在这次节目里我们要讲的两个习惯用语都是形容有的人用来欺骗别人的手法。美国人有许多有关欺骗的习惯用语，但是像其他的习惯用语一样，有的随着时间被淘汰了，而新的习惯用语又不断出现。最近几年来，在形容欺骗方面，人们经常用下面这个习惯用语：Smoke and mirrors. Smoke就是烟，mirrors是镜子。Smoke and mirrors这个说法是从那儿来的呢？
实际上，这是从变魔术而来。魔术师往往让观众们相信他能使得一个人突然不见，然后又突然出现。要使人产生这么样的幻觉，魔术师一般都是用烟和镜子作为手段。所以，smoke and mirrors就成了欺骗别人的常用语。换句话说，也就是使用不真实的消息来蒙混别人。克林顿总统曾经在一次讲话中也用了smoke and mirrors 这个说法。他说，在他的发展经济和减少预算赤字方面，他不会用欺骗手段来蒙蔽全国人民。
在看魔术的时候被骗倒是很好玩，但是在实际生活中被人欺骗，那绝对不是好玩的事。下面是一个例子。这是一个参加竞选的人在批评对立党内的一个竞选对手。
例句1: My opponent"s plan is nothing but smoke and mirrors: he"s simply pulled his numbers out of the air to make it look like he can balance the budget without new taxes.
他说：我那竞选对手的计划根本就是一个骗局。他只是毫无根据地提出几个数字，让人们觉得好像他可以不增加新的税收就平衡预算。
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我们再来举一个例子。这是一个人受了他朋友的骗，正在发泄心中的不满。
例句2: I told Mark about my plan to merge with a company in New York and asked his help. He promised to do all he could and even offered some ideas. But this was all smoke and mirrors. He bought that New York company himself last week - what a nasty trick!
这个人说：我告诉马克有关我想跟纽约那个公司合并的计划，并希望他能给予帮助。他说他一定尽力帮忙，甚至还给我提了一些建议。可是，结果这些全是骗人的。上个星期他自己把那个纽约公司买下来了。真下流。
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现在我们来讲第二个意思是欺骗的习惯用语。Bum steer. Bum就是不好的，或者是错误的。Steer就是引导向某个方向发展。把bum和 steer两个字合在一起就成了一个习惯用语。意思是：假的信息，或者是使人迷惑的信息。下面是一个例子，这是一个受害于假信息的公司总裁。
例句3: I flew out to Los Angeles when I heard this company wanted to buy a million dollars worth of our equipment. But it turned out to be a bum steer, just a rumor spread by one of our competitions to make trouble for us.
这个总裁说：我搭飞机到洛山矶去，因为我听说这个公司要买我们的设备，价值达一百万美元。但是，这个消息结果是假的，是我们竞争对象之一为了给我们制造麻烦而散布的谣言。
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下面这个例子是一个人在说他认识的一个女孩。
例句4: I really feel sorry for Mary. She moved all the way from San Francisco to New York believing that Frank would marry her as he promised. But his promise was a pure bum steer. Mary found out he"s already married and has two kids.
这个人说：我真是为玛丽感到难受。她老远的从旧金山搬到纽约来，相信弗兰克会跟她结婚，就像他保证的那样。可是，他的保证全是假的。玛丽发现他是结了婚的，还有两个孩子。
流行美语第255课
Larry和李华刚刚忙完手头的工作。他们一起去吃冰激凌。李华今天要学两个常用语：my treat和ginormous.
LL: Well, Li Hua, you just finished a big paper, and I just finished an important project at work. Let"s go for ice cream and celebrate. It"ll be my treat.
LH: 冰激凌是your treat? 可我也要吃啊，应该是our treat才对吧。
LL: Well, the ice cream will certainly be for both of us - and it will be a treat for both of us, but when I said it was "my treat" I meant that I would pay for the ice cream.
LH: 哦，原来是你要请客啊！
LL: That"s right, to TREAT someone means to pay for someone"s food or entertainment as a form of a gift.
LH: 那太好了。谢谢你请我去吃冰激凌。
LL: It is my pleasure, Li Hua.
LH: 为了表示感谢，这个周末我请你去中国餐馆吃饭。My treat.
LL: That"s very considerate, Li Hua. But you don"t really have to treat me to dinner just because I treated you to ice cream.
LH: 我可不是因为你请我吃冰激凌才请你去吃饭的，我请你吃饭是因为咱俩是好朋友嘛！
LL: In that case, I"ll be happy to go for Chinese food this weekend - especially if it is your treat.
LH: 我有个问题，Larry, 在美国，如果有人提出请你吃饭，你还用争着付钱吗？
LL: Generally, you can try to protest a little, but the most polite thing to do is to let the other person treat you and allow his or her to feel generous.
LH: 在中国的时候，我有个叔叔，人特别大方，经常请朋友和家里人出去吃饭。
LL: It is wonderful to have generous relatives. When I was growing up, my grandmother would always treat us to the circus - or sometimes a movie.
LH: 看马戏？哎(叹气) -- 小时候真好！我爸爸也经常带我去看木偶剧。
LL: Yeah. My Dad would always treat us to ice cream at a shop just like this one. Say, why don"t you go ahead and order your ice cream, Li Hua.
LH: 我要一个巧克力、香草和草莓的冰激凌蛋筒。
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LL: That is the most ginormous ice cream cone I have ever seen, Li Hua.
LH: Ginormous? 你是想说enormous吧？
LL: Well, actually, Li Hua. You are right. I do mean that your ice cream cone is enormous. But ginormous is a slang word formed from two other words: gigantic and enormous.
LH: 哦，gigantic前面的音和enormous后面的音连在一起，就变成了ginormous, 也就是特别、特别、特别大的意思喽？
LL: Yes. Something that is ginormous is both gigantic and enormous. It is something that is really, really, really big.
LH: 我饿极了，现在正需要一个ginormous的冰激凌，因为我有一个ginormous的胃口。
LL: You just want to be careful that you don"t eat too many sweets, Li Hua. You don"t want to end up with a ginormous cavity!
LH: 吃甜的长个大虫牙我倒不担心，我担心的是我的腰围。
LL: Hey, here comes my hot fudge sundae. Wow! It is ginormous, too. Maybe we should have split one ice cream between the two of us.
LH: 吃完这两个特大号的冰激凌，恐怕我们就得赶紧节食了。
LL: You aren"t kidding. I think this ice cream must contain a ginormous amount of fat and calories.
LH: 嗨，管它呢，先吃了再说。
LL: That sound"s good...Oh, watch out, Li Hua! Your ice cream cone is melting and starting to tip! If it falls on the floor, it"ll make a ginormous mess.
LH: 还好你提醒我，总算没掉下来。不过我还是得赶快去拿一大叠餐巾纸来，先准备着。
LL: That"s a good idea. I could use a napkin, too. I think I have a ginormous chocolate moustache from my sundae.
LH: 巧克力胡子？Ha, ha...你的巧克力冰激凌确实沾了一嘴。快给你，餐巾纸。
今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是 my treat, 是我请客的意思。另一个是ginormous,是巨大无比的意思。
美国习惯用语第256讲
今天我们给大家介绍两个以 smoke为主的常用语。首先我们要讲的是：To go up in smoke. 大家知道，smoke就是烟。To go up in smoke是指某项工程，或某个交易没有取得任何成果，就像烟一样一下子就消失了。我们来举一个例子。这是一个生活在美国西部的农民在说话。他经营一个小小的农场，生活很贫苦。他说：
例句-1: This big oil company thought there might be a lot of oil in the ground under our farm. They drilled three wells but got nothing out of them buy dirt. So all our dreams of being millionaires went up in smoke.
这个农民说：这个大石油公司以为我们农场的地下有很多石油。他们挖了三口油井，但是除了土以外，从油井里什么也没有得到。所以，我们想成为百万富翁的美梦全部成了泡影。
这句话里有几个字可以说明，有不少英文字在不同场合有不同的解释。比如说，这句话里用的 oil这个字。Oil就是油，这是一个总称。烧菜的油可以称为oil，任何油类的液体都可以用oil这个名称。但是在这个句子里，从上下文里就可以知道，说话的人是在讲石油。这句话里用的well这个字也是一样，水井在英文里叫做well，油井也叫做well，要看所指的情况而定。
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我们再来举一个例子。这是一个年轻人原来准备学医，将来当医生。可是，偶然发生的一件事使他的梦想不能实现。下面是这个年轻人在对他的朋友说话。
例句2: I was all set to go to medical school next September. But dad"s company suddenly went bankrupt and it"s too late to apply for a student loan. I"m afraid my dream of being a doctor has just gone up in smoke.