Dear Abby 专栏（3）

背景资料请阅读"英语点滴"专题 Dear Abby 专栏 (1) 一文

Dear Abby (1918 -- 2013)

再选几篇 Dear Abby 的专栏：

Dear Abby, About four months ago, the house across the street was sold to a "father and son" — or so we thought. We later learned it was an older man about 50 and a young fellow about 24. This was a respectable neighborhood before this "odd couple" moved in. They have all sorts of strange-looking company. Men who look like women, women who look like men, blacks, whites, Indians. Yesterday I even saw two nuns go in there!... Abby, these weirdos are wrecking our property values! How can we improve the quality of this once-respectable neighborhood? —Up In Arms

Dear UP: You could move.

indian  印第安人(北美土著)

odd     奇特的，古怪的

company   同伴，同伙，客人，

nun   修女，尼姑

werido   怪人,

property values 房产价值

Up In Arms  来信者此落款是一短语，有“满腔怒火, 竭力反对”的意思

Dear Abby: I've been going with this girl for a year. How can I get her to say yes? —Don

Dear Don: What's the question?

Dear Abby: I have always wanted to have my family history traced, but I can't afford to spend a lot of money to do it. Have you any suggestions? — M.J.B. in Oakland, Calif.

Dear M.J.B.: Yes. Run for a public office.

trace family history   追溯家族史

can't afford to    负担不起

run for a public office  竞聘公务员

Dear Abby: Are birth control pills deductible? —Bertie

Dear Bertie: Only if they don't work.

birth control pill    口服避孕药

deductible    指 tax-deductible，可税前扣除的消费（即免缴税）

Dear Abby: I know boys will be boys, but my 'boy' is seventy-three and he's still chasing women. Any suggestions? —Annie

Dear Annie: Don't worry. My dog has been chasing cars for years, but if he ever caught one, he wouldn't know what to do with it.

Dear Abby: My wife sleeps in the raw. Then she showers, brushes her teeth and fixes our breakfast — still in the buff. We're newlyweds and there are just the two of us, so I suppose there's really nothing wrong with it. What do you think? —Ed

Dear Ed: It's O.K. with me. But tell her to put on an apron when she's frying bacon.

in the raw  赤身裸体

in the buff  赤身裸体

newlyweds 新婚夫妇

apron  围裙

bacon   培根，熏肉

Dear Abby: What inspires you most to write? —Ted

Dear Ted: The Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (美国)国内税务局, (Abby调侃称激励她写作的是钱)

Dear Abby: Is it possible for a man to be in love with two women at the same time? —Jake

Dear Jake: Yes, and also hazardous.

hazardous  有危险的，冒险的

(to be continued)