Friends英语赏析【12】有其母必有其女

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第十二篇

Monica的母亲Mrs.Geller向女儿谈起了自己的母亲，也就是Monica刚刚去世的外婆：

Mrs. Geller: Do you know what it's like to grow up with someone who is critical of every single thing you say?
Monica: ...I can imagine.
Mrs. Geller: I'm telling you, it's a wonder your mother turned out to be the positive, life-affirming person that she is.
Monica: That is a wonder. So tell me something, Mom. If you had to do it all over again, I mean, if she was here right now, would you tell her?
Mrs. Geller: Tell her what?
Monica: How she drove you crazy, picking on every little detail, like your hair... for example.
Mrs. Geller: I'm not sure I know what you're getting at.
Monica: Do you think things would have been better if you'd just told her the truth?
Mrs. Geller: ...No. I think some things are better left unsaid. I think it's nicer when people just get along.
Monica: Huh.

【世博视角】

Mrs. Geller 对自己的女儿Monica总是很挑剔，可她居然还问Monica：“你能体会在你成长过程中，总有个人会批评你所说的每句话是啥滋味吗？(Do you know what it's like to grow up with someone who is critical of every single thing you say? ) 这里的someone指的就是Monica的外婆。 “对……持批评的态度,” 我们可以用 be critical of sth 来表示，比如：He is critical of my work. critical 也可以直接用来修饰人，譬如Mrs.Geller也可以这样对Monica说: “Your grandmother was a very critical woman.”

真是有其母必有其女( Like mother, like daughter), Mrs. Geller比起自己的母亲来可是有过之而无不及，每次看到女儿Monica都要挑她的毛病，用Monica自己的话来说就是picking on every little detail (吹毛求疵)，pick on 其实就当相于先前所说的critical的动词形式criticize, 如果说criticize还能被人接受的话，那pick on 绝对是让人难以忍受的，因为批评有时还带有一定的合理性，而pick on就是在鸡蛋里挑骨头了。万一你很不幸碰上这种人，你不妨吼上一句：Why do you always pick on me?

Monica可没有这么直接，她旁敲侧击地问她妈妈：“So tell me something, Mom. If you had to do it all over again, I mean, if she was here right now, would you tell her? (妈妈，告诉我如果你能重新来过，我是说如果外婆就在这里的话，你会告诉她吗？)” all over again 这个词组不仅仅表达again的意思，还强调从头开始重做某事，又比如：If the teacher doesn’t like your essay, you have to do it all over again.

Mrs. Geller应该不会不明白女儿的意思，可她却说：“I'm not sure I know what you're getting at.” 这句话真不错，当别人说话隐隐约约的时候，我们就可以如法泡制地用这句话来一探虚实。到这个时候Monica只能再把话说透一点： “Do you think things would have been better if you'd just told her the truth?”, 她的言下之意就是问: 我不是也该对你实话实话，好让你知道我的感受。Monica满怀希望地等了老半天，却听到她母亲说No, 而且还巧妙地表示说： “I think some things are better left unsaid.” 这就是我们所说的有些事情可以看穿却不可以说穿。

话都说倒这份上了，可怜的Monica除了万般无奈地 “哈” 一声外还能怎么样呢？

最后我们再来看一下本篇讲到的一些地道表达法：

be critical of sth
pick on every little detail / pick on someone
all over again
what are you getting at?
some things are better left unsaid