Michael和李華好幾天沒(méi)見(jiàn)了,今天剛好在校園里碰到,兩個(gè)人就聊起來(lái)了。李華會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ):to chip in和snail mail。
L: 嗨,Michael,Bob明天開(kāi)生日party, 你去嗎?
M: Yes, I'm going with a few friends. We decided to chip in and buy him a leather jacket. He's been talking about buying a jacket for a long time.
L: 你要和幾個(gè)朋友一起去參加 party,還要給他買一件皮夾克??墒瞧A克很貴,你們是不是準(zhǔn)備大家湊錢給他買?你剛才說(shuō)chip in是不是就是這個(gè)意思呀?
M: That's right. To chip in, means to each contribute money to buy something.
L: 那就是我們中國(guó)人說(shuō)的湊錢買東西。
M: Usually you say "chip in" if each person in a group of people gives some money to buy someone a present.
L: 要是每個(gè)人都出一些錢給誰(shuí)買個(gè)禮物,人們一般就會(huì)說(shuō)to chip in。
M: To give you another example, my mother said her colleagues always chip in to buy gifts to celebrate someone's birthday or when someone has a new baby.
L: 你媽媽的同事往往會(huì)湊錢買禮物給過(guò)生日的同事,或者給剛生孩子的同事。這跟上面你說(shuō)的幾個(gè)朋友湊錢給Bob買皮夾克差不多。To chip in還可以用在其它什么場(chǎng)合嗎?
M: You can also use "to chip in" if you are going out with a group of people for dinner or a drink.
L: 噢,幾個(gè)朋友一起出去吃飯,喝酒,每個(gè)人出一些錢來(lái)付帳也可以說(shuō)是chip in。
M: Yes, the guys and I usually each chip in a few dollars when we go out for pizza on Friday nights。Last week, I paid 10 dollars, Bob chipped in $4, John gave $2. There is one guy who never chips in. He's cheap. It really makes me mad.
L: 等等,上星期五你們幾個(gè)人出去吃比薩餅,你付了十美元,Bob出了四美元,John出了兩美元。還有一個(gè)小氣鬼,從來(lái)不出錢。他真好意思!Why don't you ditch him, 甩了他不得了!
M: Oh, we've been friends for many years, and it's only a few bucks!
L: 喲,既然朋友多年,也就幾塊錢的事,你不愿意甩了他,那你就別生氣啊!Michael, 你手里拿的是什么?好象是信吧!現(xiàn)在還有人寫信呀?
M: I got two letters today from a couple of old friends! I hardly ever get snail mail anymore.
L: 你收到兩個(gè)老朋友給你的來(lái)信。你說(shuō)什么?Snail mail, snail不就是蝸牛嗎?mail 就是信。 信和蝸牛又有什么關(guān)系呀?
M: "Snail" is an animal known for its slow movement. "Snail mail" means real letters that you get in your mailbox.
L: 噢,我知道了。蝸牛走的很慢,所以snail mail就是指通過(guò)郵局寄的信。以前怎么沒(méi)有聽(tīng)說(shuō)snail mail這個(gè)說(shuō)法呢?
M: Well, ever since e-mail became popular, people have used "snail mail" to talk about paper mail, because it is slower than e-mail.
L: 對(duì),郵局寄的信和電子郵件相比真是要慢多了。叫它“蝸牛信”倒也挺形象的。
M: Yes, everyone is so busy nowadays, no one seems to have time to write snail mail anymore.
L: 你說(shuō)得一點(diǎn)不錯(cuò)。大家都很忙,沒(méi)有多少人還會(huì)坐在那兒寫信。郵局里送來(lái)的郵件不是賬單,就是廣告。這些也能叫做snail mail 嗎?
M: No, only a letter written to you by a friend or family member can really be called "snail mail".
L: 噢,人們只有把親友寫的信叫做snail mail。說(shuō)起寫信,我真是應(yīng)該給我爸爸媽媽寫信了。
M: I'm just too lazy to write snail mail. I think I'll go write some e-mails.
L: 你的親友都在美國(guó),都有電腦。我的父母在中國(guó),他們還沒(méi)有電腦,所以,I have to write snail mails to them。我得走了,下回再聊吧!
M: Okay, bye!
李華今天學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ),一個(gè)是:to chip in, 意思是湊錢買什么東西,或者是湊錢付大家一起吃飯的錢。另一個(gè)是:snail mai,這是指通過(guò)郵局寄的信。今天的[流行美語(yǔ)]就學(xué)習(xí)到這里,我們下次節(jié)目再會(huì)。