今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是hip, 意思是很棒、很酷、很时髦。还有一个是square， 意思是保守，不时髦。
美国习惯用语第228讲
上回我们已经给大家讲过两个跟break这个字有关的习惯用语，今天我们还要给大家讲两个非常有用的，也是以break这个字为主的习惯用语。第一个是：To break the news. News就是新闻。To break the news并不是把一条新闻打破，而是把什么新闻或情况告诉某人，而往往这种消息是不好的。下面这个例子是一个公司的总裁在跟他的助手讲话。
例句-1: That old guy who runs our mailroom has been with us for thirty years. But he can"t handle the work any more so I"m going to have to break the news to him that it"s time for him to retire.
这个公司的负责人说：那个管理我们收发室的老头已经给我们工作了三十年。但是他现在已经不能再胜任这个工作了，所以，我不得不去告诉他这个不好
流行美语第228课
Larry和李华今天去看赛车。 李华会学到两个常用语sick和souped up。
LH: Larry，你看， 每辆赛车都不一样，各有独特之处，真有意思。
LL: That car over there is totally sick. Look at the paint and the tires. That is so cool. I"d love to have a car like that.
LH: That car over there is totally sick？ 你说那辆车有病，可你又说它很酷。有病是坏事， 很酷是好事。你究竟在说什么呀？
LL: Cool means I like that car, sick means I like the car too. If I say something is sick, that means it"s really good, I like it, it"s special.
LH: 原来sick 和cool是一样的意思，都是指很好，很特别。这里的sick跟生病毫无关。那我可以说，you are neat Larry, you"re special, you are so sick.
LL: Hmm. You shouldn"t use sick in that way! I would never say my friend is sick or that pretty girl over there is sick.
LH: 你的意思是sick只用来形容一样东西？
LL: That"s right. That car over there is sick, those sunglasses you are wearing are sick, that new hat I bought you is sick too.
LH: 我的太阳镜的确很酷，可是你给我买的帽子就很难说了。 Larry你看我的新鞋好看吗？
LL: Totally sick，very nice. Where did you get them?
LH: 特别酷吧。这双鞋是我在学校附近新开的大商场里买的。那商场的建筑很特别 - The structure of that shopping center is very unique...totally sick!
LL: The company that developed that shopping center is owned by a friend of my Dad"s, his company is opening new shopping centers every other week.
LH: 那购物中心是你父亲的朋友建的呀？ 而且每两个星期就开一个新的购物中心！他肯定很有钱了。
LL: That"s for sure. Their revenue is pretty sick。 With company growth like that, I bet my Dad"s friend"s net worth is pretty sick too.
LH：那是肯定的。收入那么多，家产当然是惊人的。我们中国人就说：家产万贯。
******
LH: Larry, 看赛车真有意思。你看，赛车奔驰而过， 人群不断地呐喊助威，多热闹啊。
LL: A lot of people come to car races for the excitement but a lot just come to see the souped up cars.
LH: See the souped up cars? Soup不是汤吗？Souped up cars是什么呀？
LL: Souped up means changed or altered to go faster.
LH: 噢，souped up的意思是经过改装，速度加快了。这里的赛车一定都经过改装。它们的速度比普通汽车要快得多。
LL: That"s right. If someone takes an ordinary bicycle and changes the wheels so it can go faster, we can say it was souped up.
LH: 自行车也能改装加速吗？那我的自行车也该换换车胎了。
LL: One time I had a skateboard, but it wasn"t very fast. My Dad helped me soup it up with some new parts. After that my skateboard was one of the fastest in the neighborhood.
LH: 滑板也能改装，让它加快速度呀？ 你可要注意安全啊。对了，我以前也改装过电脑。我的朋友帮我安装了一些新的电脑软件，那电脑一下子快了不少。我用了好多年，直到没法再加快了。后来我只好再买一个新的。
LL: Souped up is also often used with the Internet. When Google or Yahoo makes an improvement in their search engine, they"ll often say that a certain type of search has been souped up.
LH: 对了，上回我看到Google和Yahoo的广告，说它们的搜索引擎速度加快，当时我也不懂什么是souped up。今天才弄清楚，souped up就是为了加快速度而改装。
LL：For some people, souping up motorcycles or cars is their hobby. I knew a guy who was always souping up something in his spare time.
LH：还有人把改装东西作为嗜好？真是难以想象。我要有空就去购物中心。
LL: Well, looks like the red car has won the race, let"s go home.
LH: 我就说嘛， 那辆红车一定会赢。我们走吧。
LL: Too bad we can"t take one of these souped up cars and quickly get home for dinner. I"m hungry.
今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是sick，意思是很棒、很酷。 还有一个是souped up， 意思是为了加快速度而改装某样东西。
美国习惯用语第229讲
在这次节目里，我们要给大家介绍的习惯用语都是跟动物有关，但是这些动物你在动物园里恐怕是找不到的。我们首先要给大家讲的是：Sacred cow. Sacred是神圣的意思，cow就是一头牛。Sacred cow从字面上来解释，它的意思是：神圣的牛。Sacred cow这个说法是本世纪初来自印度。在印度，牛是神圣的，它们可以在马路上大摇大摆地走，即便影响交通也没有人敢碰它们，因为印度古代的宗教习惯是保护它们的。但是，作为习惯用语，sacred cow是指某个人，或某样东西，从来没有受到批评或嘲笑，即便在应该批评的时候也没有人敢这样做，就像印度的牛一样。当然，每个国家都有自己神圣的牛。美国政界就有很多这样不能碰的东西。下面就是一例。
例句-1: One of our biggest sacred cows is the national social security program which pays many older Americans a pension. This program costs more money every year. But politicians are afraid to touch it because older folks have a lot of votes.
这句话的意思是：我们最神圣不可侵犯的项目之一就是为美国老年人提供退休金的全国社会保障计划。这个计划的费用每年都在增加。但是，政界人士都不敢碰它，因为老年人有很多选票。
******
神圣不可侵犯的事情不仅每个国家有，而且恐怕每个人都有。下面这个例句是说一个非常注意身体健康的人。
例句2: Laura takes great care of her health. She"s been very careful about what she eats and spends an hour every morning doing exercises. This has become her sacred cow - nothing can change her schedule rain or shine.
这句话是说：劳拉非常注意自己的身体健康，她对她吃的东西非常小心。她还每天早上化一小时来锻炼身体。这已经成为她神圣不可侵犯的活动了，什么事都不能改变她的日程，真是雷打不动。
许多美国人很注意身体锻炼，有的是为了健康，还有不少是为了减肥，保持身材。有的公司就有健身房，工作人员可以抽空去锻炼。有的人参加离家比较近的健身房，下了班或周末去锻炼。
******
刚才我们讲了一个跟牛有关的习惯用语，sacred cow.下面我们再来讲一个跟马有关的习惯用语。Dark horse. Dark就是暗的，或者是暗黑的，horse就是一匹马。Dark horse并不是一匹颜色暗黑的马。作为习惯用语，dark horse是指一匹没有名气的赛马，但是有的时候，它却会出人意料地获胜。这是dark horse的原来意思。现在，新闻界经常在政治性的报导中用这个习惯用语来指一个原来毫无名气的政界人士，但是他突然出面参加竞选，跟有名气的竞选人竞争。在一般情况下，dark horse往往是落选的，但是也不一定，就像下面这个例子一样：
例句3: Our congressman had been in Washington 20 years and thought we"d keep voting for him forever. This year, though, the other party nominated a dark horse out of nowhere. He kept telling voters it was time for a change and he won the election.
这人说：我们的国会议员已经在华盛顿二十年了，他以为我们会永远投他的票。然而，今年另一个党提名了一个不知从那儿冒出来的人，谁也不认识他。他不断地告诉选民，现在是进行改变的时候了。结果他当选了。
******
下面一个例子是一个选民在评论几个竞选州长的候选人。
例句4: People tend to elect candidates who have big names. But after listening to the new candidate"s speech, I think he makes a lot of sense. I"m going to vote for him even though he"s a dark horse.