Popular American - #95
流行美語-第九十五課
jack
kaput
今天李華和Larry在談暑假里打算干什么,李華會學到兩個常用語:jack和kaput。
LH: Hey Larry, 你知不知道紐約附近哪個地方可以釣魚呀?
LL: Fishing, huh? I'm sorry Li Hua, I don't know jack about fishing.
LH: 哎,我問你釣魚的事,你怎么說你不認識Jack?
LL: I'm not talking about a guy named Jack. When I say "I don't know jack about fishing", that means "I don't know anything about fishing".
LH: 噢,原來jack在這里不是人的名字,你說 I don't know jack about fishing 意思就是“你對釣魚一無所知”。這么說,jack在這里就表示 "nothing", right?
LL: That's right.
LH: I don't know jack about fishing, 那不就成了I don't know nothing about fishing. 英文里是不能用雙重否定的,不是嗎?
LL: OK, you're right, we don't use double negatives in proper, formal English. But this is slang! "I don't know jack" means "I don't know anything".
LH: 我也經(jīng)常聽人說 I don't know nothing, 我知道在正規(guī)英語里面是不應(yīng)該這么說的。這樣說來,在口語里是這么用的,那"I don't know jack" 就表示“我什么也不知道”。對了,Larry, 那你暑假不準備釣魚,你打算干什么呢?
LL: Well, I may just sit around. In other words, I don't do jack!
LH: You don't do jack! 我知道,你是說你什么也不干啊。除了"I don't know jack" ,原來你還可以說:I don't do jack! 好不容易到了暑假,你卻打算什么都不干?我才不會這樣白白浪費時間。
LL: Well, the reason vacation is so valuable is because I can sit around and don't do jack all day. Usually I'm a very busy guy.
LH: 你說得也有道理,就是因為放假了,才有可能懶散一點兒;什么事情也不做。平時又要學習又要打工,是夠忙的。
LL: Well, anyway, I need to get home and start on the term paper. I haven't written jack yet!
LH: 什么?你的期末論文一點兒還沒動手啊?哎喲,那你趕緊回家去寫吧!
******
LH: Larry, 你不是在家寫論文嗎?怎么又跑到學校圖書館來啦?
LL: Well, I got home and started to work on my term paper, but my computer went kaput!
LH: 你說你的電腦怎么啦?Went kaput? 聽起來就好象是電腦出問題了,是不是?。?/p>
LL: Yes, "kaput" means "broken, ruined or not working properly." My computer went kaput, so now I have to work on my paper in the library.
LH: Oh, 原來 kaput 意思就是“壞了,沒法正常工作”。你是說你的電腦壞了,Larry, 你最近好像運氣不太好嘛.前些天,你的手機電話不是也出故障了嗎?
LL: Oh man, that's a real problem! My cell phone really went kaput and nobody could reach me.
LH: 就是啊,我給你打電話留言,你也沒收到。
LL: During that time, I was out of touch with everyone. It felt like my whole life went kaput.
LH: 有那么嚴重嗎?你因為手機壞了,和所有人失去了聯(lián)系,讓你覺得整個生活都完蛋啦?哎喲,還是先說說你的電腦吧 - 你的電腦 went kaput,那你有沒有丟掉什么重要文件呢?
LL: Well, I'm hoping it wasn't the hard drive that went kaput. That would be terrible!
LH: 你先別著急,即使是hard drive went kaput, 我想有的信息還是可以找回來的啦!
LL: Let's hope so. If I can't get my computer fixed soon, I won't have jack to show them in my term paper.
LH: 但愿你的電腦趕快修好。學期論文要是交白卷可真是太糟糕了。
今天李華從Larry那兒學到了兩個常用語,一個是jack, 在英語口語里 I don't know jack的意思是“我什么也不知道”。李華學到的另一個常用語是kaput, 就相當于中文里所說的“壞了”“出了問題”。