A: I am so glad I can meet you at the registry office.
在報(bào)名處能見到你,真是太高興了。
B: Me too. I have mastered the manner of greetingeach other in China. You Chinese are used to pressthe fresh when meet, right?
見到你我也很高興。我已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)你們中國(guó)打招呼的習(xí)慣了,你們中國(guó)人見面時(shí)喜歡手握手。
地道表達(dá):press the flesh
1. 解詞釋義
press的意思是“壓,摁”。Press the flesh是較新的習(xí)慣用法,意思是“握手”。這個(gè)說法可以說來自于政界,想要進(jìn)入政界的人都要參加競(jìng)選,例如競(jìng)選過會(huì)議會(huì)議員就得去選區(qū)和成千上萬名選手握手。這個(gè)握手的過程就好像按摩手掌肌肉一樣,于是政界人士就把握手成為“press the flesh”。其英文解釋為:if politicians orfamous people press the flesh, they shake hands with the public。所以,對(duì)話中,“You Chineseare used to press fresh when meet, right? ”的意思是“你們中國(guó)人見面的習(xí)慣是握手,對(duì)吧。”
2. 典型范例
Even after 12 hours on the campaign trail, he was still meeting his supporters and pressingthe flesh.
甚至在持續(xù)12個(gè)小時(shí)的競(jìng)選后,他仍然還在會(huì)見他的支持者并別和他們握手。
Ps: used to something的意思是“習(xí)慣某事”,如果to后面接動(dòng)詞的話,要使用其動(dòng)名詞形式。例如:She isused to hard work. 她習(xí)慣于艱苦工作。
迷你對(duì)話2
A: Why do they quarrel with each other in the hall? There are so many people queuing forenrollment.
他兩人為什么在大廳里吵架呢?這么多人拍著對(duì)等待著注冊(cè)了。
B: I don’t know the reason either. It takes two tango. I guess both of them are wrong.
我也不知道他們吵架的原因,一個(gè)巴掌拍不響。我猜他兩人都有錯(cuò)。
地道表達(dá):It takes tow two tango.
解詞釋義: take two tango 的字面意思就是“跳探戈舞需要2個(gè)人”。探戈舞源于18世紀(jì)的阿根廷,含有很大的誘惑力,色情成分。Tango的這層誘惑以及色情讓人聯(lián)想到它的同音異形詞tangle,意思是“糾纏,扭繞在一起”,于是取諧音tango。“It takes two to tango.”是由英國(guó)俗語(yǔ)“It takes two to make aquarrel.”。于是“It takes two to tango.”的意思就是“一個(gè)巴掌拍不響。”此外,它還有“團(tuán)結(jié)就是力量。”的意思。
Ps 1: quarrel with的意思是“和......吵架”。例如: I have no quarrel with what you say. 我對(duì)你的話沒有反對(duì)意見。I don't quarrel with your system; I've no doubt it's excellent. 我并不反對(duì)你們的規(guī)矩,我毫不懷疑這是很好的辦法。
Ps 2: queue for是“排隊(duì)等候做......”的意思。例如:If you want to see the film, you will have toqueue for tickets . 如果你想看電影,只好排隊(duì)買票。