LL: Whoa, really? That"s great news. That rocks, Li Hua. You haven"t even graduated yet, and this private school already offered you a great job!
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LH: 哇，总算可以回家了，我真担心你会不会坐过山车坐上了瘾呢！
LL: Well, I liked the two rollercoaster rides, but the park itself was kind of a letdown.
LH: 是啊，我知道你喜欢过山车，要不然也不会连着坐两次啊！可是你又说这个游乐园是什么 - letdown?
LL: I said that the park is a letdown. A letdown is something that disappoints you. The park really wasn"t especially bad, but I was expecting it to be better. It was a real letdown.
LH: 等等等等，letdown的意思就是某件事让你失望。你是说，这个游乐园其实还可以，只不过不像你原先想象的好，所以让你失望了。那Larry, 你觉得这个游乐园哪一点儿让你失望呢？
LL: Well, It was too crowded. The lines in front of the rides were too long.
LH: 哎哟，现在就是旅游旺季，这儿当然人多，坐过山车当然要排队等啦！你就是爱发牢骚。那这样，你再给我举个例子吧，看看还有什么事对你是个letdown.
LL: Well, my History Professor is a real letdown. He"s a well-known expert in his area, but he"s not very good at giving lectures.
LH: 你们历史教授在学术界是挺有名的，可是你说他不太会讲课呀，那确实是挺让学生失望的。哎，Larry, 我记得你第一次到中国，去了长城，回来你也说和原先想象的一点儿都不一样。那the Great Wall 对你来说是不是个letdown呢？
LL: I"m glad you remember that. My first trip to the Great Wall WAS truly a letdown. It was so crowded with tourists and souvenir peddlers.
LH: 你怎么到哪儿都嫌人多啊？长城是有名的旅游景点，当然有各地的游客啦，还有小商贩卖纪念品！哎，不过，你刚才说，你第一次去长城让你失望，那后来你再去是不是就感觉好多了？
LL: Yeah, that second trip rocked!
今天李华从Larry那儿学到两个常用语。一个是rock, 说something rocks，就相当于中文里的“棒极了”。李华学到的另一个常用语是letdown, 意思是“让人失望的事”。
「美国习惯用语」第98讲
我们经常说做事要看轻重缓急，有的时候不得不把正在做的事或计划要做的事先搁置一边。美国人把这叫做：to put on the back burner。Back就是后边，而burner在这儿的是指做饭的炉子。美国的厨房里，炉台上一般都有四个炉口，前面两个，后面两个。人们往往把很快能煮好的东西放在前面炉子上煮，把一些要慢慢煮的东西放在后面的炉子上。这就是to put on the back burner这个俗语的来源。下面这个例子是一个广告公司的老板在给会计下指示：
例句-1: Joe, I know you"re working on the Anderson contract, but let"s put it on the back burner for now. We need your help on the new Jones contract. It"s worth more than five million dollars.
这个老板说：乔伊，我知道你现在正在处理安德森合同的事情，但是，让我们先把它放一放。我们要你来帮忙处理和琼斯签订的新合同。这个合同价值达五百万美元。
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每个家庭也经常会把马上想干的事推迟一段时间。下面是一个丈夫在对妻子说话：
例句-2: Honey, the boss told me today he can"t give me that pay raise I was expecting. I"m afraid that means we"ll have to put our plans to buy a bigger house on the back burner until next year.
这个丈夫说：亲爱的，老板今天告诉我他不能满足我的愿望给我加工资。所以我们想买栋大房子的计划恐怕不得不等到明年再说了。
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好多人在做一些事的时候会表现出拖拖拉拉，很不愿意的样子。美国人把这种现象称为：to drag one"s feet。你听了下面这位母亲的话就会明白什么是to drag one"s feet了：
例句-3: Billy and Sally always drag their feet when I tell them it"s bedtime. They love to watch TV after dinner and they"d stay up till midnight if I didn"t chase them off to bed.
这位母亲说：每当我叫比利和萨利上床睡觉的时候，他们总是拖拖拉拉。他们喜欢吃完晚饭后看电视，要是我不催着他们上床的话，他们可以一直看到半夜。
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下面的例子是一个百货公司的雇员正在罢工，要求增加工资。这个公司的经理说：
例句-4: The union is dragging its feet on agreeing to a settlement. They think the company is getting desperate to get people back to work because Christmas is coming and that"s our busiest time of year.
他说：工会拖拖拉拉地不肯就解决方案达成协议。他们认为，公司一定会迫不及待地要雇员回去工作，因为圣诞节快来了。这是我们一年最忙的时候。
流行美语第98课
Li Hua正在往图书馆走，突然，Larry把她叫住了。 Li Hua在今天的谈话中会学到两个常用语：what"s her face和thingamajig。
LL: Hey, Li Hua. One of your classmates asked me to give you this envelope.
LH: 我的同学要你给我这个信封？哪个同学呀？
LL: Oh, it was... what"s-her-face, you know, the tall girl with red hair.
LH: 高个子、红头发的女孩儿？你还说什么- What"s her face? 哎，Face不是“脸”吗？
LL: I said "what"s-her-face" instead of her name because I couldn"t remember her name. I guess it means I can remember her face, but not her name.
LH: 噢，你不记得她的名字，但是你记得她的脸长的是什么样子，所以你说what"s her face, 也就相当于what"s her name 。Hm，Larry, 你这么说是不是不太礼貌呢？
LL: Well, it"s not really rude, but it"s very informal. You shouldn"t call someone what"s-her-face if she is nearby... in that case, you should just ask her what her name is.
LH: 哎哟，幸亏你告诉我， 尽管what"s-her-face是很随便的说法，但是也不应该当着那个人的面这么说。要是这个人就在你身边，那么我就应该直接问她叫什么名字。哎，对了，Larry, 刚才你是说what"s her face, 要是男孩子的话，那应该怎么说呢？
LL: You would say what"s-his-face.
LH: 噢，要是男生，但是又记不起他的名字，那也可以说what"s his face。我想起来了，那个高个红头发的女孩是Julia。我和Jenny向她借了上星期四的笔记，因为那天我俩没去上课。这个信封里肯定是她的笔记。
LL: That"s right - You missed a class last Thursday. Hey wait, if you needed notes, why didn"t you just ask me?
LH: 但是我们觉得 - what"s-her-face... um, Julia... 她肯定比你记得好。
LL: Well, come to think of it - If I were what"s-her-face, er... I mean Jenny, I wouldn"t want my notes either.
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LH: 哎，Larry, 你手里拿的是什么东西呀？
LL: This thing in my hand? Oh, it"s the thingamajig I use to measure the air pressure in my car"s tires.
LH: 什么？Thin-ga-ma-jig - 这名字听起来很好玩儿。
LL: No no, that"s not the real name of this thing. We use "thingamajig", to replace the name of an object when we don"t know or can"t remember its real name.
LH: 噢，Thingamajig不是这个东西的名字。那要是不知道，或是忘了一样东西的名称，我们就可以用这个thingamajig来代替。哎，那不就是像我们中文里说的“那玩意儿”吗？是不是？
LL: That"s right. Actually, I think the thing in my hand is called a "tire pressure gauge". Tom asked me to help him check the air pressure of his car"s tires.
LH: 原来你手里拿的这个thingamajig是用来测量汽车轮胎压力的。你要帮Tom来测测他的车子轮胎啊 ？哎哟，Larry, 看来你对车子还挺懂的嘛！
LL: Hey, I never said I"m good with cars. To me, everything under the hood of my car is just a bunch of thingamajigs.
LH: 汽车引擎盖下面的东西你是一窍不通啊？我才不信。噢，说到修车，我这辆自行车的手闸最近不太灵，你帮我看看好不好？
LL: Let me see. I think you just need to oil these thingamajigs on your handlebars here.
LH: 自行车把手上的这些零件该上油啊？你肯定吗？
LL: Well, if you don"t believe me, you can ask what"s-his-face, Jenny"s boyfriend, the tall Indian guy - He can fix bikes.
LH: 那个高个子的印度人，Jenny的男朋友？你是说Rick吧！他会修自行车？那我可要去问问Jenny了！
LL：OK! Let"s go!
今天李华从Larry那儿学到两个常用语。一个是what"s her face, 也可以说what"s his face。意思是“那个叫什么什么的人”。李华学到的另一个常用语是thingamajig, 就相当于中文里所说的“那个玩意儿”。
「美国习惯用语」第九十九讲