Michael是個美國學生,在紐約上大學。他的一個要好同學是從中國大陸來的李華。今天Michael剛好在校園里碰到李華。李華會在談話中學到兩個常用語:couch potato和nuts。
L:嗨,Michael, 你上哪兒去呀?
M:I'm going to meet Jon at the subway. You've met Jon, haven't you?
L:嗯,是不是上次在一次party上你給我介紹的那個帶眼鏡的人?
M:Yes. I want to drag him out to do something. You know, he's such a couch potato.
L:他是什么? Couch potato? 什么是couch potato? 他愛吃土豆?
M:No, couch potato is an expression used to describe someone who sits in front of the TV all the time eating junk food, such as potato chips.
L:噢,原來coach potato是指一個人老坐在電視機前吃零食。這個常用語挺有趣。那couch potato是不是只能指人呀?
M:Yes, it is only used to describe people, those who are lazy and unmotivated.
L:噢,只能指人,指那些懶懶散散,沒有動力的人。好,下回我就叫我哥哥couch potato。他老是看電視,一看就看到三更半夜,吃的東西撒在地毯上,沙發(fā)上,到處都是。
M:My father's like that too. My mother is always angry with him. But he doesn't care.
L:喲,你爸爸也是這樣呀!要我是你媽,我也會生氣的。
M:But sometimes, after a really hard week at school, I also just want to collapse and be a couch potato.
L:一個星期在學校念書實在很累了,回家當一回couch potato, 我想這還是可以的,只要不是每天這樣就行了。
M: Yes, I agree. Li Hua, would you like to join us? Jon and I are going to play tennis.
L:你們要打網(wǎng)球呀,那太好了,我正在學打網(wǎng)球吶。
M:That's wonderful. You know, some people think I'm nuts to have a friend like Jon.
L:有的人認為你是什么? Nuts?Nuts不是花生,杏仁那樣的果仁嗎?你跟Jon交朋友跟吃花生有什么關(guān)系呀?
M:No, nuts here means someone who is crazy.
L:原來nuts在這里是說一個人做的事很怪。大概就象中文里說的:你瘋啦!對嗎?
M:That's right. Jon can be rude, and he also argues a lot. Sometimes he does drive me nuts.
L:他看起來不象會對別人無禮,愛跟人爭論的人哪!你剛才說drives me nuts 是什么意思啊?
M:Drives me nuts means he makes me crazy.
L:噢,還可以說drive me nuts,或者是drive someone nuts。嗨,Michael,那天我上移民局去辦手續(xù),排隊好長,我站了一小時,我真是火死了。我能說:They drove me nuts 嗎?
M:Of course. You know, my mother used to make me clean my room every night when I was in high school and that drove me nuts.
L:你念中學的時候你媽媽每天晚上要你打掃房間?那是有點受不了。嗨,Michael,你認識我的朋友張紅嗎?
M:Oh, yes, she is nuts. She spent $200 for a dress, and it's ugly.
L:對,張紅這個人是有點問題,化兩百美元買件難看的衣服。不過,Michael,你總是批評別人買的東西。 You sometimes drive me nuts too.
M:Li Hua, I think you are learning these words too fast.
今天李華學了兩個常用語,一個是:couch potato,指那些常坐著看電視,吃零食的人;另一個是:nuts,就是說一個人不正常,做的事很怪。今天的[流行美語]就到此結(jié)束, 再見。