时间:2019-02-19 作者:英语课 分类:英语口语


英语课

 A: Nice pen.


 
B: I got it over there. It's a steal.
 
假如在一部电视剧中听到这样两句对话,你会怎样理解呢?It's a steal是不是指笔是偷来的?B是贼吗?
 
非也,非也。
 
A说nice pen是因为看到B有一支漂亮的笔,这句话自然有赞美的意思,即“这笔蛮别致的”。
 
A steal 是英美流行口语,指“极便宜的东西”,因此B回答的是:“我在那边买的,很便宜。”
 
由于cheap有低劣蹩脚之意,于是近年流行用it's a steal取代it's cheap。
 
七十年代出版的梁实秋主编的《最新实用英汉辞典》中,steal还没有便宜货的释义,可见it's a steal是近年流行的口语。
 
说到字典,比方你听到外籍朋友说three hundred dollars for this dictionary - isn't that a bit steep.
 
这里的steep又是什么意思呢?相信不会有人把它解作“陡峭、险峻”吧。大家应该可以猜到steep在这里解释为“昂贵”,这句话的意思是“这本字典要三百块钱,是不是贵了一点?”
 
学习了这个惯用法,以后你要说“那所房子要六百万元太贵了点”,自然可以脱口而出:Six million dollars for that house is a bit steep.
 
再来看看以下这段对话:
 
某男子在车行看中了一辆名牌轿车,于是问推销员:How much does it cost?(这辆车多少钱?)
 
售货员答:It comes to $15,000.(一万五千块)
 
然后男子面带不悦之色说:It's a rip 1 off.(贵得太离谱了。)
 
Rip off 本意是“偷窃、欺骗”,在口语中可表达类似于汉语中“敲竹杠、宰客”的意思。
 
后来,男子还是忍痛买了那车,他去接朋友时说:It cost me an arm and a leg.
 
大家一定猜到这句话是什么意思了吧。
 
Cost somebody an arm and a leg,要某人的一臂一腿。真要命,失去手脚那是多大的代价啊!所以引伸出来就是“极其昂贵”的意思,是不是非常形象化,活灵活现呢?

n.拉裂,破绽,激流,浪荡子;vt.撕裂,激昂地说,贬损;vi.裂开,仓促地冲过...
  • He had seen the rip in the book.他看到了书里的裂缝。
  • I tried not to rip the paper as I unwrapped it.我把纸打开的时候,尽量不把它撕破。
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