LH: 我有个主意。We can both "get into" the car, 到花圃去。
LL: "Get into" the car. Very funny, Li Hua!
******
(Outdoor sounds, Larry and Li Hua are at the garden)
LL: I should have brought some garden gloves. My hands are getting all grubby from digging in the dirt.
LH: Grubby? 我猜grubby肯定是脏的意思。你的手还真是够脏的。
LL: Grubby does mean dirty. Li Hua, my hands are so grubby, I"ve got dirt under my fingernails. Yuck!
LH: 真没想到你还挺爱干净。别忘了，园艺一半的乐趣就在于浑身上下沾满泥土。
LL: Well, maybe you think so, Li Hua. I"m just glad I wore some grubby, old clothes. Look how grubby the knees of my pants are!
LH: 别抱怨了！在园圃里干活难免是要弄脏的。
LL: Okay, then I"ll stop complaining about being grubby. But, doesn"t it bother you, Li Hua?
LH: 不会啊，我喜欢这样。Why don"t you like getting grubby, Larry?
LL: I don"t think it is that unusual that I don"t like getting grubby, Li Hua. But I haven"t always been this way.
LH: 你以前不是这样？那你是什么样子呢？
LL: Oh, when I was a kid, I used to play outside all the time. I would come home grubby from head to toe!
LH: 从头到脚都是土? 那你妈妈肯定不高兴。
LL: No, after I came home from a day of playing outside, she would take me by my grubby little hand and take me straight to the bath tub.
LH: 好了，Larry. 今天就干到这吧，你看见那个工具房了吗？
LL: Grubby old tool shed? Oh, yes, I see it.
LH: 你能帮我把这些工具和这个桶放到那里收好吗？
LL: Sure, not a problem, Li Hua!
LH: 谢谢你，Larry. I hope you didn"t mind getting grubby too much.
今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是get into, 是喜欢的意思。另一个是grubby, 是脏的意思。
流行美语第264课
李华周末来看Larry。李华今天要学两个常用语，goof around和go halvsies.
LL: It sure is nice to see you, Li Hua. But, honestly I"ve got so many things I have to do right now. I"ve just goofed around all weekend and haven"t gotten anything done.
LH: You goofed around? 这是什么意思啊？
LL: To "goof around" means to not do the things you are supposed to do. And I really didn"t do what I was supposed to this weekend.
LH: 噢，原来goof around是游手好闲，不务正业的意思。那你有什么该做的事情没有做呢？
LL: I was supposed to do my laundry, dust and vacuum my apartment, mop my kitchen floor, and clean my bathroom. But because I goofed around, I didn"t do any of the cleaning I needed to do.
LH: 洗衣服、还要打扫房间、擦地板，这么多事啊！那你这两天都干了些什么呢？
LL: Instead of doing my housework, I watched movies on TV, talked to friends on the phone, and played computer games.
LH: You really did goof around. 又是看电影，又是打游戏的。难道你父母没有告诉过你，只有做完正事以后才能玩吗？
LL: They certainly did, Li Hua. But after a full week of work, I really didn"t feel like doing my house cleaning. In fact, I didn"t want to do much else besides goof around.
LH: 这我能理解，大家周末都想好好放松一下，不过也不能整个周末都这样无所事事啊。
LL: I know you are right, Li Hua. The weekend is really the only time I have to make sure my apartment is clean and that I have clean clothes.
LH: 现在可倒好，已经星期天晚上了，你明天上班有干净衣服穿吗！
LL: Well, then I"ve goofed around enough! I really need to do my laundry, Li Hua. So if you don"t mind, I am going to get to work.
LH: 我本来想和你出去看场电影，喝杯咖啡的，现在全泡汤了。
LL: Yeah, I am sorry, Li Hua. You shouldn"t have to go home, because I goofed around.
LH: 这样好了，我们商量商量，我可以帮你一起打扫房间。
LL: And then afterwards, we could still go for a cup of coffee.
*****
LL: I have a proposal for you, Li Hua. How about we go halvsies on my housework?
LH: Go halvsies，那又是什么意思啊？
LL: To "go halvsies" is to split something in half. In this case, I was hoping you could do half of my housework.
LH: 哎谁让你是我朋友呢！我愿意帮你干一半的家务。可是我们怎么分担呢？
LL: We can go halvsies by me doing the laundry and cleaning the bathroom, and you mopping the kitchen and doing the dusting and vacuuming.
LH: 等等，我得写下来，免得你反悔。你说你负责洗衣服和打扫厕所，我负责拖厨房的地板和吸尘。这么多事情，干完肯定累死了。那我们到时候可以出去吃东西。
LL: Well, rather than go out to eat, let"s go halvsies on ordering a pizza for delivery.
LH: 你是说咱俩各出一半的钱，点个比萨回来吃？好啊，我同意！
LL: Great! If we go halvsies on ordering a pizza for delivery right to the apartment, we will still have a lot of time. I"ll call the pizza place. How many pizzas should I order?
LH: 我不是特别饿，点个大号的，就应该够咱俩吃的了。
LL: Okay, then one pizza it is. I"ll also order a bottle of soda, and we can go halvsies on that, too.
LH: 汽水？好啊，不过都是你的，我可不想喝。
LL: How about dessert? We can go halvsies on some cookies or a pie?
LH: 我有个更好的主意。与其吃饼干，不如我们干完活一起去吃冰激凌吧，也算是慰劳一下自己。
LL: Good idea! After we finish working, we can go halvsies on some ice cream.
LH: 我可没说要跟你分，整个冰激凌都是我一个人的！
今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是goof around, 是消磨时间，不务正业的意思。另一个是go halvsies, 是一人一半的意思。
美国习惯用语第265讲
今天我们再来给大家讲解两个以steam为主的常用语。我们先来讲第一个。To go full steam ahead. Full就是全部，steam是蒸汽，ahead就是向前。To go full steam ahead的意思是：全力以赴。
原来，to go full steam ahead是一艘船的船长给手下人发的命令。意思是：以最快的速度向前行驶。现在，to go full steam ahead已经不局限在船上使用了。它可以用在任何场合。意思是以快速完成一项工作。我们来引用美国报纸曾经登过的一篇文章里的一段，来看看to go full steam ahead是怎么用的。
例句-1: White House sources tell us that President Clinton has told his staff to go full steam ahead to draft a new health care bill to send to Congress before the end of the month.
这句话的意思是：来自白宫的消息告诉我们，克林顿总统已经命令他手下的工作人员要用最快的速度来完成有关起草保健改革新提案的工作，以便在这个月月底前送交国会。
******
我们再来举一个例子。这是一个公司的经理在埋怨手下工作人员工作无效。
例句-2: I assigned the team two weeks ago to study the problem and find a solution. But I was told nothing has been done so far. So I called the team leader in today and told him to go full steam ahead and send me a report by the end of the week.
这个经理：我在两个星期前就指派这个小组研究这个问题，找出解决方案。但是，有人告诉我，他们到目前为止什么也没做。所以，今天我把那个组长叫来了。我告诉他要以最快的速度完成这个任务，并在这个周末前把报告交给我。
******
下面我们在来给大家介绍一个以steam这个字为主的习惯用语。To blow off steam. To blow 在这里很明显是一个动词。它的意思是:吹，或者是喷气。To blow off steam从字面来解释就是排除蒸气，但是做为习惯用语，它的意思就是发泄心里的火气。
蒸气机是靠锅炉提供的热气来运作的。在锅炉内，蒸气逐渐使压力增高。锅炉有一个安全活门，在锅炉内压力高到危险程度的时候，蒸气就从安全活门里喷出去以减低压力。可是，要是安全活门坏了，锅炉就会像丨炸丨弹那样爆炸。作为习惯用语，to blow off steam就是说：要是你心里有火，你就让火发出来，不要闷在心里。下面是一个例子。这是一个人对他的同事发过脾气后在向他们道歉。
例句-3: I"m sorry I yelled at you people. What happened wasn"t your fault - I know that. But things have gone wrong all day, and I had to blow off steam at somebody!
这个人说：我对你们大声嚷嚷，非常抱歉。这件事不是你们的错。这我也知道。但是，这一天里，什么事都不顺当。我总得拿某个人出出气。