LL: Well, I received an invitation to a very fancy New Year"s Eve party once from my boss. I didn"t read the invitation very closely though.
LH: Uh-oh. 你犯了什么不可饶恕的 party foul 吗？
LL: Well, when I showed up at the party and all the men were wearing tuxedos, I knew I had committed a party foul.
LH: 别人都穿正式的燕尾服，只有你一个人穿西装，肯定特尴尬吧？哎，时间不早了，咱们是不是该走了？
******
LL: This has been a nice party, but you are right, Li Hua. We really should split.
LH: We need to split. Split 不是把东西劈成两半的意思吗？
LL: It is, but split S-P-L-I-T is also a slang term meaning to leave a place - and sometimes to leave a place quickly.
LH: 噢，原来是马上离开的意思。我前天晚上看了一个老的西部片，有个匪徒杀人后就说他要 split town, 逃出城。
LL: That"s a good example, Li Hua. That meant he had to get out of town quickly, before the police figured out he had committed the crime.
LH: 好吧，Larry, 我准备好了，Let"s split! 我们走吧。
LL: That"s a perfect use of "split", Li Hua! But before we split, we really should go find Sam and thank him for a fun evening.
LH: 对啊，不跟主人打招呼就走，别人会觉得我们没礼貌的。
LL: You"re right, Li Hua. Oh, there is Sam over there. I"m going to go over and tell him we are going to split.
LH: 等等，Larry. 你看，还有这么多人呢，我们不会走得太早了吧？
LL: No, I don"t think it is too early for us to split. We"ve been here a couple of hours already. Plus, Sam will understand. He knows I have to work tomorrow - and that you have to teach classes.
LH: 那好，我在这儿等你。
(Party sounds and music)
LL: There. I told Sam we were going to split, and that we had a great time.
LH: Sam 没有不高兴吧？
LL: Oh, no. Not at all. In fact, he said he was glad we came and hoped we would come again the next time he had a party.
今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是party foul, 是在part上出丑的意思。另一个是split,是赶快走的意思。
美国习惯用语第253讲
今天我们要讲的两个习惯用语都有一个关键的字。这个关键的字就是：Fish. Fish就是很多人都爱吃的鱼。我们今天要讲的第一个以fish这个字为主的习惯用语就是：A fine kettle of fish. Fine就是好的，kettle是煮食品的大铁锅。A fine kettle of fish是指乱七八糟，很令人不愉快的事。这个说法可能是二百五十年前来自苏格兰。
当时，人们把在河边举行野餐会叫做a kettle of fish，因为参加野餐会的人把刚刚从河里钓上来的新鲜鱼放到一个大铁锅里，然后再用木材搭一个火来煮。这些鱼一般都是匆匆忙忙地煮熟了，然后人们把这些滚烫的鱼从锅里拿出来，用手拿着吃。这当然会把手弄得很脏，有时还会把手烫着了。下面我们来举一个例子。这是一个人在说他丢了汽车钥匙所带来的麻烦。
例句-1: There I was, stuck on a lonely road 50 miles from home, after I was stupid enough to lock myself out of my car. It was dark and not a house in sight. A fine kettle of fish, I tell you!
这个人说：我实在是非常傻，把汽车钥匙锁在车里，因此没法把车门打开了。那发生在离我家五十英里的一条路上，四周没有人。当时,天已经黑了，周围看不到一栋房子。我告诉你，那可真是糟糕。
把车钥匙锁在汽车里是经常发生的事。但是许多在美国居住的人都参加一种汽车服务组织，每年付一些会费。要是你开车在路上出了问题，不管是把钥匙忘在车里了，还是因为忘了关车灯了，电池没了，或其他问题，你可以打电话去让他们来帮你解决问题。当然，要是周围没有人，也没有电话，那就麻烦了。
******
有不少美国人都参加俱乐部。有的是跟自己的行业有关的，有的跟自己的兴趣有关的。有的人参加好几个俱乐部。每个俱乐部的规模不同，但是一般都有负责人和财务员。下面是一个人在说他所属俱乐部的财务员突然辞职，因此帐目弄得一塌糊涂。
例句2: He left a fine kettle of fish behind. We couldn"t find out what our money had been spent for; we couldn’t tell which members had paid their dues, and the rent wasn"t paid. What a mess!
这个人说：他真是留下了一个乱摊子。我们弄不清楚我们的钱是怎么花的。我们也不知道哪些俱乐部成员已经付了会费。我们的房租也没有交。真是一团糟。
******
我们今天要讲的第二个习惯用语是：To have other fish to fry. 这里的 fry是指在油里煎。这个习惯用语的真正含义是：当某人请另外一个人做一件事的时候，这个人表示他还有其他更重要的事要做。有的时候，这种回答是真的，有的时候只是一种借口。
下面我们来举一个例子。这是一个人在请他的朋友为一个慈善机构筹款。这个朋友是这么回答的。
例句3: Hey, Joseph, you know I"d sure like to help you raise money for the Red Cross. But I have other fish to fry - I"m chairman of the committee to raise money to fix the roof on my church.
这个朋友回答说：嗨，约瑟夫，你知道我肯定是愿意帮你为红十字会筹款的。但是，我有其他的事。我们教堂的屋顶要修，而我是筹款委员会的主席。
******
下面是一个丈夫在对妻子说他自己的生活计划。
例句4: Honey, they want me to run for Congress, but I said no. I have other fish to fry - I need all my time for my business so I can retire when I reach 50 and we can move to Hawaii.
这个丈夫说：亲爱的，他们要我竞选国会议员，但是我拒绝了。我还有别的事要干。我需要把所有的时间放在我的生意上。这样我到了五十岁就能退休，然后我们可以搬到夏威夷去住。
流行美语第253课
Larry和李华在咖啡店里买咖啡。李华今天要学两个常用语，newbie和been around.
LL: Wow, it seems to be taking a long time for this guy to get our coffee made. Maybe he is a newbie.
LH: A newbie? 你说他是新来的？
LL: Right. A newbie is someone that is new to a place, activity or organization.
LH: 你说得对，他肯定是新手，好像连咖啡机还用不好呢！
LL: It is like this new guy in my office. He just started work the day before yesterday. He doesn"t know where anything is.
LH: 初来乍到是最困难的时候，Larry, 你一定要帮帮这个新同事。
LL: I have been helping him, and he"s doing pretty well for a newbie. He is clearly very bright and has picked up on a lot of things very quickly.
LH: 我们的咖啡来了，我们找地儿坐吧。
LL: MMMmmm...It may have taken him a while to make the coffee, but the newbie did a good job. This coffee is great!
LH: 你看，有时候对新手就是要有耐心。我还记得刚开始教中文的时候，样样东西都要学。
LL: What did you find the most difficult about being a newbie Chinese teacher, Li Hua?
LH: 当初最让我头痛的就是安排课堂活动，我总是掌握不好各项活动的时间长短。
LL: Yeah, when I was a newbie, I remember having to learn where everything was in the office and who was responsible for which aspects of my job. . .Say, Li Hua, I want to show you something on my lap top.
(Takes out lap top)
LH: 是新的电脑游戏吗？
LL: Yes, it is a fantasy role-playing game where you pretend to be a warrior or a wizard and run around attacking people and collecting treasure. I"ve just started the game, so I am kind of a newbie.
LH: 这里面好像还有其他人，他们也是newbies吗？
LL: No, some people have been playing the game for a long time. Their characters are very experienced, and they have fun attacking and stealing treasure from the newbies.
LH: 那你肯定也是被这些老手欺负的对象喽？我是不会玩电脑游戏，也没兴趣。
LL: You should try it, Li Hua. It is a lot of fun to play computer games, and it gets more fun when you aren"t a newbie any more.
LH: 还是算了吧，在电脑游戏上面，我宁愿做个newbie.
******
LL: Well, when it comes to computer games, I"ve been around - if you know what I mean, Li Hua.
LH: "Been around"? 我还真不知道这是什么意思。
LL: "Been around" means to have lots of experience doing something. It is actually short for a longer expression...
LH: 我想起来了。说什么人特别老道，就是"He has been around the block."
LL: That"s right! We shorten it to ""been around,"" but it basically means the same thing.
LH: 所以你说自己""have been around."" 就是说你打过很多电脑游戏喽？