美國(guó)之音之流行美語(yǔ)Lesson 117 - flip-flop / wishy-washy
今天Larry和李華在校園里閑逛，校園里到處都貼滿了選舉傳單。今天李華會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：flip flop和wishy-washy.
LL: Hey, Li Hua who do you support for class president?
LH: 我覺得Gary Lawrence當(dāng)學(xué)生會(huì)主席應(yīng)該是不錯(cuò)的。他看起來挺老實(shí)，也很勤奮。
LL: Gary Lawrence? But he flip-flops all of the time. One minute he's in favor of increasing campus security and the next minute he's accusing the university of policing its students
LH: Flip-flop? 那是什么意思啊？你說他一會(huì)兒要加強(qiáng)校園安全，一會(huì)兒又批評(píng)學(xué)校過于監(jiān)管學(xué)生。嗯...flip-flop， 你是說他翻來覆去的意思吧？
LL: Something like that. Flip-flop is a term that is often used in politics. It means that a particular person suddenly changes his/her position on an issue.
LH: 噢，flip-flop經(jīng)常用在政治方面。但是改變想法也沒什么錯(cuò)啊。每個(gè)人都會(huì)有改變主意的時(shí)候嘛！
LL: That's true, but when someone flip-flops a lot it makes him seem weak and indecisive. People will not think he is a good, strong leader.
LH: 那是沒錯(cuò)。如果一個(gè)人經(jīng)常flip flop，別人就會(huì)覺得他不夠果斷，不能做個(gè)好領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。
LL: If Gary flip-flops a lot, how could he be a good student leader!
LH: 對(duì)，如果我們因?yàn)镚ary支持加強(qiáng)校園安，投了他一票。結(jié)果他當(dāng)選后，又改變立場(chǎng)，那不就糟了？
LL: Exactly. I would feel as though I had voted for the wrong person.
LH: 沒錯(cuò)，那可真是選錯(cuò)人了。哎，對(duì)了，Larry，如果我說我贊同死刑，但后來又改變立場(chǎng)，反對(duì)死刑。這樣算不算是flip-flop?
LL: That would definitely be flip-flopping.
LH: 可是一些政治人物經(jīng)常這樣改變立場(chǎng)的啊！
LL: That's true, but they also lose support when they do things like that. It's very negative to be accused of flip-flopping in U.S. politics.
LH: 還好我不是什么政治人物，這樣我就可以隨便改變立場(chǎng)咯！
******
LL: Li Hua, what about Laura Wilson? Do you support her for class president even though she flip-flops all of the time? I think she is so wishy-washy.
LH: 嗯，Laura Wilson是還好啦?？墒撬灰步?jīng)常改變立場(chǎng)嗎？你還說她wishy-washy。那又是什么意思?。?/p>
LL: Wishy-washy is similar to flip-flop but it's an adjective instead of a verb. To be wishy-washy is to be weak and indecisive.
LH: 原來wishy-washy的意思和flip flop差不多，只不過它是個(gè)形容詞。照這么說，Larry, 我是不是能說一個(gè)經(jīng)常改變主意的人很wishy-washy?
LL: Yes. I can also call you wishy-washy if you can't decide which candidate to support.
LH: 嘿！我才不是wishy-washy呢！我只是要仔細(xì)地想一想，到底把票投給誰(shuí)最好！
LL: I know, I'm just teasing you. Can you give me another example of wishy-washy?
LH: 你要我舉個(gè)例子?。堪ィ辛?，我們的朋友Lisa，她一直下不了決定是不是該和她男朋友分手。她呀！ 就是標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的wishy-washy.
LL: Yes, you could call her wishy-washy because she can't make a decision and act on it.
LH: 說到做決定，我還沒有決定是不是該為下學(xué)期的一個(gè)會(huì)議寫報(bào)告。要寫的話，負(fù)擔(dān)很重，不過會(huì)得到學(xué)術(shù)界的重視。我到現(xiàn)在還決定不了。
LL: Quit being wishy-washy and make a decision. If it's worth it, then it's worth it. If not, then forget about it.
LH: 你說得到容易，值得就值得，不值得就算。我并不想wishy-washy，就是不想做錯(cuò)誤的決定。
LL: Sometimes, you have to take the risk.
今天李華從Larry 那兒學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。第一個(gè)是flip flop. 意思是一個(gè)人經(jīng)常改變立場(chǎng)，特別是指一些政治人物。第二個(gè)常用語(yǔ)是wishy-washy，這是形容一個(gè)人很軟弱，不果斷。
