《小屁孩日记》(Diary of A Wimpy Kid)风靡全球,这个11岁孩子的日记吐槽让人爱不是释手,但是如果你第一次接触这类书,可能会觉得明明单词很简单,为啥有点看不懂?
答案就是,口语和书面用语本来就有挺大区别的。纵然是汉语,我们日常说话和笔下文字也是不同的。看看一些例子:
一、单词
口语中大量的单词可能是我们书面语中不怎么使用的。
- figure
So I figured I might as well write in this book to pass the time.
figure 认为;猜想;估计
这种是用语习惯上的不一致,我们看惯了课本上用的I think。本书中这个孩子习惯用 I figure,到处都是。下次我们开口时不说 I think,改成 I figure,没准美国人会觉得你说的很地道呢。
- kind of
虽然前面几页的kind of都是我们很熟悉的用法,比如Now it’s about the kind of clothes you wear。
但是看这一句:
I’m kind of glad my plan to get put in the Easy group didn’t work.
如果明白这里的 kind of = rather,你就不会被到处都是的 kind of 搞晕了,这里就是程度副词,表示“有些”。
- end up
But she ended up tossing them in the trash can on the way out the door.
这个在书中常见,其实end up = finally最终
所以这是常见搭配 end up doing sth
- 还有各种骂人的单词
这些一般我们五讲四美三热爱的教材里是不会出现的,但是学骂人永远是最快的,所以口语里大量这种词汇:
包括但不限于 “jerk 混蛋”、“moron 傻瓜”、“dork 呆子” 等。
话说我查到moron是指傻瓜后,突然很操心魔力红(Moroon 5)乐队,他们不担心有人手误写成moron 5么?
And kids like Ronnie McCoy are scratching their heads wondering what the heck happened.
以及这样类似的骂人话 heck 见鬼,糟糕 。
二、短语
每个单词都认识,但组合在一起就不知道了。
- come in handy
So this book is gonna come in handy.
handy是一个常见单词“方便的; 手巧的;”,但是在本句里是这个短语
comes in handy 派上用场
- growth spurt
You got kids like me who haven’t hit their growth spurt yet mixed in with these gorillas who need to shave twice a day.
这个不能怪我们,growth spurt 是个医学术语,指青春期骨骼的突发生长。你跟正在学中文的老外突然说起“青春期”,他也会一脸懵逼。不过这句看上下文也能猜出来。
- be into
The thing that really stinks is that I have always been into girls, but kids like Bryce have only come around in the last couple of years.
be和into合起来的be into是“喜欢”
懂了上半句才会明白,Bryce的come around是指“改变观点”。改变什么观点?就是配图漫画那种“Girls are stinky poos”的观点,等他们长大了会后悔的。
- But of course now I don’t get any credit for sticking with the girls all this time.
creditcard是信用卡,但是get credit for 得到赞扬、称赞或认可
- show up
but we had to make sure people actually showed up.
show up 出席
- cough up
The first kid to cough up his two bucks was Shane Snella.
cough是咳嗽,但是cough up是(勉强)支付
顺便一提,bucks不是鹿,而是美元, two bucks 就是两美元。
- squirm out of
Dad tried to squirm out of it, but once Mom makes up her mind, there's no way you can change it.
squirm out of 逃脱
- feel bad for
Anyway, I felt kind of bad for Rowley.
feel bad for 就是对……感到愧疚。似乎平时我们会用 I am sorry to ,另外注意那个kind of,这里就是相当于程度副词rather
- make it up to
So tonight, I tried to make it up to him.
make it up to 对……进行补偿
- make a point
every time one of them wanted to make a point, they'd stop walking.
make a point 证明自己是对的
- black out
That's the last thing I remember before I blacked out.
black out 晕厥;暂时昏迷
- get grounded
Rowley ended up getting grounded for that whole haunted house mess yeaterday
ground是地面,但是get grounded 是罚(儿童)不能出门;禁足
- live up to
Even if you don't live up to what you got picked for, it doesn't really matter, because it's on permanent record.
live up to 遵守(诺言);符合,不辜负(期望)
- hold off
but something told me to hold off on that thought for right now.
hold off 推迟;拖延
- egg on
A couple of the guys who were arguing over what happened to the Cheese were the same ones who were egging me and Rowley on yesterday afternoon.
egg on 怂恿;煽动;唆使
而不是鸡蛋怎么了。
三、俗语
- but I think it just goes in one ear and out the other with him.
goes in one ear and out the other 这个不用翻译,也能知道是“一个耳朵进一个耳朵出”,我怀疑从小老师教训我们的这句话就是英语翻译来着,我们中华文明教育是讲究循循善诱,应该没这种话。
- But if he ever gets too big for his britches.
too big for his britches 狂妄自大,膨胀的利害
可不是“穿不下他的裤子”哦,还有一个 ** too big for his boots** 也是自大的意思。
- I'm sure Dad thinks I've got a screw loose or something.
have/get a screw loose 字面意思是有颗螺丝松了,和我们中文里说“脑子里哪根筋不对”类似。
螺丝松了,(脑子里)哪个接口不正常了。你瞧美国人不愧是工业化国家,比喻都这么工业化。
网友评论