Dis其實是disrespect這個詞的簡略形式,意思是不尊重,不重視。這個詞起先用在rap music繞舌音樂中。演唱的人以快速強烈的節(jié)奏說唱詞。近年來青少年中風行繞舌音樂,于是他們就在日常交談中借用了dis這個詞。
例如:I was supposed to meet these guys in front of MacDonald's at noon, but nobody showed up. What happened I don't know but may be they dissed me by going some place else without telling me.
我和這些人約定中午在麥當勞快餐店門前碰頭,但是他們連影兒都不見。我不清楚他們究竟是怎么回事。他們可能根本沒把我放在眼里,所以去了別的地方都沒跟我說一聲。
2.props
Dis的反義詞。Props意思是尊重,它是proper respect 的簡略形式。青少年常用props這個詞來恭維某人或者某人的作為,要注意的是剛才學的dis通常當動詞,而props卻是名詞。
例如:I really have to give you a lot of props. No one could have done a better job with this assignment. Our professor has to be more than impressed. You'll get an A for sure I think.
我可真佩服你。這個作業(yè)誰也不可能比你做得更出色的了。我們那位教授一定大為贊賞。我肯定你將得到A。
句中的give you a lot of props 意思是非常佩服你。
又如:I sure want to give you props for speaking up at the meeting. A lot of people felt the same way, but were too scared to say anything. You were the only one brave enough to speak you mind.
我可真敬佩你在會上大膽執(zhí)言。好多人雖然有同感卻嚇得不敢開口。只有你勇敢地把心里話說出來。
句中的give you props意思是敬佩你,說話的人對他朋友的仗義執(zhí)言表示敬佩。
3.sweet
這個詞對大家說來并不陌生,很多人知道它的意思是“甜的”,它是sour酸,或者bitter苦的反義詞。Sweet通常用來描述可口或者給人好感的事物。我們來看看一個小伙子在描述電視轉(zhuǎn)播的籃球賽時怎么應(yīng)用sweet 這個詞。
例如:That game was terrific! I love watching Chicago and New York play against one another because they play so hard. For the final play, the crowd went crazy because the last shot was so sweet.
這場球賽精彩極了。芝加哥隊和紐約隊打球都非常賣力,所以我特別愛看他們的比賽。最后一場使觀眾都興奮得發(fā)狂;最后一球投得棒極了。
這里的sweet用來描繪轟動全場的最后一次投藍,這里的sweet和味道無關(guān),它的意思是棒極了、精彩極了。
Sweet也可以用來贊嘆其它特別棒的事情。
例如:We got a good spot near the front and had the sweetest view of the fireworks. We were able to see all the different shapes, sizes and colors. It was fantastic, just fantastic!
我們在靠近前面的地方找到了看焰火的最佳位置。在那兒我們能把各種不同形狀大小的五彩繽紛的焰火都看得一清二楚。句中的sweetest用來描繪看焰火的好位置。它的意思就是“最好的。”
4.lame
我們大都知道lame表示“跛腿的”,當然lame用在俚語里就不是這個意思了,它的意思跟sweet正好相反,表示“糟糕的,差勁的”。
例如:That joke Karen told me was so lame. I couldn't believe it. She tried to be funny, but the punch line didn't make any body laugh. I think her sense of humor is really weird.
Karen講給我聽的那個笑話真糟糕,簡直令人難以置信。她拼命想說得滑稽,但是她那句逗笑的話卻一點沒引人發(fā)笑。我覺得她的幽默感有問題。
Lame可以用來描繪各種不同性質(zhì)的糟糕或者令人生厭的情況。
例如:The Introduction to Economics class is so lame! The professor puts us all to sleep with his boring lectures. He doesn't teach anything practical or interesting. I want to switch classes.
經(jīng)濟學導論可真差勁!那位教授枯燥的講課聽得叫人都睡著了。他教的東西一點都沒實用意義。我可要換班了。
5.24/7
習慣用語24/7是二十四小時和七天的簡稱。知道了這個來源它的意思就很明顯了。我們知道一天一共二十四小時,而一星期總共七天,所以24/7把一星期里的每一天、一天里的每一小時都包括在內(nèi)了。換句話說就是全部時間,或者每時每刻。
例句:Susan has been dating Gary for about a week, and she likes him a whole lot. It's difficult to get in touch with her because she's with him 24/7.
Susan和Gary開始談戀愛差不多有一星期了。她非常喜歡Gary。最近特別難找Susan,因為她一天到晚都跟Gary在外面約會。
24/7盡管來自年輕人,但不少略微年長的人受了年輕人的影響也在用這個說法。
例如:Taking care of babies is very difficult because they can't tell you what they want. My baby cries when he wants food, sleep, toys, or to be changed--everything. It seems like he is crying 24/7.
照顧嬰兒可真難,因為他們不會對你說自己想要什么。我那孩子一不對勁就哭,要吃了,要睡了,要玩具或者要換尿布了,都會哭。他似乎老在那兒沒完沒了地哭。
6.veg
Veg顯然來自vegetable。Veg是vegetable的簡略形式。Vegetable是蔬菜,長在地上的蔬菜是不能自由活動的,它靜靜地呆在原地不動。表面看來蔬菜被動呆板,但換個角度來想它們倒也活得悠閑自在。這也許就是veg這個說法的出典。青年人中veg的意思就是“什么也不干,什么也不想,完完全全地放松休息”。
例句:I'm so glad that the week is almost over! I've had too much work to do. So I'm staying home and vegging this weekend. I won't do anything not even think about my deadlines next week.
我真高興這個星期總算快過完了,我得做的事兒實在太多。所以這個周末我準備待在家靜靜地休息,我什么也不干,甚至連下星期那些截止日期都不去想。
有時候人們甚至等不到周末就想徹底地放松一下自己,因為一天工作下來確實令人精疲力盡了。我們來聽聽一名年輕職員下班后晚上的時間打算怎么渡過。
例如:I've run around the office all day. I'm exhausted! A whole pot of coffee couldn't keep me awake. I'm going straight home to veg--maybe watch a little television, then go to bed.
我一整天都在辦公室里東奔西走,實在困極了。一整壺咖啡都沒法讓我提神不瞌睡。我要直接回家去休息,可能看一下電視就上床睡覺了。
7.chill
Chill這個詞通常跟冷有關(guān),既可以指身體上的冷感也可以指情緒上的冷靜。但是在習慣用法中chill 和veg一樣有安靜休息的意思,只是chill 比veg更多一層意思,就是chill也能指抑制情緒激動。下句中說話的男孩兒正努力控制自己的情緒,以便頭腦清醒地考慮問題。請?zhí)貏e注意里面用到的chill這個詞。
例如:Oh, no! Mom's going to be so mad that we broke the window, and we'll be in deep trouble. We've got to chill and think about what story we can tell her, so she won't get too angry.
啊,糟了!媽媽看到我們打破玻璃會大發(fā)脾氣,那我們就得倒霉。我們一定要冷靜下來好好想一想,可以編出一套什么話來跟她說,讓她別那么生氣。
Chill也可以用來指純粹放松休息。特別注意下面這個小伙子的話里用到的chill跟剛才那個例子里的chill有什么不同。
例如:We didn't do much yesterday. Tim came over to my house, and we pretty much chilled there all day. We watched TV, played a few video games, and had some snacks--nothing special.
我們昨天沒做什么,Tim來我家,我們整天就在家里閑待著,我們看了會兒電視,再玩兒了幾盤電子游戲,然后吃了點兒點心,沒什么特別的活動。
這里的chill顯然指從事一些輕松悠閑的活動,或者就是放松休息。