讲英语连词滥用惹人烦

 　　学英语的时候大家可能都被建议模仿老外常挂嘴边的语气词诸如well，actually，you know之类，但注意，这些词用多了，你的句子就会变得凌乱而没有条理，让听者生厌，就像中文中那个被滥用无数遍的万能连词“然后”。这里作者痛批了like这个词在口语中的滥用，大家要引以为戒哦。

　　讲英语避免连词滥用

　　When Caroline Kennedy managed to say “you know” more than 200 times in an interview with the New York Daily News, and on 130 occasions while talking to The New York Times during her uninspired attempt to become a hereditary¹ senator, she proved, among other things, that she was (a) middle-aged² and (b) middle class. If she had been a generation younger and a bit more déclassé, she would have been saying “like。” When asked if the Bush tax cuts should be repealed³, she responded: “Well, you know, that’s something, obviously, that, you know, in principle and in the campaign, you know, I think that, um, the tax cuts, you know, were expiring and needed to be repealed。”

　　当卡罗琳·肯尼迪毫无创见地试图延续肯尼迪家族的传统当选参议员时，她在纽约日报的采访中说了超过200遍的“你知道”，在与纽约时报记者谈话中也使用了130次这句“你知道”。通过其他事情，她证明自己是一个中产阶级的中年妇女。如果她是年轻一代中家世不那么高贵一个人，她会使用“like”这个词。当被问道是否该取消布什总统的减税方案，她回答道：“嗯，你知道，显然，这是一件，你知道，有关原则和竞选的事件，你知道，我觉得，嗯，减税么，你知道，期限到了，必须终止。”

　　This is an example of “filler” words being used as props⁴, to try to shore up a lame⁵ sentence. People who can’t get along without “um” or “er” or “basically” (or, in England, “actually”) or “et cetera et cetera” are of two types: the chronically⁶ modest and inarticulate, and the mildly authoritarian⁷ who want to make themselves uninterruptible。

　　这个例子展示了“填充语”是怎么被用来支撑软弱无力的句子。那些不加上“嗯”“呃”或“基本上”(在英国，“事实上”)“等等等等”就没办法讲话的人可以分成两种：不善言辞并口齿不清；不希望被人打断的轻度自我主义者。

　　Many parents and teachers have become irritated to the point of distraction⁸ at the way the weed-style growth of “like” has spread through the idiom of the young. And it’s true that in some cases the term has become simultaneously⁹ a crutch¹⁰ and a tic, driving out the rest of the vocabulary。

　　许多父母和老师已经对年轻人口中如荒草蔓延般的“like”烦不胜烦，根本听不下去了。有的时候这个词已经同时成为言语支柱和口头禅，让其他词汇毫无立足之地。

　　It was then a part of the Californianization of American youth-speak. In an analysis Penelope Eckert and Norma Mendoza-Denton phrase matters this way: “One of the innovative¹¹ developments in the white English of Californians is the use of the discourse-marker ‘I’m like’ or ‘she’s like’ to introduce quoted speech, as in ‘I’m like, where have you been?’ This quotative is particularly useful because it does not require the quote to be of actual speech (as ‘she said’ would, for instance). A shrug¹², a sigh, or any of a number of expressive¹³ sounds as well as speech can follow it。”

　　这个词曾是加州化的美国年轻人用语之一。Penelope Eckert和Norma Mendoza-Denton分析说：“加州白人的英语有一个创新性的发展，就是使用话语标记'I'm like'或者'She's like'来带出引语，就像‘我就问，你去哪了？’这个引语标记很有用，因为它不要求其后的引语是直接引语(“她说”后面就要接直接引语)。耸肩、叹气或者其他任何具有表达意味的声音都可以作为引语跟随其后。

　　It can be used as a pause or a colon¹⁴: very handy for spinning out a mere¹⁵ anecdote¹⁶ into a playlet that’s full of parody¹⁷ and speculation¹⁸. And also of hyperbole, as in “She’s been out with, like, a million guys。”

　　这个词可以作为停顿或冒号：将一件小事渲染成充斥着滑稽模仿和揣测的短剧时，这个词用起来很方便。也可用于夸张语气，比如说“她差不多跟一百万个男生约会过。”

　　The little cringe and hesitation¹⁹ and approximation of “like” are a help to young people who are struggling to negotiate the shoals and rapids of ethnic²⁰ identity, the street, and general correctness. To report that “he was like, Yeah, whatever” is to struggle to say “He said” while minimizing the risk of commitment。

　　like这个词所代表的保留态度、犹豫和模棱两可能帮助年轻人处理棘手的种族身份意识、社交生活和言语得体问题。说 “他啊，怎么说呢，呃……”就等于是在想尽方法阐释“他说过……”，同时减低话说出去就收不回的风险。

　　The actual grammatical battle was probably lost as far back as 1954, when Winston announced that its latest smoke “tasted good, like a cigarette should。” Complaints from sticklers²¹ that this should have been “as a cigarette should”were met by a second ad in which a gray-bunned schoolmarm type was taunted²² by cheery consumers asking, “What do you want, good grammar or good taste?” Usage of “like” has now almost completely replaced “as” 。

　　1954年的时候这场语法之争就差不多尘埃落定了，那时温斯顿香烟发布了最新的广告“好烟当如是”，看重细节的观众们抱怨说其中的“like”应该改成“as”，然而温斯顿的第二支广告很快对此作出回应，其中一个欢呼的人群嘲笑梳着灰白发髻的女教师，并问“你是要完美的语法还是完美的味道？”现在，like已经差不多完全取代了as。

　　How could one preserve what’s useful about “like” without allowing it to reduce everyday vocabulary? The restoration of the word “as,” which isn’t that hard a word to master, along with “such as,” would also be a help in varying the national lingo²³. A speech idiosyncrasy, in the same way as an air quote, is really justifiable²⁴ only if it’s employed very sparingly and if the user consciously intends to be using it. Just to try to set an example，I have managed to write all the above without using the word once, except in inverted²⁵ commas. Why not try it? You might, like, like it。

　　我们怎么才能在保持like真正有用之处的情况下防止它侵略其他词汇的领地呢？恢复使用as这个不难学的词，以及 such as，也许能使我们的用语更多样化。言语怪癖和航空报价一样，只有在偶尔使用并且使用者有意识去使用的时候才说得过去。为给大家树立榜样，我在写这篇文章的时候没有一处用到like，除了引号内的内容。为什么不试试呢？你也许，怎么说呢，喜欢这样。 来

1 hereditary   

adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的

参考例句：

• The Queen of England is a hereditary ruler.英国女王是世袭的统治者。
• In men,hair loss is hereditary.男性脱发属于遗传。

2 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

3 repealed   

撤销，废除( repeal的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The Labour Party repealed the Act. 工党废除了那项法令。
• The legislature repealed the unpopular Rent Act. 立法机关废除了不得人心的租借法案。

4 props   

小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。

5 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

6 chronically   

ad.长期地

参考例句：

• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。
• People chronically exposed to chlorine develop some degree of tolerance. 人长期接触氯气可以产生某种程度的耐受性。

7 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

8 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

9 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

10 crutch   

n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱

参考例句：

• Her religion was a crutch to her when John died.约翰死后，她在精神上依靠宗教信仰支撑住自己。
• He uses his wife as a kind of crutch because of his lack of confidence.他缺乏自信心，总把妻子当作主心骨。

11 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

12 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

13 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

14 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

15 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

16 anecdote   

n.轶事，趣闻，短故事

参考例句：

• He departed from the text to tell an anecdote.他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
• It had never been more than a family anecdote.那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。

17 parody   

n.打油诗文，诙谐的改编诗文，拙劣的模仿；v.拙劣模仿，作模仿诗文

参考例句：

• The parody was just a form of teasing.那个拙劣的模仿只是一种揶揄。
• North Korea looks like a grotesque parody of Mao's centrally controlled China,precisely the sort of system that Beijing has left behind.朝鲜看上去像是毛时代中央集权的中国的怪诞模仿，其体制恰恰是北京方面已经抛弃的。

18 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

19 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

20 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

21 sticklers   

n.坚持…的人( stickler的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They infuriate word sticklers by presenting a and leaving the reader to decide which is correct. 它们会提出一堆解释让读者自己判断哪个是正确的，令人大为光火。 来自互联网

22 taunted   

嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落

参考例句：

• The other kids continually taunted him about his size. 其他孩子不断地耻笑他的个头儿。
• Some of the girls taunted her about her weight. 有些女孩子笑她胖。

23 lingo   

n.语言不知所云，外国话，隐语

参考例句：

• If you live abroad it helps to know the local lingo.住在国外，学一点当地的语言自有好处。
• Don't use all that technical lingo try and explain in plain English.别尽用那种专门术语，用普通的词语解释吧。

24 justifiable   

adj.有理由的，无可非议的

参考例句：

• What he has done is hardly justifiable.他的所作所为说不过去。
• Justifiable defense is the act being exempted from crimes.正当防卫不属于犯罪行为。

25 inverted   

adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Only direct speech should go inside inverted commas. 只有直接引语应放在引号内。
• Inverted flight is an acrobatic manoeuvre of the plane. 倒飞是飞机的一种特技动作。 来自《简明英汉词典》