joey: Catwoman, hands down.
Monica: Yeah…
Joey: But between you and Phoebe, I’d have to give the edge to Phoebe.
Monica: What?! Really?!
Joey: Are you kiddin’? Phoebe lived on the street. Okay? Plus, she’s got this crazy temper. She—She’s not standing right behind me is she?
Monica: No you’re fine. All right well, do you think I could take Rachel?
Joey: I’m not sure.
Monica: What?! Come on I am tough! Punch me right here! (Her stomach) As hard as you can!
Joey: Will you relax?! What are you taking this so seriously for? It doesn’t matter.
Monica: Oh really? Okay? Well what would you say if I told you that, y’know, Ross or Chandler could beat you up?
Joey: I would say, “Woman, please!”

【世博视角】

Party进行到一半的时候，Monica忽然想到问Joey如果Supergirl再和Catwoman打起来的话谁会赢(Who do you think would win in a fight, Catwoman or Supergirl?) Joey马上回答说是Catwoman, 并且是hands down。这是一个习语，最早起源于赛马活动中，如果一个赛马手发现自己在逼近终点时遥遥领先于他人的话，就会松开一直拉着的缰绳，垂下双手，让赛马自由地冲向终点，后来hands down这个习语就用来表示“轻松地”、“毫不费力地”，又比如：She won the election hands down. 此外，hands down还可以表示“毫无疑问”的意思，如：Leslie is hands down the nicest person I know.

听到Joey说Supergirl会赢, Monica很高兴地说了声Yeah, 可Joey又说如果是Monica和Phoebe打起来的话，他觉得Phoebe的胜算更大一点(But between you and Phoebe, I’d have to give the edge to Phoebe.) edge这个词的基本解释是“刀锋”、“边缘”等等，但它时常用来表示一种advantage, 也就是“优势”，比如：The next version of the software will have the edge over its competitors. 因此give somebody the edge的意思就是“使某人更具优势”，例如：

His ten years’ experience will give him the edge in tomorrow’s fight.
Training can give you the edge over the other interviewees.

那么什么使得Phoebe比Monica更加厉害一点呢？原来Phoebe以前可是在街上混的, 再加上她怪怪的脾气（Phoebe lived on the street. Okay? Plus, she’s got this crazy temper.）当Joey正在说这理由时，他发现Monica的脸色不怎么好，他还以为是Phoebe就站在他身后呢，其实他不明白一向争强好胜的Monica是听不得别人说有人比她强啦。最要命的是后来Joey居然说他不能确定Monica是否对付得了Rachel, 这叫Monica如何咽得下这口气啊，她高声嚷起来：“What?! Come on I am tough! Punch me right here! (Her stomach) As hard as you can!（什么？我可厉害着呢，你打我这儿试试，用力打）”Joey搞不懂Monica为什么这么当真, 不就是说说而已嘛（Will you relax?! What are you taking this so seriously for? It doesn’t matter.）Monica反问Joey道：“Well what would you say if I told you that, y’know, Ross or Chandler could beat you up?(噢，如果我说Ross或Chandler能打败你，你有什么反应？)。Joey的反应是：”Woman, please!” 言下之意就是嘲笑Monica会做那样的假设，Ross和Chandler哪会是他的对手啊！

*本篇所讲到的表达法:

hands down
give somebody the edge

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！

第四十九篇

Phoebe同父异母的弟弟Frank与比他大十多岁的Alice结了婚。两人十分想要孩子，但Alice的年龄已不宜生育，所以好心的Phoebe同意帮他们生孩子。这天Alice兴冲冲地跑来找Phoebe:

Alice: Hi!
Phoebe: Hey! What are you doing here?
Alice: Umm, actually, I came down to ask you a big favour. Okay, now, see, I wanna name the girl baby Leslie, and Frank wants to name one of the boy babies Frank JR. JR.
Chandler: Wouldn’t that be Frank the III?
Alice: Don’t get me started. (To Phoebe) Anyway, umm, since there are three babies and umm, we both got to put our names in, we would be truly honoured if you named the other boy baby.
Phoebe: Wow! That’s so great!

【世博视角】

Alice又来找Phoebe帮忙了，而且还是一个大忙（I came down to ask you a big favor.） 说到帮忙，我们总会想到help，其实favor一词也是经常用到的，比如说“你能帮我一下忙吗？”就是Could you do me a favor？如果别人帮了你一个大忙，你就欠了人家一份人情，这个“人情”也可以用favor来表示，如：I owed him a favor so I couldn’t say no. “还人情”就是 return the favor, 比如：She helps me out when I have too much to do, and I return the favor when I can.

Alice要Phoebe帮什么忙呢？原来她想让Phoebe为她们未出世的小孩子起名字。Phoebe一共怀了三胞胎，Frank和Alice已为其中的两个起好了名字(We both got to put our names in.)。Alice想把其中的一个女孩叫做Leslie（I wanna name the girl baby Leslie），而Frank则想为其中的一个男骇取名Frank JR. JR. 在国外，尤其是在一些比较有名望的家族里，父亲与儿子的姓名会是一样的，为了有所区别，父亲就会被叫做Senior, 儿子就是Junior了，如果孙子也是相同的姓名话，就在名字后面加上序数，所以当Chandler听到Frank要把他的儿子叫做Frank Junior Junior时就说：Wouldn’t that be Frank the III ? (那不就是Frank三世了吗？)

真不知道Frank是怎么想的，居然给孩子取名Frank JR.JR. 就算是Frank the III也很是不妥，因此Alice一提到这个就有点来气，她对Chandler说：Don’t get me started. 这句话就相当于我们平时所说的“别提这事，一提我就来气”，一听到这话，你最好马上就打住或转换话题，要不然说的人会越说越气愤，而你也会越听越烦的。

*本篇所讲到的表达法:

favor
Don’t get me started.