今天,Michael 和他的中國(guó)同學(xué)李華約好了在中央公園見(jiàn)面。他們?cè)趯?duì)話中會(huì)用到兩個(gè)詞:drag 和 trip。
L: 對(duì)不起, Michael,我遲到了。地鐵誤點(diǎn)了。
M: Hey, Li Hua. Don't apologize, it's a nice day to just sit here and relax.
L: 對(duì),坐在這里休息休息是挺好的。我也很喜歡這個(gè)公園。不過(guò),我們得到大都市藝術(shù)博物館去看攝影展覽吶!
M: Oh, do we have to go? I hate going to the museum on such a nice day, it's such a drag.
L: 喲,你覺(jué)得這么好的天氣去博物館太沒(méi)意思,就不想去了? Michael,你答應(yīng)過(guò)我,要是我到這兒來(lái),你就跟我一起去。你說(shuō)什 么drag不drag的,我又沒(méi)法把你拽著一起去!
M: No, to call something a drag means it is tiresome.
L: 噢,在中文里就是沒(méi)勁,沒(méi)意思。Michael,drag不是拉東西的拉嗎? 你說(shuō)的drag跟這個(gè)drag是同一個(gè)字嗎?
M: Yeah, Li Hua, same word. As another example, we could also call our professor Dr. Smith a drag.
L: 噢,還可以說(shuō)我們的教授Smith博士沒(méi)勁,沒(méi)意思。這我可不知道,我并不覺(jué)得他枯燥無(wú)味。
M: Of course you would say that. After all, on the first day of class all you did was talk about how cute he was.
L: 你說(shuō)我第一天上完他的課后,口口聲聲夸他長(zhǎng)得帥?你別瞎說(shuō)八道了。
M: Oh, Li Hua, you're such a drag. You did say he's cute.
L: 非要說(shuō)我認(rèn)為他很帥。還說(shuō)我沒(méi)勁。算了,不跟你說(shuō)了。 Michael,我去看展覽了,不管你去不去。
M: All right, all right, I'll come.
( Michael 和李華看完了攝影展)。
L: 這個(gè)攝影展覽真好,可是我還在生你的氣呢!
M: Ok, I'm sorry. Actually, I really enjoyed the photography exhibit. I thought it was a trip.
L: 我也很喜歡這種超現(xiàn)實(shí)主義的藝術(shù)。等等,你為什么把看展覽叫/ 做旅行呢?我們又沒(méi)有離開(kāi)紐約。
M: No, the word trip does mean travel, but here it means something that is unusual, in a good way.
L: 對(duì),trip這個(gè)字很普通,是指旅行。原來(lái)你說(shuō)的trip是指不尋常, 但又很好的意思。 噢,我想起來(lái)了。以前有一個(gè)教授告訴過(guò)我, 美國(guó)年輕人在60和70年代盛行反潮流的行為。Trip 這個(gè)詞就來(lái)自 那個(gè)時(shí)候,是指吸毒后產(chǎn)生的幻覺(jué)。對(duì)不對(duì)?
M: Yeah, but its meaning has changed.
L: 現(xiàn)在的意思不一樣了??晌椰F(xiàn)在就知道我們剛才去看的攝影展覽可以說(shuō)是a trip,中文可以說(shuō)是與眾不同吧。其他還有什么也能用trip這個(gè)詞來(lái)形容的呢?
M: Well, look at that guy over there, sitting on the bench. The long hair and wild clothes. I really like his outfit, so I would call him a trip. But some people may not like this.
L: 噢,坐在長(zhǎng)板凳上的那個(gè)留著長(zhǎng)頭發(fā),穿著很怪的男人? 你喜歡他的衣服,所以你認(rèn)為他與眾不同,別有風(fēng)味。對(duì)不起,我可不欣賞。
M: That's ok, everyone is different.
L: 對(duì),每個(gè)人的愛(ài)好不一樣。你再給我舉個(gè)例子吧。
M: I would also call our photography class professor a trip, her style is a trip.
L: 對(duì),她是與眾不同,她上課的時(shí)候總是很激動(dòng),跟別的教授不一 樣。我的男朋友是學(xué)小提琴的,他常常練琴練得忘了吃飯,他也能算是個(gè)trip吧?
M: Yeah, he is also a trip. I can't imagine you would like someone who is a drag.
L: 這你可說(shuō)對(duì)了。你要是一個(gè)枯燥無(wú)味的人,我才不跟你一起出去玩呢。得了,我們?cè)摶厝プ龉φn了,盡管沒(méi)勁,書還得念吶。
M: Ok, let's go!
今天Michael教了李華兩個(gè)常用的詞,一個(gè)是:drag,意思是沒(méi)意思, 枯燥;另一個(gè)是:trip,意思是與眾不同,別出心裁,但是含有褒意。 今天的[流行美語(yǔ)]就學(xué)習(xí)到這里,我們下次節(jié)目再見(jiàn)。