LL: Hang in there, Li Hua! After Friday it will be all over, and then you can relax.
LH: Hang in there? 那是什么意思呀？
LL: Hang in there. Hang in there just means "to keep enduring" or "to persist through a difficult situation."
LH: 噢，hang in there的意思就是，在困难的情况下再忍一忍，或者坚持下去。HHang in there - Hmm...这个说法很有意思。不过hang这个词本意不是“悬挂”吗？
LL: That"s right, but "hang in there" can also mean "to stay the same" or "to not give up".
LH: 噢，我明白了，hang in there就是要“坚持下去，不要放弃”的意思。
LL: Exactly! Remember last semester when you had two tests and a term paper due the same week, you hung in there and even managed to get good grades. When things get tough, you just have to hang in there.
LH: 我当然记得上学期的那个礼拜。一个星期里，我有两门课要考试，还要交一篇学期论文。我当时咬紧牙关坚持学习，结果还得了好分数。所以你说，这就是hang in there的意思吧？
LL: You"re right! Let me give you another example. If someone is having an emergency and calls the 9-1-1 emergency hotline, the operator might say, "Hang in there, an ambulance will be there in a few minutes".
LH: 噢，你说要是遇到紧急情况打911电话，接线员可能会说，Hang in there! 也就是说：“别着急，坚持一下，救护车马上就到”的意思。
LL: So, just hang in there, Li Hua. You"ll finish the papers before Friday and get good grades for the test too!
******
LH: 嗨，Larry, 我刚考试考完。现在好了， 我可以轻松一下了。
LL: Well, I"m glad to see you so happy now that your test is over and those papers are done. You were really stressed out last week!
LH: 就是啊，我现在好高兴。可是，你说我上星期怎么了？Stressed out?
LL: I said you were "stressed out". Stressed out means that you were under so much stress and pressure that you barely made it.
LH: 噢，stressed out意思就是“压力太大，几乎承受不了”。Hmm, 这话一点没错，我上个星期还真是有点顶不住了。Larry, 你倒是好像不太容易stressed out.
LL: That"s because I know that to be stressed out usually makes things worse. I find that I do better on a test when I"m not stressed out about it.
LH: Hmm, 我也有这种感觉，你越是感到压力大，越会坏事。在这种情况下，考试都是考不好的。
LL: Last week, you appeared a little bit impatient, but I understand it"s because you were really stressed out about your papers. So I encouraged you to HANG IN THERE.
LH: 我上星期显得很烦躁呀！哟，我自己还没有察觉呢。Larry, 我要是对你显得不耐烦， 对不起哟！下次再遇到压力很大的情况，也就是我stressed out的时候，我一定会记住，要坚持下去，要hang in there.
LL: Oh, don"t worry about it. The last thing I want is for you to stress out about making me upset. By the way, did you call Michael last night?
LH: 对，我打了。他说他还不太习惯那儿的生活，我让他hang in there! Try not to be stressed out. 他还让我向你问好呢！
LL: That"s nice!
今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是hang in there, 表示“坚持下去，不放弃”。另一个是to be stressed out, 意思是“压力太大”。
「美国习惯用语」第八十七讲
rain or shine
rainy day
每个人对下雨的反应都不同。在发生旱灾的地方，农民天天盼望着下雨。可是，正在野外聚餐的人，下雨使他们感到很扫兴。然而，有的活动不管天气如何都照常进行，这在中文里就是：风雨无阻。美国人的说法是：rain or shine。
Rain or shine简单地说就是：不管下雨或出太阳，一切照常进行。请听下面这个例子：
例句-1: There is one big difference between baseball and football in America. If it"s a rainy day, we don"t play baseball. But teams play football rain or shine. In fact, I"ve seen football games played in a snowstorm.
这句话的意思是：在美国，垒球和橄榄球有一个很大的区别。要是天下雨，我们就不打垒球。可是，橄榄球却是风雨无阻的。我还见过大雪天比赛橄榄球的呢。
但是，rain or shine实际上还包含更广的意思。Rain or shine还可以解释为：不管在什么情况下。比如说，一个年轻人离开了家到世界各地去周游，好久没回家了。他对朋友说：
例句-2: I haven"t seen mother and dad and the rest of the family for ten years, but I still know I can count on them rain or shine.
他说：我已经有十年没见到我的父母和其他家人了。但是，我知道不管在什么情况下，我肯定会得到他们的帮助的。”换句话说也就是，不管他干什么，不管他是穷是富，他家里的人都会关心他、帮助他的。
******
下面我们再来讲一个和rain这个字有关的常用语：rainy day。Rainy day作为一个俗语，它的意思是：今后可能需要钱的时候，也就是准备一些钱，以防万一。下面是一个劳动妇女在说话：
例句-3: Every week when I get my paycheck, I always try to put fifty dollars in my savings account for a rainy day. Who knows--I might lose my job someday or get sick and not be able to work!
她说：每星期我拿到工资以后，我总是想办法存五十美元到银行里去，以防万一。谁知道呀，也许哪一天我失业了，或者生病不能工作了。
下面这句话对每个人来说可能都是金玉良言：
例句-4: When you"re twenty-five years old, sometimes it"s hard to worry about rainy days off in the future. But if you"re smart, you"ll start saving for rainy days because rainy days come to us all.
这句话的中文意思是：当你只有二十五岁的时候，你恐怕很难为将来的需要担心。但是，要是你很聪明的话，你就会为将来遇到的困难而开始攒钱，因为每个人都会有困难的时候。
******
以上我们讲了两个和雨，也就是rain这个字有关的习惯用语。它们是：rain or shine和rainy days。Rain or shine的意思是：不管下雨或出太阳,一切照常进行。
流行美语第87课
今天Larry到Li Hua的宿舍里面去串门，Li Hua会学到两个常用语：neat freak和crash.
LL: Hey, Li Hua. What are you doing?
LH: 我刚收拾完房间，现在我要把所有文件分类，然后放在这些不同颜色的文件夹里。
LL: Wow, you really are a neat freak.
LH: 你说我是什么？Neat freak？听上去就不是什么好意思。哎，你别叫那些我听不懂的名字，好不好？
LL: Calm down. Li Hua. To be neat is to be very clean and orderly. A freak is a person that is really weird or unusual. Together, a "neat freak" refers to someone who likes to keep things extremely clean and organized.
LH: 嗯，neat这个词我知道，就是“干净、有条理”的意思， freak就是说一个人和一般人不一样，很古怪。所以，a neat freak就是一个特别爱干净、特别有条理的人。哎，Larry, 你真觉得我是个neat freak吗？
LL: Yes, see, your room always looks perfect, you always make your bed. You never throw your clothes on the floor. And you have all your papers well organized.
LH: 那你和neat freak刚好相反。你的房间总是乱糟糟的，床也不铺，衣服满地乱扔，还有，你的各种学习资料也是到处乱放。
LL: Well, I"m not a neat freak, so I don"t care if everything is neat and perfect.
LH: 我看哪，Larry, 你就是太懒了-- I think you are just too lazy。
LL: Well, maybe I am a little lazy, but look at your room, books, sweaters and even newspapers are stacked in order, and you"re a real neat freak.
LH: 怎么啦，书呀、毛衣和报纸当然应该放整齐嘛。这有什么奇怪的？ 对你来说这可能是过份“有条理”，可能是有点怪。Well, I guess I am a neat freak.
LL: Alright. Now that you"ve finished cleaning, why don"t we go to a movie.
LH: Sure, let"s go!
******
LL: That movie was so long. It"s almost midnight! I"m so tired that I think I"m going to go home and crash.
LH: 什么？你是说你太累了，如果开车回家会出交通事故啊？
LL: No, I don"t mean crash as in "car-crash". I mean crash as in "go to sleep".
LH: 我还是不懂。你是说crash，这个词，除了可以用作car-crash, 表示“撞车”，还可以用来表示“睡觉”啊？
LL: Yes, "I really want to go home and crash" means that I really want to go home and sleep.