今天李華和Michael一起吃午飯的時候,聊起了李華的室友小陳。Michael在談話中教給李華兩個年輕人常用的詞:psycho和laid back。
M: Hey Li Hua. You look a little upset about something. What's up?
L: 哎,還不是我的室友,她今天又找我的麻煩,說是以后再也 不讓我做中國菜,因為她受不了廚房里的油煙味。
M: She said what? Your roommate is a psycho! She's crazy!
L: 你剛才說她是什么?
M: I called her a psycho. P-S-Y-C-H-O.
L: 我猜想,a psycho 就是中文里常說的“神經(jīng)病”,對吧?
M: That' right. Also, psycho was the name of a famous movie about a crazy person who killed people in a hotel.
L: 嗯,我聽說過[驚魂記]這部電影。不過,你說我室友是個 psycho,你不是真的以為她發(fā)瘋了吧?
M: Well, I guess she isn't crazy. Usually we just call someone with strange behavior, and a bad unpredictable temper, a psycho.
L: Bad, unpredictable temper,無緣無故亂發(fā)脾氣,哎呀,這簡直說的就是我室友嘛。Michael,再給我舉幾個psycho的例子好嗎?
M: Well, my last boss was a real psycho. One time, I came to work one minute late, and he yelled at me in front of everyone.
L: 真的? 他當著很多人的面罵你啊。這種人真是有毛病。哎,你 可不可以想想看,還有什么psycho的例子呢?
M: Well, ask any American, and they'll probably tell you about some famous serial killer, they are psychos.
L: 噢,psycho也可以真的指一個心理變態(tài)的殺人狂。
M: That's right. We might call someone who kills people for no reason a psycho.
L: 這么說, 我那個室友倒是沒那么嚴重了,可我總得想辦法和她 好好相處,你說對不對, Michael?
M: Well, when is your apartment lease going to expire? You can always ditch your psycho roommate and find a new one.
L: 好主意,我們公寓的租約還有兩個月就到期了。到時候我就可以 搬出去了。
M: Well, let's look at the roommate wanted ads in the paper.
L: 你說我們來看看“尋找室友”的廣告啊。讓我來看看,這條廣告 說Wanted: friendly, laid back female roommate to share a two bedroom apartment。Michael,這個“laid back”是什么意思?。?/span>
M: Laid back, laid, L-A-I-D; back, B-A-C-K. Describes someone who does not get angry or excited easily. This person doesn't want a psycho roommate.
L: 噢,laid back 是形容一個人個性比較隨和,不會輕易發(fā)脾氣。 Michael,你覺不覺得我脾氣很好,很容易相處???
M: Well, I guess so. Usually you are laid back. But, not always...
L: 你這是什么意思,干嗎吞吞吐吐的,有話直說嘛。
M: Well, remember when you got angry at your roommate for breaking your bicycle and then blaming you?
L: 我承認那次我很生氣,但那是因為我的室友先對我無理取鬧啊。
M: And you certainly weren't very laid back when she tricked you on April Fool's day.
L: 就是嘛, 那次也是因為她在愚人節(jié)捉弄我才惹我發(fā)脾氣的。
M: Well and then your roommate.......
L: 夠了,夠了,別再提我的室友了,我每次生氣都是被她害的。
M: You're right, Li Hua. She's the problem, not you. You'd better find a new, laid back roommate.
L: 對,我們趕快看廣告吧。 你看這個廣告說:Asian girl, seeks female roommate for two bedroom apartment. Call Xiaoli Chen. 我的天哪,這是我室友嘛 。她居然在瞞著我登廣告。真把我氣死了。
今天李華學會兩個新詞,一個是psycho,指的是一個人行為反常,愛發(fā)脾氣;另一個是laid back,就是個性比較隨和的意思。