美国之音《流行美语》 386 love handles

　　Larry和李华在他们最喜欢的pizza店吃饭。他们会用到两个常用语：love handles和no pain no gain.
Larry: Ahhh. That was delicious - as usual.
LH: Larry, 你还剩了一点pizza呢，怎么不吃完？
Larry: Oh, no, I couldn't eat another bite... well if you insist. (Takes a bite, talks while still chewing:) Mm, Lihua, this is so good, I could eat this forever!
(BOING! Larry's belt buckle¹ broke off!)
LH: 什么声音？！天啊，Larry, 你的皮带被撑断了！
Larry: Oops². Er, maybe we should stop coming to this restaurant so often. I think I'm starting to grow some love handles.
LH: Love ...handles? 什么意思？
Larry: Love handles are the fat that grows around someone's waist³.
LH: 哦，腰上一圈赘肉叫love handles! 哈哈，这可真有意思！不过Larry, 你最近的确胖了好多呢。
Larry: Oh? You noticed my love handles?
LH: 你这几个月好像长胖了好几磅，不过我一直不好意思告诉你，如今既然你连皮带都撑断了，我也不瞒你了 - you have some love handles, Larry!
Larry: You're right. I haven't been paying much attention to my diet lately.
LH: 我就说嘛! 咱们最近来这儿吃pizza, 每周至少来三次，你不长出love handles才怪呢！
Larry: Well, you have to admit, the pizza here is out of this world. I don't mind your love handles, Lihua - I think they're kind of cute!
LH: 等等等等，你说我也有love handles啊？(Getting angry)
Larry: (Afraid of making Lihua angry) Uhh... no, of course not! I mean, uh, if you did have love handles, I would still think you are beautiful, honey!
LH: 哼！这还差不多。
Larry: At any rate, I think it would be a good idea to start watching what we eat and get more exercise. What do you think about joining a gym?
LH: 去健身房？让我考虑一下！......嗯，考虑好了，我就自我牺牲一下，陪你去健身，帮你减掉你的love handles.
Larry和Lihua办了健身卡，俩人在跑步机上挥汗如雨地锻炼。
Larry: Phew! Running makes me feel good! So exhilarating! These love handles will be gone in no time! How are you feeling, Lihua?
LH: (Wheezing) 我...我不行了...腿快断了...
Larry: Aw, come on, Lihua! We've only been jogging for 3 minutes! Don't you want to be fit?
LH: 我是想身材健美，可是这也太累了，算了算了，就让love handles来找我吧，我不练了！
Larry: You know what they say, Lihua. No pain, no gain.
LH: No pain, no gain?
Larry: That's right! It means⁴ you have to work hard to get results. No pain, no gain!
LH: 哦，No pain, no gain就是“不付出努力就收不到成果”。Larry，现在不要给我讲大道理了，我实在跑不动了。
Larry: Come on, Lihua. I know you have a good work ethic⁵.
LH: 我认真上进？
Larry: Remember when you stayed up all night on your project for that computer class? Some people would just go to sleep, but you worked right through. No pain, no gain, right?
LH: 那不一样，我可以通宵念书，可跑步不是我的强项，没跑两分钟，我的腿就已经开始发酸了！
Larry: But you'll feel better afterwards - I promise. You're already in pretty good shape anyway. I have a long way to go to get rid of these love handles.
LH: Larry, 连你都说，我本来身材就挺匀称的，所以我就不练啦！省得你们这些胖子压力大！
Larry: Suit yourself, Lihua. Hey, isn't that your classmate over there? Wow, she's really working hard!
LH: 哪个？！哦！那个女生！她在班里经常和我比！
Larry: Man, she's looking fit! No love handles on her.
LH: 什么？（停顿）Larry，靠边，别挡着我用跑步机！
Larry: Oh?? You changed your mind about exercise?
LH: No pain, no gain, Larry.
Larry: Aha! Looks like all you needed was a little competition! No wonder you're always working so hard in school.
LH: 我绝不能让那个女生的身材比我好！
Larry: Great! Well! I guess I'll let you exercise.
LH: 哎？那你干吗？你不跑啦？
Larry: All this exercise made me hungry. I'm going to eat some pizza!
今天李华从Larry那儿学到两个常用语。一个是 love handles, 表示腰上的赘肉。另一个是no pain no gain, 意思是不付出就没有收获。

1 buckle   

n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲

参考例句：

• The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
• She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。

2 oops   

int.哎哟（ 表示惊讶；沮丧；狼狈；轻度道歉等）

参考例句：

• Oops!I'm on the wrong plane!糟糕！我上错飞机了！
• Oops!I nearly dropped my cup of tea!哎呀！我险些儿把自己的一杯茶掉到地上！

3 waist   

n.腰，腰部，腰身，背心

参考例句：

• The coat is a bit tight at the waist.这件上衣腰身瘦了点。
• The sound is from the waist of a violin.声音是从小提琴的中间部分发出的。

4 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

5 ethic   

n.道德标准，行为准则

参考例句：

• They instilled the work ethic into their children.他们在孩子们的心中注入了职业道德的理念。
• The connotation of education ethic is rooted in human nature's mobility.教育伦理的内涵根源于人本性的变动性。