VOA流行美語 Unit 324:懸而未決&誇誇其談

李華剛剛看了她最喜歡的電影演員喬治.克魯尼演的新片Up in the Air. 今天我們要學兩個常用語：up in the air和full of hot air.

LL: Hey Li Hua, I heard you went to see that new movie Up in the Air. How'd you like it?

LH: 好看極了，情節特別曲折，讓你始終猜不到結局。

LL: Maybe that's why it's called Up in the Air?

LH: 你說爲什麼叫up in the air? 我原來以爲，就是因爲電影裏講的故事跟坐飛機有關，在天上飛來飛去，所以叫up in the air的。

LL: Well, that's one reason it's calledUp in the Air.. But the phrase "up in the air" also has another meaning.

LH: 真的嗎？快告訴我，up in the air還有什麼其它意思。

LL: Well, people use the expression "it's up in the air" all the time, and they are not talking about people flying.

LH: 不是在天上飛？那讓我想想，說什麼事情it's up in the air在空中懸着，是指一件事情懸而未決嗎？

LL: Right! Like last Sunday, my friend Greg was watching the Super Bowl and I asked him who was going to win, and he said, "I don't know yet. it's still 'up in the air.'"

LH: 是啊，這屆超級盃比賽太激烈了，難怪Greg說it's still up in the air鹿死誰手，還很難說。

LL: Exactly... Greg was using "up in the air" to mean that the game was still undecided and it wasn't clear who was going to win.

LH: 我明白了。那上星期我烤蛋糕烤到一半，你問我怎麼樣了，我因爲是第一次做，不知道烤出來會不會好吃，就可以說I don't know, it's up in the air.

LL: You got it. You can say it's up in the air because you don't know whether the cake will taste good or not. This is how "up in the air" is used most of the time. It's used to show when something is still undecided.

LH: 怎麼樣，Larry, 今天晚上有什麼計劃嗎？

LL: I don't know. It's still up in the air.

MC: Larry取信回來，Li Hua正坐在沙發上看電視。

LL: Hey Li Hua, what are you watching?

LH: 電視上正轉播一個關於西部野火防範問題的聽證會。這個國會議員還真能說，已經足足講了十幾分鍾了。

LL: Oh, I know this congressman. He's full of hot air.

LH: Full of hot air? 那是什麼意思？

LL: I mean he's talking a lot without saying anything of value or meaning.

LH: 哦，我明白了，說一個人full of hot air，就是說這個人只會誇誇其談，但是言之無物。

LL: Yup. "Full of hot air" is also used to describe someone who is exaggerating, talking only to hear their own voice, or talking about something they don't really understand.

LH: 哦，就是說大話，說空話，甚至對自己並不熟悉的事情也能滔滔不絕的意思。如果這麼說，這個國會議員還真是full of hot air。

LL: Politicians in particular are often accused of being "full of hot air". They often talk just for the sake of talking.

LH: 那Larry, 有沒有人說你也是full of hot air呢？

LL: I don't go on and on about subjects that I don't know a lot about, so no... But if you want, I can pretend to be "full of hot air".

LH: 真的嗎，你能裝出誇誇其談的樣子？那我可一定得看看。

LL: First tell me what topic you want me to be "full of hot air" on.

LH: 選題？這容易，就說眼下的經濟形勢吧！

LL: OK. Piece of cake! Unemployment is too high and it needs to be fixed but we need to increase consumption and lower interest rates. At the same time, exports are soaring and that's creating inflationary issues that are spilling over into the futures markets and affecting the bull market on Wall Street. We also need to worry about the CPI and the real estate market....

LH: WOW! 你還真是full of hot air! 說了一大堆的經濟術語，我完全沒有聽懂。

LL: Yeah. That's called being "full of hot air".

今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是up in the air, 意思是尚無定論，懸而未決。另一個是full of hot air，意思是誇誇其談。