上個(gè)周末,我給園藝俱樂(lè)部烤了一盤(pán)曲奇餅干。把它們晾涼的時(shí)候,我出去買(mǎi)了趟東西。但等我回來(lái)的時(shí)候,發(fā)現(xiàn)有六塊曲奇餅干不翼而飛了。我爸媽和弟弟都都一口否認(rèn)說(shuō)自己沒(méi)吃??傻鹊酵盹垥r(shí),丈夫終于覺(jué)得愧疚,告訴我餅干是他吃的,讓我哭笑不得。這讓我想到一句習(xí)慣用語(yǔ),那就是:come clean.
大家都知道,clean意思是“干凈的”。Come clean字面意思是“變得干凈”,實(shí)際上它是“坦白承認(rèn),說(shuō)出一切”的意思。我弟弟就是這樣,這謊再也撒不下去了,he had to come clean. 不得不坦白交待了偷吃餅干的事情。
在下面的例子里,這位媽媽最開(kāi)始不愿意告訴女兒一件事兒,但后來(lái)她改變了想法,和盤(pán)托出。我們來(lái)聽(tīng)一聽(tīng):
例句-1: Mom came out of the doctor's office like everything was fine. Later, I overheard her on the phone talking about going to the hospital. When she realized I'd been listening, she came clean. She admitted that she was going to need heart surgery, and didn't want me to worry.
這段話是說(shuō):媽媽從診所出來(lái)的時(shí)候看起來(lái)跟平常沒(méi)什么兩樣。可是后來(lái),我聽(tīng)到她在電話上說(shuō)什么她要去住院。她發(fā)現(xiàn)我聽(tīng)到了,就索性把一切都坦白地告訴了我。她說(shuō)她需要進(jìn)行心臟手術(shù),但是不想讓我擔(dān)心。
父母都一樣,出了什么健康問(wèn)題都不告訴子女,生怕子女擔(dān)心。我上次就因?yàn)轭?lèi)似的事情跟我爸好好談了一次。我問(wèn)他,如果我要做手術(shù)不告訴他,結(jié)果出了問(wèn)題,他會(huì)怎樣想?所以說(shuō),不管遇到什么為難的事,不管是經(jīng)濟(jì)方面的,健康上的,還是吃了官司,都不能隱瞞家人。It's always best to come clean. 你都應(yīng)該坦白說(shuō)出來(lái)。
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說(shuō)起come clean坦白,很容易讓人想到犯罪和案件的審理。下面例子里就提到了一起案件,案件嫌疑人正在接受調(diào)查人員的訊問(wèn)。讓我們來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)看:
例句-2: The interrogator had doubts that the suspect would talk. But now that she understands she risks going to jail for many years, she's coming clean. She's confessing everything: how she planned the burglary and got her friends to help her carry it out.
這段話是說(shuō):審問(wèn)人員開(kāi)始并不知道嫌疑人會(huì)不會(huì)交代。但是如今,她明白,不老實(shí)交代就可能會(huì)面臨多年監(jiān)禁,所以她把一切都說(shuō)了,從她怎樣策劃這次入室搶劫,到她的朋友如何幫助她實(shí)施,交代得一清二楚。
她這是正確決定。如果現(xiàn)在不坦白,之后被查出來(lái),被判處的刑罰會(huì)重得多。就我來(lái)說(shuō),我覺(jué)得我想犯罪都沒(méi)那個(gè)本事!我根本不知道怎么騙人,更別說(shuō)幫別人騙人了!I'm the type of person who comes clean rather quickly. 我如果做錯(cuò)了什么事情,我肯定很快就招了。