Friends英语赏析【104】feel someone out

本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！未经本站授权，请勿转载！

Rachel: Phoebe, no! This is, this is insane.
Phoebe: Oh, just ask him!
Rachel: What? Me?
Phoebe: I can't ask him! Do you have any idea how inappropriate that would be?! All I'm saying is just talk to Frank. Okay? Just, y'know, feel him out!
Rachel: No! Forget it! I am not gonna ask Frank to give you one of his kids!!

瑞秋：菲比，不！这太不可理喻了。
菲比：噢，问问他嘛！
瑞秋：什么？我去问？
菲比：总不见得我自己问他吧，你难道不知道那会有多不合适吗？我只是让你去和弗兰克谈谈，试探一下他。
瑞秋：不！别想！我可不会去要求弗兰克把他的一个孩子送给你。

【世博视角】

有时候当我们想打探别人的想法时会旁敲侧击地问许多问题，这就是feel sb out 所要表达的意思，又比如：I thought I'd feel out some of my colleagues before the meeting.

口语forget it 在不同的情况下可以表达不同的意思，在上面的对话中，Rachel所说的forget it 意思就是拒绝替Phoebe去试探Frank, 又比如：'Can you lend me $20.' 'Forget it, no way.' forget it 还可以用来表示It’s all right 或 It’s OK 等意思，尤其是当别人为一件小事而向你说对不起的时候，比如：'Sorry I didn't phone.' 'Forget it.' 最后，我们还是来看一些例句仔细体会一下forget it 的用法：

'What did you say?' ' Nothing, just forget it.'
How much do I owe you? Oh, forget it -- it’s nothing.
If you’re just going to stand there and criticize, forget it.