DONNY 在北京學漢語,他的中國朋友要是遇到了不知道用美語怎么說的詞,就會來請教他。今天是吳瓊要問的:拗口。
DONNY: 吳瓊,What's up?
WQ: 我表姐要生寶寶了,發(fā)動全家給孩子起名兒呢,這不,我翻翻字典,找點靈感。
DONNY: Interesting! 我也來出主意!
WQ: 孩子姓唐,你說叫什么好?
DONNY: 唐?嗯...唐 - 老 - 鴨。
WQ: ?。?
DONNY: Haha! I'm sorry, Wu Qiong. I know this is a terrible name, but when you mentioned the word "唐”, the name rolled right off my tongue.
WQ: Rolled right off your tongue? 從舌頭上滾下來?我明白了,就是順口,脫口而出。你一聽到“唐”字,順口就說出了唐老鴨。 那...如果不順口,也就是拗口,該怎么說呢?
DONNY: You can say it's a tongue twister. Tongue is spelled t-o-n-g-u-e, and twister, t-w-i-s-t-e-r.
WQ: 哦,tongue twister, 就是說起來拗口的東西! This name is a tongue twister 這個名字真難念。
DONNY: 沒錯! Wu Qiong, you know the luxury car brand "Mercedes-Benz", do you?
WQ: Mercedes-Benz? 就是奔馳嘛!
DONNY: Right. The Chinese translation 奔馳 rolls right off the tongue. However, if we call the brand 梅賽德斯•本茲, to me , that's a tongue twister! It's like I'm tripping over my own tongue when I try to say it.
WQ: Trip over your own tongue? 我知道 t-r-i-p, trip 是摔倒的意思,所以 trip over one's own tongue 就是打磕巴,吃螺絲吧?
DONNY: Absolutely!
WQ: DONNY, We need to find a good name for this baby. We don't want people to trip over their own tongues when they say the baby's name!
DONNY: Of course, but first let's see what you've learned today!
WQ: 第一,順口叫 to roll right off the tongue
第二,拗口的東西則是 a tongue twister
第三,打磕巴,吃螺絲,叫 to trip over one's own tongue。