40个学生最生疏的英语用法,原来老外都这么说话!
以下全是日常所见所闻,并且在国内未曾学习到的。
1. No problem! 在国内学到的是: -Could you help me with xxx? -No problem! 而在这边听到的往往是: -Thank you! -No problem. 有时甚至: -Oh sorry! -No problem!
2. Go by 在课堂自我介绍时,有时会说中文名,然后英文名。Instead of saying "My Chinese name is xxx, and my English name is xxx.", 你可以这样说: -My name is xxx(你的原名), and I go by xxx(你的英文名). 一些美国学生不乐意用自己的原名,而偏好昵称,也可以用go by来表达: -My name is Catherine, and I go by Cat.
3. Appreciate it! 每次从校车上下来时,大家都会礼貌地对司机表示感谢,有次看到四个小哥鱼贯而出,每个人表达感谢的语句都不同。除了常见的"Thank you very much!","Thanks a lot!"以外,我觉得最好听的就是“Appreciate it!"
4. Have a good one! 美国人很喜欢互相道好,无论认识不认识。每次和人再见的时候(可能是下班,结完账离开超市,下课等等),往往会对同事/收银员/老师/...说声"Have a good day/night"之类的。有时下午5,6点,天还没黑,我总会把”Have a good night!"说成"Have a good day!",后来发现,还有种更简易的表达,日夜均可使用,即"Have a good one!",简单顺口,客套必备。
5.宾语前置(知友@Scrummble指出应该是状语前置) 这是种B格很高的表达方式,在每张美元背面都有一句话"In God We Trust"(如下图) 此外有次等红灯时,看见前面一辆车的车牌上的Motto写的是"United We Stand",当时瞬间感受到这种句式的力量与B格。
6. Without further ado 这句在YouTube视频里经常听到,那些YouTubers在视频开头往往先介绍这个视频是干什么的,再顺便扯几句近期生活,然后在切入正题之前,有时会用这么一句"Without further ado, let's get started."这句话的意思就类似于“废话少说,让我们开始吧。” 每次听到这句,我都会联想另一个四字常用词汇“原来如此”,真希望它在英文里也有完全对应的翻译,我就不用每次都将说了半句的“搜迪斯卡”咽下去了。。。
7. Figure 当想表达“我觉得/我认为/我猜”的时候,有个很好用的表达就是“I figure.." -I figured you might wanna be alone for a while, so I didn't bother you.
8. Petite/plus size/pale/fair/tan/dark 这几个都是形容外貌的,就放在一起说。 在形容人个子矮的时候,short可能不够委婉,一般说petite。 在形容人胖的时候,fat明显不够委婉,可以说plus size。 在形容肤色时,长得白和黑不是white和black(慎用!),而是pale/fair(形容白),tan/dark形容黑
9. Email常用礼貌用语 -I hope this email finds you well.用于开头。 -Any response will be appreciated.用于结尾,通常正文是找对方询问事情。 -Please feel free to let me know if there should be any question.用于句尾,通常正文是上交文件,材料,或者回答问题等。 -It would be great/the best if you could...这就是传说中比"Could you please..."还要更加委婉的请求式句型了。
10. I'm good. 这句可以用来回答How are you?此外,常用于: -Do you want some chips with your sandwich? -No, I'm good. Thanks. -Do you have any questions? -No, I'm good. 也可用作委婉拒绝。 -Do you wanna go to a strip club? -I'm good.
11. Shoot 除了“射击”之意,还有以下日常用法: -Whenever you need help, just shoot me an email. (比send更口语化) -I've collected some negative comments on you. -Shoot. (类似于Go ahead说吧) -I was shooting for 100, but 98 is ok. (意为本想冲击100分) -Oh shoot...(其实就是Oh s**t! 的委婉说法)
12. 结束对话用语 -I'll leave you be. (类似于“打扰了”,“告辞了”,是在《纸牌屋》里看到Claire对一个白宫工作人员或是记者说的) -As you were. (这句通常上司对下属讲完工作之后可能用到,是在《基本演绎法》里看到的)
13. Off the hook 意为“从麻烦脱身”,可以想象一条鱼脱离鱼钩的样子。 -He paid all the fines so he's finally off the hook now. -He's off the hook, he doesn't do drugs any more. 《绝望主妇》里面Bree问她儿子Andrew,现在年轻人还说"Awesome"吗?Andrew告诉她,他们现在都说"Off the hook",可见,这个词组也有Cool, awesome之意。 -That party was off the hook! 印象中《宋飞正传》里Jerry, Elaine和George有对off the hook和on the hook的一段讨论,但是在网上搜出来的似乎都是小黄网站,于是隐隐觉得似乎这个表达不是什么好表达了。。。
14. Hands down 有“绝对,毫无疑问”之意。可以这样联想,因为毫无疑问,所以不会举手提问,也就是hands down。 -My favorite TV show is hands down Friends.
15. Though 大家都熟悉though用于句首和句中表转折,但可能不太了解它放在句末的用法。 -Do you want me to get you a cup of coffee? -No, I'm good. Thank you though. (意为不过还是) 另外一个用法是在Instagram上看到的,关注了一个账号整天推送搞笑短视频,内容都是人和动物摔倒啊,被砸啊,被吓到啊等等很囧的场面。然后这个账号经常配的文字就是以though结尾的语句,可以感觉到明显的讥讽意味。例如: (一个男人被电梯整蛊吓得尖叫) -That scream though. (重音在scream) (一只狗打了一个喷嚏,然后全身狂抖) -That sneeze though.(重音在sneeze)
16. Sure/Of course/Certainly 当时初中学英语的时候记得这三个词经常一起出现,表达“当然”,一直模模糊糊地认为他们是一个意思,后来慢慢地才了解到他们的用法的区别。 Sure一般用来表达欣然同意对方的提议,意为“好呀”: -Can I give you a call? -Sure! -Would you like to get a cup of coffee or something? -Sure! 而Of course则有“那当然了”,“不用多说”的意味在里面: -There are, of course, exceptions to the rule. -What do you do now? -Still farming. -Of course. (此对话来自《唐顿庄园》里庄主Robert问他领地里的一位农民现在做些什么,农民回答还是做农活,并且一脸颓丧的样子,潜台词是“我还能做啥,还不是做做农活而已”,Robert听后稍愣了一下,大概觉得自己问的问题有点愚蠢,于是说了句Of course. 可见,如果问了一个本该知道答案的问题,对方回答后,你可以说这么一句Of course.) Certainly则比较少见,在Google上查到它的使用频率也是渐渐下降: 不知道是不是一个渐渐淡出江湖的词汇。
17. 模糊语气 在表达“差不多”,“接近”,“...的样子” ,“之类的”等模糊的意思时,除了nearly, approximately, almost, kind of, sort of 等词汇外,更口语的说法还有or so, -ish, ...something等: -He has worked in the company for a year and two months or so. -After dinner I had 30 cherries or so. -That movie was good-ish.(此人应该觉得电影并不怎么好看) -That color is blue-ish. -Let's meet around 9-ish. -30 books every twenty-something girl must read. (类似于知乎豆瓣经常出现的20多岁女孩的必读书单) -Wanna a cup of water or something?
18. Sense sense的意思非常多,有“...感”,“意思/意识”,“目的”等,无法和一个中文词汇完全对应。国内用到a sense of的标配经常是a sense of humor,其实可以使用的范围非常广。 -What is the sense of going out in the rain? (意为“目的”) -The purpose of the meeting is to let you get a sense of how we work. (好难翻译!请意会) -Does that make sense to you?(这句话很常见,通常在解释完某个复杂的事情或事物后,为了解对方是否听明白,会问这么一句,配以拧巴的眉头,微倾的头颅)
19. 没听懂对方的话时 听不懂或没听清对方的意思,这种状况常常发生,不论你是不是native speaker。除了Sorry? Excuse me? Could you repeat that? 以及英语课本里教的I beg your pardon? 可以用来要求对方再说一遍外,还可以这样告诉对方你没听清: -!#%^*>??#^& -Sorry, you lost me. -#%^&^$(!_+?>< -Sorry, I didn't follow.
20. A touch of 意为"一点儿", 但是不是比a little, a bit of听起来要更有画面感? -"Chinese White Tie" means White Tie with a touch of China. (这是美国Vogue杂志主编Anna Wintour给记者解释刚过去的中国主题Met Gala的dress code的含义时用的原句。) -I have a touch of flu and need some rest.(意为“轻微的”)
21. Shy of 意思类似于short of。 -He's just shy of 6 feet. ("接近"6英尺=1.8288米) 《老友记》里面有次6人玩扑克牌,Ross加注的时候发现钱不够了,说了句"Joey, I'm a little shy here.",意思是钱不够了,想找Joey借钱,结果Joey傻了吧唧地拍了拍Ross肩膀,说有哥们儿在,不怕。还好Chandler听出了shy的第二层意思,掏出了钱包。
22. Dress up/down Dress up可不是穿上衣服的意思,而是穿着正式的意思,相应的穿着随意则是dress down. -You need to dress up for the dinner. But during the daytime, you can dress down as you like.
23. 又是几个对话常见表达,适用于特定场合。 在宾馆/图书馆/售票处/电话客服..办事结束后,经常会听到一句"You're all set." 听到这句话就知道事儿已办妥可以拎着东西滚了。如果不知道自己的事儿是不是弄好了,而对方又专心致志作敲键盘状时,可以问一句"Am I all set?" 不要像楼主第一次住完宾馆在前台傻了吧唧地站在那儿等人家给我receipt等了二十分钟,人家终于忍不住问我"What else can I help you with?"才知道我早就可以滚了。。 有时用公共饮水机/洗手池时有可能不巧地前面正好有人在使用,于是站在别人身后两英尺处耐心等待,同时说一声"Take your time" 让对方不用太着急,对方使用完可能对你说声"All yours"让你放心上前使用,文明的世界真美好。
24. At some point 这个表达非常好用,可以表示过去某时刻,也可以表示将来某时刻。 -At some point I decided she was no longer my friend. (表示之前某时刻) -Do you want me to add that information in the document? -No. But at some point we will need that. (表示将来某时刻,比in the future明显更适用)
25. Comfort Comfort的意思大家都懂,就是舒服,舒适,爽。在国内的时候,我只知道俺家的沙发是comfortable的,而在老美的口语表达中,这个词可以使用的语境实在是多。 -You should make sure you are comfortable with the height every time you jump off. (这是楼主第一次去攀岩俱乐部玩抱石时,教练对我说的,comfortable在这里的意思更贴近于“没有不适,能接受”) -If no support was provided, we should perform audit steps to obtain comfort that the item was appropriately included. (这里意译过来应该是“确保”,意思等同于make sure) 可见comfortable这种状态,不一定是躺在沙发上全身放松,还可以是生活工作中每一个细小的,让你呼吸平稳,心跳规律的状态。
26. Thing 除了“事物”之意外,在口语中还有以下常见用法: -I think he has a thing for you. (就是中文里“他对你有意思”的意思) -Being funny is Chandler's thing and Ross's thing is getting divorced. (来自《老友记》,这里thing不好翻译,可以理解为“某人最显著的特质”,即让别人想到你就联想起来的东西。)
27. Have/get your back 意为“罩着你”,“挺你”或者“有我在”。 -If you ever need help, just ask. You know I have your back. -Just go ahead. Don't worry. I got your back.
28. In the middle of nowhere 意为“荒郊野外”。 -Bree once dropped her teenage son in the middle of nowhere.
29. Walk through 虽然这个词组里有walk这个动词,但是通常和行走没有太大关系。可以理解为“过一遍”。 -Could you walk me through the process so I can get a better understanding of your business?
30. 标点符号的说法 仔细想想我们还没有好好学习过标点符号的英语表达呢,那就一起总结一下吧! , comma . period — dash (破折号,用法为句子A - 句子B,注意字符两边都有空格) # pound (#有时候可作编号之意,比如“#1”为“编号1”, 而No.1则为“排名第一”) / slash backslash "" quote () [] {} brackets * star _ underscore - hyphen (连字符,用法为word-word,组成一个新词,例如anti-discrimination,字符两边没有空格) ~ tilde ! exclamation point/mark ? question mark ' apostrophe : colon ; semicolon • bullet numerator 分子 denominator 分母
31. Doesn't hurt to do something 意为“做什么事有好处/不会有坏处”。 -It does't hurt to take a look of what you've done and see if it could be improved.
32. You might wanna/you don't wanna 这可以是给别人建议做某事/别做某事时使用的短语。 -You might wanna have a cup of water at hand in case that food is too spicy. -You don't wanna call her in the middle of the night. You don't know how grumpy she could be.
33. Can use some 意为“正需要”。 -After a long week, I can really use some rest. -That shirt is too flashy. -You can use some flash. (来自《宋飞正传》)
34. At the end of the day 意为“到头来”,“到最后”,“最终”,并不是“一天的最后”。 -They all said they would help me, but at the end of the day nobody did.
35. The last thing I wanna do 可不是“最后一件想做的事”,而是“最不想做的事”。 -The last thing I wanna do is hurting your brother. (来自《老友记》她Rachel对Monica说不会伤害Ross)
36. Be my guest 这个表达可不是邀请对方做客,而是在对方提出要做某件事的时候给出允许。 -Can I have the last piece of cake? -Sure! Be my guest. 老友记里面有一集Monica和Rachel楼上的邻居把地毯撤掉了,各种噪声通过天花板传来听得一清二楚,Pheobe问她们怎么不上去和那人说,Monica表示那人太帅了,她没法开口。Phoebe不信,决定要上楼去教训下那个人。Monica和Pheobe之间有这样一段对话: MONICA : He took up the carpets and now you can hear everything. PHOEBE : Well, why don’t you go up there and ask him to just, like "step lightly, please"? MONICA : I have, like five times, but they guy is so charming that I go up there to yell and then I end up apologizing to him. PHOEBE : Ewww, that is ...(angrily) silly. I’ll go up there, I’ll tell him to keep it down. MONICA : Alright. Be my guest.
37. Gut 直译过来是“肚子”,但在英语里面有“直觉”之意。 -I don't know how to decide. -Well, what does your gut tell you? 有时又指“胆量”。 -I hate that guy! I want to punch him in the face! -You don't have the guts.
38. It works 这个表达在日常口语中实在太常见了。在国内时work往往指工作,但在英语中更像是说某件事“有效运行”。 -I don't understand how polygamy works. -We tried a new model and it worked! 39. Buy that 除了“买它”的直译外,还有“相信一个说法”的意思。来看例句理解吧: -He said he didn't do it but I don't buy it. -She told me she missed our date because she had to work. -That's so made up! I can't believe you bought it.
39. Buy that 除了“买它”的直译外,还有“相信一个说法”的意思。来看例句理解吧: -He said he didn't do it but I don't buy it. -She told me she missed our date because she had to work. -That's so made up! I can't believe you bought it.
40. Table 几个和table有关的表达:Bring to the table和On/Off the table。 Bring to the table指“带来的好处”: -Do you have any advice for me on the interview? -Just be yourself and talk what you can bring to the table with all the experience you have. On the table指“考虑的”,相应的,Off the table指“不作考虑的”: -The proposed new bill will soon be on the table in Parliament. -We will take no options off the table to achieve that goal.