教科書沒出現的日常口語
Shoot! 說吧!
A: I've got a question for you。
A: 我想請問你一個問題.
B: Shoot!
B: 說吧!
"Shoot!" 除了當"說吧!"外,很多女孩子也用它來代替 "Shit!", 因爲覺得後者聽起來不雅.
Give it a shot! 試試看!
A: It would be so cool if I can win this contest. I don'tthink I'm good enough, though.
A: 要是我可以贏了這項比賽的話會有多好。但我不認爲自己夠好.
B: Give it a shot! You'll never know.
B: 試試看啊! 沒試怎麼會知道!
"cool" 是"很棒"的意思. "You'll never know." 是"你不知道會怎麼樣"的意思.
要想說, 我知道這個可能沒戲.你可以說,I know it is a long shot, but Iwould still like to give it a try. 你起草了一份計劃書,發給項目組裏面的同事請他們幫忙修改,你可以說,this is my first shot at the project proposal, please feelfree to edit as you see fit. 你也可以說, this is my first 是桶一刀子的意思, 放在這裏就變成my first try.
Got you! (騙,嚇)到你了吧!
A: My sister just now called and said she's moving in withus.
A: 我姐姐剛剛打電話來, 說她要搬進來跟我們一塊兒住.
B: What?
B: 什麼!
A: Got you!
A: 上當了吧!
"Get you"是"(騙,嚇,捉弄)到你了吧!"的意思.油畫班上有一個同學有一次想捉弄我.趁我正要把畫具收到櫃子裏時忽然把櫃子的門關起來,想趁機把我的手夾住. 結果我閃得快, 使他的惡計失敗.我便哈哈的對他說:"Haha.. You didn't getme.".
got you 要放在語境裏面看意思. 這個說法本身還有"明白了" 的意思.
--can you make 20 copies of this document and give it to alldepartment heads?
--Got you!
而i don't get it 通常是我弄不明白的意思. 還有就是別人說了一個笑話, 你沒聽懂的時候,你可以說,whatis so funny? i don't get it.
no-brainer 不必花腦筋的事物
A: How do you use this program? It looks quitecomplicated.
A: 你怎麼樣用這個軟件呢? 看起來蠻複雜的.
B: No. Looks can be deceiving. This thing is actually ano-brainer. Let me show you。
B: 不會! 外表有時是會騙人的.這個東西其實很容易(不必花腦筋的).我玩給你看!
"Looks can be deceiving." 是"外表有時是會騙人的"的意思.也許你的競爭對方把自己擡高,表現出很厲害的樣子, 你的朋友就可以說"Looks can be deceiving. He may be just a papertiger."來安慰你.
work one's butt off 很努力地(做一件事)
A: I can't believe all my work is gone just like this. I'veworked my butt off on this all day.
A: 我不敢相信我的心血就這樣丟掉了!我今天整天辛辛苦苦都在搞這個!
B: What happened? Computer crashed?
B: 怎麼啦? 計算機當了嗎?
發現美語裏不少口語都跟"butt"(屁屁)有關, 像 "kick ass","kissass"(見本單元第一頁).這裏的"work one's butt off" 也是.還有一個"freeze one's buttoff"(冷得把屁屁凍僵)也是喔!
work one's butt/ass off 如果你不願意說butt 或者ass 這個詞的時候(大多數人在正式或者半正式場合都會迴避這兩個詞),通常你可以說 I have worked my tail off. 同樣,something is a pain in the ass 意思是,什麼東西讓人討厭/頭疼死了. 你還可以說 somethingor somebody is a pain in the neck.
push around 驅使(某人)
A. Gary, do you think you can rewrite this paper. I don'treally like the topic.
A: Gary, 你想你是不是可以把這個報告重寫一遍.我並不是很喜歡那個主題.
B: Hey, I'm only trying to help you out. You shouldn't bepushing me around like this.
B: 嘿! 我是在幫你忙耶! 你不應該這樣指使我喔!
"把一個人推來推去"應該和"指使"很容易聯想吧!
想到另外一個詞,push over, 指的是沒有主意/沒有主見/容易被別人說服的一種人. youshouldn't ask her for where to go for dinner. She is a total pushover.
bound to 必定
A: Dan forgot his map?
A: Dan 忘了帶地圖了嗎?
B: Yep! And he's bound to lose his way.
B: 是的!他鐵定要迷路了.
"bound to" 是必定的意思. "你死定了!"就可以說 "You're bound to die.".
想說誰死定了, 最簡單的說法是 you are doomed!
brush off 不理;默視
A: Have you talked to Mr. Lambert about Ian's obscene speechtowards you?
A: 你跟 Lambert 先生提過 Ian 對你講的猥褻的話嗎?
B: Yes, but he brushed it off as if it were not a big deal tohim.
B: 有! 但他輕輕帶過(不理), 好象他覺得那並沒有什麼!
"brush away(aside)" 也是"不理"的意思.如"He brushed aside ourobjection."(他無視我們的反對).
類似的說法還有, this is a serious mistake. you shouldn't justshrug it off like that.
boss around 頤指氣使
A: Oh! No. I've got assigned to work with Marvin for our groupproject.
A: 噢! 不! 我被分配跟 Marvin 一起做團體作業.
B: Ooh! I heard that he love to boss people around.
B: 唉呀!我聽說他很愛指使人的.
"boss around" 和 "push around" 都是"指使人"的意思.說一個人愛命令人也可以說"He isvery bossy.".
Oh, boy! 乖乖! 唉呀! 真是!
A: Guess what? We first got a flat tire, and now my cell phoneis dead.
A: 你猜怎麼了? 首先我門的車爆胎了, 現在我的行動電話又沒電了.
B: Oh, boy!
B: 唉!
"flat tire" 是"爆胎"的意思".
"Oh, boy!"是美國人用的一種感嘆表示詞句.不必問他們爲什麼不說 "Oh, girl" 還是別的,因爲他們也不知道.
oh boy在老年人裏面尤爲常用. 年輕人可以說,oh, crap! 或是最常見的 oh, no!
