"布朗尼加分"口語課堂:誰說"老的"就不好

可可網友們大家好。今天我們來學習幾個用and連接的習慣用語。它們幫助我們描述了一臺十一歲高齡的老轎車至今兢兢業業服務於人，而車主也是對它情有獨鍾的一小段文字。

It's true that my car looks old and worn out. It's eleven years old, and it has a lot of wear and tear on it. But I'm tired of my friends telling me to get a new car. By and large, my car still runs okay. It takes me where I want to go. I use it to go back and forth to work every day, and it doesn't break down very often.
When it does break down, I take it to my mechanics. They know the ins and outs of my car. They don't give me a song and dance. They tell me exactly what's wrong with the car and how much it will cost to fix it.

一臺十一歲高齡的車就算保持的再好也會有很多的wear and tear在上面。但是，by and large，it runs okay. 我們首先來看Wear and tear, “磨損”的意思。再比如：Apart from fair wear and tear, the car is in excellent condition. 這輛車除了正常磨損外，一切完好。雖然有磨損，但是by and large，大體上看，總的來說，還是不錯的。我們來看一個例子：Before liberation there was no heavy industry in China by and large. 大體上說，解放前中國沒有重工業。

這臺老車每天帶着我go back and forth to work. 回來，再過去，也就是往返於工作地點和家之間。即便車出了問題，我把它送到熟悉的機械師那裏，他們對我的車的ins and outs瞭如指掌。Ins and outs, 裏裏外外都知道，也就是所有的“複雜細節”都瞭解。再比如：After careful investigation, he got to know the ins and outs of the accident. 經過仔細的調查，他了解了事故的來龍去脈。

讓這樣熟悉我也熟悉我車的機械師幫忙修車，就不用擔心挨宰，不用擔心他們光會說a song and dance “花言巧語”了。非常有趣的的一個習語。我們再來看幾個例子。Don't give me a song and dance. Tell me what you want. 不要跟我廢話，告訴我你想要什麼吧。She gave her parents a song and dance about having to use their car. 她花言巧語地騙她父母爲什麼必須用他們的車。

其實，英語中用and連接的習慣用語很多，再比如safe and sound, fair and square等等。好了，來聽今天的問題：When you know the ins and outs of something, do you know it well? 我們下期再見吧。