流行美语 (Popular American) 333

开春了，李华和Larry正在商量种花种菜。今天我们要学两个常用语：apples to oranges和penny pincher.

LH: Larry, 终于等到春天了，你说，咱们该种点什么花呢？是玫瑰还是杜鹃？

LL: No way, those are too much work. Let's plant a cactus² so that we only have to water it once every couple weeks.

LH: 什么？就为省事，你居然要种仙人掌？这也太雷人了吧，那还不如一懒到底，堆几块石头，弄个日本枯山水花园算了。

LL: Oh come on, Lihua. A cactus garden is completely different from a rock garden. You're comparing apples to oranges.

LH: Apples and oranges? 你不是说要种仙人掌吗？怎么又提到苹果和桔子呢？

LL: Actually, when you say that someone is comparing apples to oranges, it means he is trying to compare two very different things that aren't the same at all.

LH: 哦，我明白了，to compare apples to oranges意思就是把两件完全不同的东西拿来相提并论。你是在说，仙人掌花园和日本枯山水花园压根儿就是两回事。

LL: Right. Or say your favorite actor is a movie comedian³, and my favorite actor only performs in Shakespeare theatre. Comparing the two would be like comparing apples to oranges.

LH: 就是说，虽然俩人都是演员，可一个是演喜剧电影的，另一个是演莎氏比亚大戏的，两人没有可比性。

LL: Exactly!

LH: 可是Larry, 你别忘了，我今天早上把电话借给你用，所以你欠我一个人情，一定要听我的，种玫瑰，不种仙人掌。

LL: What? Borrowing your phone was just a small favor, but this garden is going to be a big project. You're comparing apples to oranges.

LH: Larry, 你不是最喜欢草头娃娃吗？种花也是一样啊，浇水、上肥，乐在其中，你就当是在养宠物好了！

LL: Lihua, you're comparing apples to oranges! Plants and pets are totally different things.

LH: 我承认，动物和植物确实有很大差别，可起码有一点是共同的。

LL: Really? What's that?

LH：它们不会跟我吵嘴啊！

******

LH: Larry, 要不这样吧，种什么，咱俩一人挑一半。怎么样？

LL: That sounds good. I'm going to plant some tomatoes, carrots and blueberries so that this summer I don't have to buy expensive fruits and vegetables at the store.

LH: 对啊，我们可以种菜。没想到，你还挺会过日子的。

LL: Well you know, Lihua, in this bad economy we all have to be penny pinchers.

LH: Penny pinchers? 是什么意思啊？

LL: Penny-pinching⁴ is being very careful not to waste money. It means that you manage to each penny very carefully.

LH: 哦，penny-pinching就是精打细算，一分钱掰成两半花的意思。可是Larry, 这种说法是名词、动词还是形容词呢？

LL: It can be any of those. I could call someone a penny pincher. Or, for another example, I could say that Todd really had to pinch¹ every penny after his boss lowered his salary.

LH: 那好，我举双手赞成你种菜。这样你就可以省下很多钱，带我去吃法国大餐了。

LL: Uh...actually, Lihua, that reminds me of another phrase. Penny wise, pound foolish.

LH: Penny wise, pound foolish? 这里所说的Pound是英镑吗？

LL: That's right. Penny wise, pound foolish means that you are careful to save little bits of money, but then waste large amounts of money.

LH: 噢，就是说在小钱上精打细算，在大钱上大手大脚。小气鬼，你不会是转弯抹角地拒绝带我去吃法国大餐吧？

LL: Well, if I saved a little bit of money growing my own vegetables, but then wasted a lot more money on expensive dinner dates, I would be penny wise, pound foolish.

LH: 你不会觉得把钱花在女朋友身上是浪费吧？

LL: Uh ... I mean ... of course not! It's just that I'm pinching every penny so that I can buy you a really great birthday present!

LH: 生日礼物？我猜，一定是浪漫的“仙人掌花园”。

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是apples to oranges, 意思是在风马牛不相及的两件事。另一个是penny pincher, 意思是精打细算的人。
 

1 pinch   

n.捏，撮，困苦，偷窃；vt.掐，使...困苦，偷窃

参考例句：

• She would pinch on food in order to spend on clothing.她过去常把伙食费省下来买衣服。
• He put a pinch of salt on his food.他在自己的食物上撒了一撮盐。

2 cactus   

n.仙人掌

参考例句：

• It was the first year that the cactus had produced flowers.这是这棵仙人掌第一年开花。
• The giant cactus is the vegetable skycraper.高大的仙人掌是植物界巨人。

3 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

4 pinching   

v.收聚；夹痛( pinch的现在分词 )；逮捕；盗窃；使入不敷出adj.引起痛苦[拮据]的，吝啬的

参考例句：

• My sister's always pinching me and it really hurts. 我姐姐老拧我，好痛喔。
• He led his life, pinching and scraping. 他省吃俭用地过日子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》