这个拳击爱好者说:这个年轻运动员看来很有潜力。最后,他确实被打败了,但是,他在比赛过程中有好几次很厉害地打击了对方。也许,他以后会成为最好的拳击手之一。
我们已经在以前的节目里讲过,美国人非常喜欢运动,除了橄榄球以外,他们还喜欢棒球,网球,高尔夫球等。拳击也是美国人爱看的运动之一,而且还出现了世界有名的拳击手。
大家都听到了这句话里用的quite a few good licks,意思就是很有效地向对方进行几次拳击。但是,要是你要说某个拳击手被打败了的话,那你就得改变说法了。
To get a good licking. Licking也就是在lick这个字后面加上ing. Licking. 要是你要说那个年轻拳击手昨天被打的惨败,你就得说:
例句-2: The young boxer got a good licking yesterday.
下面这个例子是用 lick 这个字来表明克服了一个问题或者是一个困难。这是一个人想办法来克服他的头痛病。
例句-3: I"ve had this horrible head cold for weeks and I’ve taken all kinds of medicine to try to lick it. Then I stayed in bed for a couple of days and that finally licked it for good.
这个人说:几个星期来,我因为感冒而头痛得非常利害,我用了各种各样的药设法来治它。后来,我乾脆睡了两整天,这才终于把头痛给治好了。
我们今天要讲的第二个以lick这个字为主的俗语就是: Lickety split. Lickety split是一种非常口语的说法,意思是:一个人尽力地跑得飞快。你听了下面这个例句就会知道在什么情况下一个人会这么跑。
例句-4: Last week I went on a hunting trip in the north woods with two friends. Joe left our camp to get some more wood for the fire. Ten minutes later we heard all this yelling, and here came Joe, running lickety split with a big, angry bear about three feet behind him!
这个人说:上星期,我和两个朋友一起到北部森林去打猎。乔伊为了营火到我们露营地外面去拿点木柴。十分钟后,我们听到大声嚷嚷的声音。然后,乔伊就飞快地往回跑,一只怒气冲冲的大熊正在他后面大约三英尺的地方追他。」这简直就是逃命,怪不得他跑那末快呢。
当然,人们不一定是在生命有危害的时候才跑的飞快。下面就是一个例子。这是讲一个正在等待大学录取通知书的高中毕业生。
例句-5: Jack applied to several universities after he graduated from high school, but his number one choice is Harvard. Last week when he was in the swimming pool, his brother went to tell him that a letter from Harvard had arrived. He ran home lickety split.
这句话的意思是:杰克在中学毕业后报考了好几所大学,但是,他的第一志愿是哈佛大学。上星期当他在游泳池游泳的时候,他弟弟去告诉他有一封哈佛来的信。他就飞快地往家跑。
我们今天讲的两个习惯用语都是和lick这个字有关的。第一个是: Lick. Lick这个字的一般解释是用舌头舔,但是在作为俗语的时候,它有攻击对方,或者是设法克服某种困难的含义。今天我们还给大家讲解了: Lickety split.
流行美语第159课
经过一个星期的紧张考试，学期结束了，Larry和李华正在很轻松地吃午饭。今天李华会学到两个常用语：flying colors和to butter up。
LL: Well, Li Hua, how do you think you did on your English exam? I"d be willing to bet that you passed it with flying colors.
LH: 我想我英语考试考得还可以。你刚才说你敢打赌我一定会通过，但是with flying colors是什么意思啊？ Flying就是飞; colors是颜色, flying colors，我可不懂。
LL: Oh, to pass a test or an exam with flying colors means that you did a really great job.
LH: 噢，flying colors就是非常出色。你的意思是我英语考试一定考得非常出色。是不是出色，我可不知道，其实只要及格，我就很高兴了。
LL: Come on, you had me for a tutor. I"m sure you did well!
LH: 你辅导我英语，我就一定会考得成绩优异？你真的对自己的辅导这么有信心啊？
LL: That"s not a very appreciative attitude, Li Hua. Whether or not you pass the exam with flying colors, I still put in a lot of time helping you.
LH: 跟你开个玩笑嘛！我知道你花了很多时间和心血来辅导我的英语。我怎么会不感谢你呢！不管我考的好不好，我都应该谢谢你呀。
LL: You helped me a lot, too. I"m not sure if I passed my Chinese exam with flying colors, but I"m sure that I got at least a B+.
LH: 你肯定你的中文考试能得个B+? 那已经算是很出色了。对了，你刚才是怎么说来啦？ 噢，我想起来，flying colors。好了，现在一切都结束了。暑期里，你不需要再苦苦地读中文了！
LL: I know, I"m so glad this semester is over.
LH: 就是啊。学期结束真让我感到轻松。 这个星期我什么也不想做了。
LL: We both deserve a break. Even if we didn"t pass all our courses with flying colors, we both worked really hard all semester.
LH: 我同意，尽管我们不见得每门功课都成绩优异，我们都已经尽最大的努力了，应该休息一下！
******
LH: 嗨，Larry，你看起来好帅！是不是今晚有约会啊？
LL: No, I don"t have a date tonight. Why are you being so nice? Are you trying to butter me up for something?
LH: 说你帅，还要问我为什么对你这么好？你真是疑神疑鬼的。还说我想什么来啦？Butter up, butter不是黄油吗？什么意思呀？
LL: To butter someone up is to be really nice to him so that you can ask him for something.
LH: 其实，我猜到了，to butter up就是为了得到好处而拍人马屁的意思。哼，我才不会那么做呢！
LL: I know you weren"t trying to butter me up, Li Hua. I was just joking with you.
LH: 好吧，只要你知道，我是诚心诚意的赞美你，不是另有企图，别有用心就好了。
LL: I know you"re not like that, but there"s a girl in my Chinese class who is.
LH: 真的啊？你的中文班里有个女孩就是这样的人？她怎么啦？
LL: She was really nice to me one day. She offered to help me with my homework and everything. It turns out, she was just buttering me up so that she could ask me to help her move to a new apartment.
LH: 原来她是想让你帮忙搬家啊！其实她没有必要帮你做任何事，直接了当请你帮忙不就行了嘛！也许她不好意思。
LL: I guess, but what bothers me is that she ignored me until she needed my help with something. She was only nice to me when she was buttering me up to ask for help.
LH: 原来如此。她过去从来不理你，到了要你帮忙的时候才来拍马屁。那她也真是太会利用人了。
今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是flying colors，这是指的是什么事情做得很出色。另一个常用语是to butter up，这是指为了得到好处而拍人马屁。
美国习惯用语第一百六十讲
To shape up or ship out
To rock the boat
今天我们要给大家介绍两个和船有关的习惯用语。船在英文里就是: Ship. 船员或者和水上生活有关的人创造了一套他们自己的语言。但是,他们的有些表达形式已经上了岸,成为日常用语了。和 ship 有关的俗语还不少,我们今天只能给大家讲解两个, 我们要讲的第一个是: To shape up or ship out. To shape up or ship out，我们先来看前面一半 to shape up. To shape up 的意思是改进你的工作或行为。后面一半 to ship out 就是离开一个地方。把前后两部份合在一起 to shape up or ship out 就成了一个俗语,意思是:要就改进你的工作,否则就离开这儿。美国的陆军里经常用这个俗语。下面这个例子是一个陆军中士在训斥一个二等兵。
例句-1:"Jones, you are without a doubt the worst soldier in the whole company! Your uniform looks like you slept in it! Your rifle is always dirty, and you can’t follow a simple order! I’m telling you, soldier -- either shape up or ship out, you hear me!"
这个中士很严厉,他说:「琼斯,毫无疑问你是整个连队里最糟糕的兵。你的制服皱得好像睡衣似的,你的枪支老那末脏,你连简单的命令都不能执行。我告诉你,你要就做出改进,否则就请你走路,懂吗!」
我们上面说 to shape up or ship out 这个俗语在陆军里用的比较多,但是在日常生活中也可能出现的。例如,一个公司的老板对手下一个雇员说:
例句-2: "Mary, you often come late in the morning and leave early in the evening, and you are always on the phone talking to your friends. This is not acceptable here. I’m now giving you a last chance, either shape up or ship out. "
这个老板说:「玛丽,你经常早上迟到,晚上早退,你还老和朋友在电话上聊天。这种表现在这里是不能接受的。我现在给你一个最后的机会,要就改进你的表现,否则你就离开这里。」