Larry 剛剛給自己的公寓貼了新的墻紙,可是他覺(jué)得效果很不理想。 李華今天會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ):diddlysquat和rub it in。
LL: Today, Li Hua, I discovered that I don't know diddlysquat about putting up wallpaper.
LH: 什么? diddlysquat?聽(tīng)你的意思,你好象是說(shuō)你對(duì)貼墻紙什么也不懂,是嗎?
LL: That's right. I don't know diddlysquat means I don't know anything.
LH:噢,Don't know diddlysquat就是什么也不懂,一竅不通。
LL:Right. When I was wallpapering my apartment, I didn't get the pieces perfectly straight before I put them on, and now the pattern doesn't line up.
LH: 我也對(duì)貼墻紙一竅不通。不過(guò),貼之前好象總得把墻紙弄直了。否則,墻紙的花樣怎么對(duì)得起來(lái)呢!
LL: Yeah, but it is harder to do than you might think. I really needed to read instructions in a how-to book before I started, but I didn't do diddlysquat to prepare.
LH: 原來(lái)你什么準(zhǔn)備都沒(méi)有做就開(kāi)始貼墻紙呀!美國(guó)有很多關(guān)于如何裝修房屋的書(shū),你什么沒(méi)看就動(dòng)手啦?你膽子也夠大的。得了,你來(lái)幫我點(diǎn)忙, 分散一下注意力,心情就會(huì)好一些。好嗎?
LL: Sure, how can I help?
LH: 我昨天買了一個(gè)新的電腦硬盤(pán),可我在這方面什么也不懂,I don't know diddlysquat about computer。 你來(lái)幫我裝一下,好嗎?
LL: You are just like my mom, Li Hua. She doesn't know diddlysquat about computers either─but I am happy to help out. When should I come by?
LH: Larry,你能幫我裝上,那太好了。午飯以后可以過(guò)來(lái)嗎?
LL: OK, I'll do that. But maybe you can come help me remove the wallpaper I put up.
LH: 幫你撕墻紙,I don't know diddlysquat about that! 讓我看看再說(shuō)吧。
******
LH: Oh, Larry, 這墻紙還真是沒(méi)對(duì)齊。
LL: Yeah, I know. Please don't rub it in.
LH: 不要抹進(jìn)去?我們不是要把墻紙撕下來(lái)嗎?
LL: No, no. By "rub it in", I didn't mean rub the wallpaper into the wall. I meant that I already know the wallpaper doesn't line up, so you don't need to tell me again and make me feel worse.
LH: 我明白了, rub it in的意思是在傷口上抹鹽,令人更難堪。 墻紙沒(méi)貼好,你已經(jīng)很難過(guò)了,我又提起這件事,就是rub it in - 讓你更難受,對(duì)嗎?
LL: Yeah, especially when it is something you are not happy about. "Rubbing it in" just makes a person feel worse.
LH: Rub it in,只會(huì)讓人更難過(guò), 所以我們的朋友Rick撞車之后,你并沒(méi)有對(duì)他說(shuō), “你怎么這么不小心”,因?yàn)槟悴幌胱屗y堪。
LL: Right, I didn't want Rick to feel even worse about his car.
LH: 上個(gè)星期考試,我考得好, 你考得不好,我說(shuō),“你本來(lái)就該好好復(fù)習(xí)嘛”。這又是 rubbing it in,往傷口上抹鹽,對(duì) 不對(duì)?
LL: Exactly.
LH: 可是我只是想對(duì)朋友提出忠告,并沒(méi)有 抹鹽的意思。
LL: I know you didn't mean to rub it in, Li Hua. Well, let's go see what we can do about your hard drive.
LH: Great. 好吧,去看看我的電腦吧。
LL: You are really lucky that we are friends! I mean, you don't know diddlysquat about computers. You'd never be able to install the hard drive without me.
LH: 我知道我對(duì)電腦一竅不通, 你就別往傷口上抹鹽了。You don't have to rub it in!
今天李華學(xué)到了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是don't know diddlysquat about something,意思是對(duì)某件事一無(wú)所知,一竅不通。李華學(xué)到的另一個(gè)常用語(yǔ)是 rub it in, 意思是在某個(gè)人的傷口上抹鹽,令人更加難過(guò)。