Cold shoulder
Hot air
今天我们要给大家介绍的两个习惯用语是以两个对立的字组成的,第一个是冷,也就是英文里的cold,第二个是热,也就是英文里的 hot。让我们首先来讲以cold这个字组成的俗语。
Cold shoulder. Cold is spelled c-o-l-d, and shoulder is spelled s-h-o-u-l-d-e-r. Cold shoulder.
大家都知道,cold 就是冷。Shoulder 就是肩膀。那末,cold shoulder从字面上来解释就是:冷的肩膀。但是,Cold shoulder 作为俗语的意思就是:故意对某人很不友好,显示出讨厌或轻视某人的态度。现在,我们先来举个例子。
"I always thought Mary and I were friends. But when I saw her at the supermarket today and said 'hello,' she gave me the cold shoulder -- she looked right past me like I wasn't even there."
这个人说:「我老是把玛丽看作是我的朋友。但是,今天我在超级市场看到她,还跟她打招呼了。可是,她看都没看我一眼,就好像我没在那儿一样,对我可冷淡咯。」
请大家注意这个例句的最后一句话:she looked right past me like I wasn't even there. Like I wasn't even there 这样说,严格来讲,并不符合语法的要求,但是美国人却都那末说。这证明口语里习惯的说法并不一定符合语法的规定,这是经常出现的现象,希望大家在学习的过程中注意这一点。我们再来把这个例句用慢速念一遍。
"I always thought Mary and I were friends. But when I saw her at the supermarket today and said 'hello,' she gave me the cold shoulder -- she looked right past me like I wasn't even there."
美国许多有钱和有地位的人都参加各种很高雅的俱乐部,这些俱乐部每年收很高的会员费,但是会员也可以享受很多俱乐部的设备和服务,例如网球场和游泳池等。一般,这类俱乐部都有他们自己的餐厅,会员可以带朋友一起去吃饭,可以享受特殊的优待。下面这个例句是一个人被邀请参加某一俱乐部的聚会,由于他不属于那一阶层的人,所以受到了冷遇。他说:
例句二："It was the first time I got invited to that fancy club. People at the party were polite to me, but one of the waiters gave me the cold shoulder when I asked for a drink. Let me tell you, I'll never go to a place like that again."
这个人说:「我被邀请去那种高级俱乐部还是第一次。每个参加聚会的人倒是对我很客气。可是当我问一个服务员要一杯饮料的时候,他对我特别冷淡。我告诉你,我这辈子再也不去那种地方了。」
请大家再听一遍上面这个例句。
"It was the first time I got invited to that fancy club. People at the party were polite to me, but one of the waiters gave me the cold shoulder when I asked for a drink. Let me tell you, I'll never go to a place like that again."
刚才我们给大家介绍了和冷,也就是 cold 这个字有关的俗语,下面我们给大家讲一个由热,也就是 hot 这个字组成的俗语。
Hot air. Hot is spelled h-o-t and air is spelled a-i-r. Hot air.
Hot 就是热,air就是空气。Hot air合在一起就成了热空气。按字面上这么解释是完全对的,但是,我们现在在讲俗语,所以hot air就不是热空气了。那末,hot air作为俗语做什么解释呢? Hot air 作为俗语就是夸夸其谈,吹牛。我们来举个例子吧。这是一个人在评论那些竞选当官的候选人。
例句三："Most candidates make promises during a campaign to win voters' support. But many promises are nothing but hot air. After the candidates get elected, they tend to forget most of the things they promised to achieve."
这人听起来对政界人士缺乏信任,他说:「大多数候选人在竞选过程中都做出各种保证,以赢得选民的支持。但是,他们说的好多都是夸夸其谈,等到当选后,他们往往把自己的保证忘了。」
在美国,无论是竞选总统,还是竞选地方官员,候选人都得表明自己对某些问题的观点。为了获得选民的拥护,他们往往在一些群众关心的问题上迎合群众的需要,以这种方式来争取更多的选票。但是,等到当选以后,不管是由于客观条件,或是来自政治圈子里的压力,他们在竞选过程中所做的保证不能得以实现。这种改变有的完全是合理的,是出于大众利益的,是应该的。但是也有些是在于达到某些政治目的。这样当然会引起一些选民的不满。我们再把这个例句念一遍。
"Most candidates make promises during a campaign to win voters' support. But many promises are nothing but hot air. After the candidates get elected, they tend to forget most of the things they promised to achieve."
爱吹牛的人并不少见。下面这个例子就是两个朋友在说他们在一次聚会上遇见的一个人。
例句四："That man at the party yesterday didn't have any idea what he was talking about. He blew a lot of hot air about health and nutrition. He didn't know that both of us have been practicing medicine for more than thirty years."
这个人说:「昨天聚会上那个人真不知道他在说什么。他夸夸其谈地说了好多关于健康和营养的事。他可不知道我们两行医已经三十多年了。」
我们再请大家听一遍这个例句。
"That man at the party yesterday didn't have any idea what he was talking about. He blew a lot of hot air about health and nutrition. He didn't know that both of us have been practicing medicine for more than thirty years."
各位听众,今天我们讲了两个习惯用语,第一个是和冷,也就是cold这个字有关的习惯用语:
Cold shoulder. Cold shoulder是故意对人冷淡,表现出轻视和讨厌的态度。我们今天讲的第二个习惯用语是和热,也就是和hot这个字有关的。Hot air.Hot air是指夸夸其谈,吹牛。