流行美语 (Popular American) 282

Larry早上起来正在看报纸，忽然接到小燕的电话。今天我们要学两个常用语：short fuse¹和out of this world.

LL: Hello?

XY: Hey Larry! 你起床了？昨天玩到那么晚，我不会把你吵醒了吧！

LL: Hey no problem. I was just reading the newspaper and drinking a lot of water. I have quite a headache. I can't believe you bought so many beers for me last night!

XY: 我愿意！昨天我可能也喝多了点，当着你的面跟酒吧里的服务生吵架，真不好意思，对不起了。

LL: Well, Xiaoyan, it's not really a problem at all. I mean, you tend to have a short fuse anyway.

XY: Short fuse这是什么意思啊？你每次都说这些我听不懂的话，真是急死我了。

LL: There's a perfect example! When a person has a "short fuse," it means that they have a short temper² - they get angry very easily! Now don't get mad because I said this, or you will further prove my point - haha!

XY: 噢，你是说我急脾气啊。这我承认。不过，我更愿意听人家说我是一个“充满激情”的女人。

LL: Having a short fuse can be a good thing, sometimes, but most of the time, I must admit that it can be a bit intimidating³ or scary. It's why I try my best to keep you from blowing your fuse - or erupting in anger. It's ok, my new boss is like this - and I can handle it.

XY: 你真觉得我的脾气有些吓人吗？那我一定改正。对了，你下午有空吗？我请你吃午饭，而且还有新车接送。不是我吹，买车的时候讨价还价，我可是镇定自若，没发脾气。I did not blow my fuse!

LL: I'm impressed, Xiaoyan! Number one, you have a new car. Number two, you didn't blow your fuse! So what time were you thinking, since you have the car?

XY: 下午一点怎么样？这样你还有时间“梳妆打扮”，以帅哥的形象出现在我的面前。(笑)

LL: Ok. Do you need directions?

XY: 不用，我有全球定位系统。我保证，就算走丢了，我也不会打电话跟你发脾气。

LL: OK, just call me if there's a problem!

******

LL: Wow. Nice car! You must have saved your tip money for YEARS to get such a nice one....

XY: 勤俭节约可是我最大的优点。

LL: Since you're driving, I'll pick the joint⁴ we'll go to. There's a diner just down the street that's good.

XY: 这家餐馆从外面看起来好象不错，我们进去吧。

LL: So here's the menu. Their sandwiches are absolutely out of this world.

XY: out of this world? 你吃他们的外星三明治吧。我只要个色拉就行了。Larry, 有的时候，我真怀疑你是不是有点疯狂，也许这就是你吸引人.....

LL: Xiaoyan. "Out of this world" means really, really good. Excellent. Superb⁵. Delicious. The best.

XY: 哦，out of this world意思是好吃得不得了，简直非人间食物。那我可得来一个。既然你对吃的东西这么在行，我能不能说你的品味也是"out of this world" 呢？

LL: Ha ha. Yeah, but you're the first person to ever tell me that!

XY: 真的吗？那我再告诉你个秘密：我觉得你这个人也不是一般男人能比的: You are out of this world!

LL: Um... (embarrassed) hey hey... now, anyway, with the sandwiches...

XY: 服务生！给我们来两个你们这儿最好的三明治，外加两杯咖啡。希望你们的咖啡也是香浓美味， out of this world!

LL: So, Xiaoyan, I wanted to tell you something...

XY: 你先听我说，我有个绝妙的主意，就是不知道你明天晚上是不是有空？

LL: That depends, Xiayan, because...

XY: 我想带你去见我父母。他们在这里的侨界非常活跃，我想让他们认识一下你。

LL: Are you sure this is a good idea?

XY: (严肃地)当然是个好主意喽！怎么会不是好主意呢？

LL: Well, perhaps they'd get the wrong impression. Perhaps I'm getting the wrong impression from you, too.

XY: 误解？不会有什么误解的。怎么样，星期天下午五点我开车来接你。咱们就这么定了。

LL: (Reluctantly) Ok, Xiaoyan. I must admit - your powers of persuasion⁶ are out of this world, as well.

XY: 没错，我最能说服人了，你就听我一次吧！

我们今天学习了两个常用语。一个是short fuse, 意思是急脾气。另一个是out of this world, 意思是极其美妙。
 

1 fuse   

n.导火线，引信，保险丝；v.熔，烧断电路

参考例句：

• The metal will fuse at a relatively low temperature.这金属在不太高的温度下熔化。
• This is the right fuse for the refrigerator.这是电冰箱上使用的保险丝。

2 temper   

n.恶劣的心情，心绪焦躁；性情，脾气

参考例句：

• The man lost his temper and struck out wildly.那人因发怒而大打出手。
• One day the man flew at me in a temper.一天,那个人冲着我大发脾气。

3 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 superb   

adj.高贵的，壮丽的，极好的

参考例句：

• The large bay has a superb backdrop of mountains.大海湾背靠着庄严的山脉。
• The hotel has a large dining room serving superb local cuisine.饭店有一个大餐厅供应上好的当地菜肴。

6 persuasion   

n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派

参考例句：

• He decided to leave only after much persuasion.经过多方劝说，他才决定离开。
• After a lot of persuasion,she agreed to go.经过多次劝说后，她同意去了。