Friends英语赏析【50】谁比谁厉害

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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