Larry和李華正在去學(xué)校的書店。 李華今天會學(xué)到兩個常用語hip and square。
LL: Wow, Li Hua, that is a really hip book bag!
LH: Hip? Hip不是人的臀部嗎。這跟我的書包有什么關(guān)系呢?
LL: "Hip" is a slang word that means something is really cool and neat. I think your back pack is cool, so I said it was hip.
LH: 我明白了, hip在這里是個俚語。意思是很棒, 很時髦。 你喜歡我的背包?這還是我在中國上大學(xué)的時候買的呢。這么舊的包有什么好的呢?
LL: I think it is hip because it has Chinese characters on it. Things with Chinese characters on them are really cool - Really hip.
LH: 有中文字的東西都好?。窟@種背包在中國到處都是。我們并不覺得這種背包特別時髦。
LL: Well, most Americans can't read the Chinese, but they still think having something, like a t-shirt or jewelry, with Chinese characters on it is really hip.
LH: 那到是很有意思,美國人不懂中文,可是卻喜歡有中文字的東西。我是看到有不少美國人的體恤衫上有中文字。中文字那么時髦, 說不定還能吸引一些人來我的班上學(xué)中文呢。
LL: I am sure it will. Have you ever noticed some of the students have tattoos with Chinese characters?
LH: 是啊,有的美國人紋身,刺的是中文字 ??上в械臅r候他們恐怕不知道這些字的意思。
LL: What do you mean?
LH: 我有一次在校園里看到一位很時髦的男生,他的胳膊上寫著“只能干洗。”
LL: Ha, ha! That is really funny. And decidedly un-hip.
LH: 是啊,“只能干洗”不僅不酷而且很可笑。 Larry, 我們快到書店了。聽說時髦的學(xué)生都喜歡坐在書店的咖啡廳里邊喝咖啡邊看書。你要不要也喝一杯咖啡呀?
LL: I don't know, Li Hua. . . Are we hip enough to drink coffee with all the cool students on campus?
LH: 你夠不夠時髦我不知道,反正我有資格,別忘了我有一個時髦的背包。
LL: Well, maybe some of your hip-ness will rub off on me!
LH:行呀,你就沾點我的光吧!
******
LL: Wow, sitting here with all of these hip college students is making me feel a little square.
LH: Larry, 你看上去既不是方的,也不是圓的。不過如果一定要給你定型的話,我覺得你更圓一些。
LL: I'm not talking about my physical shape, Li Hua. You know how "hip" means something cool? Something that is "square" is not cool at all.
LH: 噢,原來square跟我剛才學(xué)到的hip意思正相反。Square就是不時髦,很土得意思。
LL: That's right. And right now I am feeling square.
LH: 你為什么感覺自己跟不上潮流很土呢?
LL: Well, I've been out of school for a while, and I've been working. Every one here seems so young and carefree. It seems part of growing up is to become square.
LH: 不錯,你已經(jīng)畢業(yè),開始在公司做事了,學(xué)校里的人年齡也比較小??墒俏也煌饽愕目捶ǎ砷L并不等于越來越保守呀!
LL: Look - I'm wearing a dress shirt with a tie, khaki pants and glasses. This is the uniform of a square.
LH: 這我還沒有聽說!襯衫加領(lǐng)帶,一條卡基其布褲子,再帶上一付眼鏡,這就成了趕不上潮流的典型制服?
LL: Right.
LH: 可是Larry, 我覺得你的眼鏡很好看,很時髦。你看上去很有學(xué)問。
LL: Thanks, Li Hua. But squares often look smart and read and study all the time.
LH: 噢,不時髦的人看起來都很聰明,經(jīng)常讀書學(xué)習(xí)。那我這個研究生每天都看書,一定就是不時髦嘍。I am a true square!
LL: Well, I guess that means we two squares can hang out together then!
今天李華學(xué)到了兩個常用語。一個是hip, 意思是很棒、很酷、很時髦。還有一個是square, 意思是保守,不時髦。