相信大家日常生活中用英语聊天的时候,一定遇到过这样一些很尴尬很awkward的情景:
1. 你想表达的汉语意思其实很simple,但就是不知道怎样用英语来说。比如说,朋友有困难,你想鼓励他说:“撑住!”于是你绞尽脑汁地想“撑住”在这种情景下怎么说?这个时候你脑子里是不是闪现两个字,“Hold住!”当然,你知道不应该是这样子说的,那怎么说呢?
2. 你会不会感觉自己经常老用同一句很kindergarten的英语来表达自己的同一种感情,甚至是一种深刻的感情? For example, 你朋友帮了你一个很大的忙,你会不会觉得只说一个“Thank you very much”好没有人情味,但是那要怎么来表达呢?
3. 因为我们的母语不是英语,所以很难达到直接在脑子里来用英语来处理对方信息的那种境界,所以有时难免会用中文在脑子里过滤一下,然后用英语把想说的 跟我一起读完这篇The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Episode1的学习笔记,看看他们是怎么说的。
我把我的学习笔记分成了三类:1. 简单实用的单词;2. 相对高级一点的词汇(只是相对高级哦,不是艰涩难懂的词汇); 3. 其他。
I. 简单实用的单词
第一个单词,way。
When Sheldon decided to get on a train to start his railroad journey of healing and never came back, 莱纳德就对他说:“就因为这点小小的不如意,你就要像个流浪汉一样坐火车远走高飞了吗?”
那“小小的不如意”怎么说呢?下面我们看看Lenard的原版怎么说。
His friend Lenard said: “So a few things don’t go your way and your best decision is to ride the rails like a hobo?”
“A few things don’t go your way”, 它的意思就是“有些事情没有按你的意愿发生”,或者是“不如你意的事情”。这里面的“way”这个单词非常有意思。后面Sheldon狼狈地从他的铁路之旅回来以后,他说了这样一句话,“I feel renewed. I am ready to deal with any changes that come my way.” 他感觉重生了,准备好面对未来的一切。这个地方,他也用了”way”这个词。一个是”go one’s way”;一个是”come one’s way”。这两个的意思正好相反,“go one’s way”的意思是对你有利的事情,things that are in your favor;“come one’s way”的意思是对你不利的事情,things that hinder your growth,阻碍你成长的事情。
还有很多带“way”的短语,我总结了一些常用的供大家参考。
1. I am fighting him all the way. 我跟他抗衡到底。
2. We could meet today or tomorrow, either way, I don’t mind. 我们可以今天或明天见面,不管哪一天都行。
3. He has got into the way of reading. 他养成了读书的习惯。
4. He has got out of the way of reading. 他丢掉了读书的习惯。
5. .He would always go out of his way to read. 他总是不惜一切来读书。
6. You can’t have it both ways. 你不可能做到两全其美。
7. In a way it was one of our biggest mistakes. 从某种意义上来说,这是我们所犯的最大错误之一。
8. You are standing in my way. 你挡着我路了。还有一个意思是,你妨碍到我(的事业,前程等)了。
9. I think it should go on the other way round. 我觉得这应该以相反的方式进行下去。
10. He worked his way up from a waiter to a manager. 他从服务员一步一步地努力晋升为经理。
好了,差不多了。Now, it’s your turn to make a sentence in your own “way”!
A little quiz (测试) for you, please translate the sentence below in your “way”, reference answer will be found at the end of this article. 请 Quiz 1:
他总是想尽一切办法来向她表示友好。
第二个单词,hang。
After Sheldon got robbed, he got to the police station and called Lenard to come pick him up, Lenard said:“撑住!” Sheldon 被抢劫了以后,在警察局给Lenard打电话请求帮助的时候,Lenard说让他撑住。那么,“撑住”英语怎么说呢?
Lenard told Sheldon to “hang tight”, be careful here, it’s “hang tight”, not “hold tight’.
The word “hang” is another powerful word. 它也是Oxford 3000里面的词,它的本意是悬挂,跟它有关的短语也是多不胜数,下面是一些常用的词组。
1. You have been hanging around with him for too long. 你在他身边太久了。
2. I am just hanging around in the park. 我在公园转转。
3. Please hang your clothes out. 请你把你的衣服挂外面。
4. They hang out a lot. 他们经常一起(出去)玩。
5. It’s not difficult once you get the hang of it. 一旦你掌握了要领就不难了。
6. Hang on, I will be right back. 等一下,我马上回来。
7. Why did you hang up on me? 你为什么挂我电话?
Quiz 2:
我们可以看到,不管是“way”还是“hang”,这两个词都是非常简单的词,但是它们却非常重要,所以学习英语,我们在打基础的时候,词汇量的多少不重要,重要的是你对每个常用词掌握的精准度。Are you getting the hang of it?
II. 相对高级一点的词汇
我们经常用“thank you”来表达我们对一个人的感激之情,但是“appreciate”这个单词在对表达自己的感恩时候的作用也不容小觑。
下面是几种表达感谢的其他句式:
1. I sincerely appreciate your help. 我真心感谢您的帮助。
2. Your support is highly appreciated. 对您的支持,我深表感激。
3. I would appreciate it if you picked me up. 假如你来接我的话,我会不胜感激。
4. I appreciate being treated equally. 我很感谢我能被平等对待。
5. I am extremely grateful for your kindness. 我对您的好意不胜感激。
6. I would be grateful if you could send me some money. 如果你能给我寄些钱的话,我将不胜感激。
Quiz 3:
III. 其他
我把这一组叫“其他”,不是因为它们不重要,相反,它们会对你非常有用。它们是一些你日常生活中能经常听到和用到的句子。
1. When Howard found out that Stuart was still living with his mum, he got very extremely mad, so they were arguing with each other for a long time, until Stuart said: “You know what? This isn’t going any where.” 当Howard发现Stuart还在他母亲家里住着的时候,他非常生气,所以他跟Stuart就吵得不可开交,然后Stuart说了一句:“You know what? This isn’t going any where.” 这句话就是我们前面问到的,如何说“这样下去不会有结果”的这句话。
2. Thanks for the lift. 谢谢你来接我,或者是谢谢你让我搭你的顺风车。
3. I recently adopted a hobo life style. 我最近开始了一种流浪汉的生活方式。
4. Time’s going to fly by. 时间将过得“飞”快。
5. You are built for pharmaceutical sales. 你天生就是干医药销售这行的。
6. You’d make a good pharmaceutical sales representative. 你会是一名成功的医药销售员。
7. I give you my blessing, 我祝福你。
8. I didn’t want you to think less of me. 我不想让你小看我。
9. I can’t take this (any more), 我受不了了。
10. What’s the big deal? It’s no big deal to you. 有什么大不了的?对你没什么大不了的?
11. I feel no better now than when I left. 跟我离开之前相比,我没有感觉好多少。
12. But you still accomplished something. 你还是小有成就的。
13. I’d never thought I would say this, but I am kind of excited to see Sheldon. 我没想过我会这样说,但是能见到Sheldon,我还有点小激动呢。
14. FYI (For Your Information). 顺便说下(还有就是)•••
15. I stayed put. 我挺过来了。
16. I made it. 我做到了。
希望这些笔记对你有用。
Reference Answers:
Quiz 1:
He would always go out of his way to be friendly with her.
Quiz 2:
They are hanging out (hanging around) in the mall.
Quiz 3:
I highly appreciate your job offer.
本文来自津津乐道专栏读者投稿,作者:李影
投稿邮箱:language@chinadaily.com.cn
上一篇: Blow by blow?
下一篇: Like attracts like?