看How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be学英文(二)


By Vincent from www.englishvincent.com


继续和英语基础一般般的朋友读这本书。英语好的别笑. 这段话可以帮你记住一些简单而重要的单词,不过要记住学了之后第二天再复习一下,并用用。


In fact, most of us have been conditioned to blame soemthing outside of ourselves for the parts of our life we don’t like. We blame our parents, our bosses, our friends, the media, our coworkers, our clients, our spouse, the weather, the economy. our astrological chart, our lack of moeny,-anyone or anything we can pin the blame on.

1) be conditioned to
conditioned=accustomed; inured.,所以这个词组的意思是“习惯于”。

2) for the parts of our life we don’t like.
we don’t like 用来做our life 的定语,放在后面。


3)  our friends, the media, our coworkers, our clients, our spouse, the weather, the economy. our astrological chart, our lack of moeny。
有不会的单词么?查字典吧。不会的单词,记在本子上,摘一个实用的例句配合记忆。第二天拿来复习,还不会的第三天拿来再复习。 硬生生记住几个单词的好处在于要用到的时候可以硬生生地喷出来。别不好意思,烂英文很管用。


4) pin the blame on
pin the blame on= put the blame on=blame it on。
blame是责怪、指责、归咎等意。


剑桥学习词典有几个例句:
Health officials put the blame for the disease on (= state that the reason for the disease is) poor housing conditions.
If anything goes wrong, I’ll take the blame (= I will state that it is my fault).
They tried to pin (= put) the blame for the killing on an innocent army officer.

拿本词典,并大声朗读出来!英文有没有比上次进步一点点? 读都读不出来的,去www.eslpod.com跟着读几段对话吧。

看How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be学英文(一)

 

By Vincent from Bywww.englishvincent.com

 
晚上在看Jack Canfieldd成功学著作 How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. 看到下面一段话。供大家学习下。
 
When my niece came to stay with us one year while she attended the local community college, we made other complete delegation-the grocery shopping. We told her she could have unlimited use of our van if she would buy the groceries every week. We provided her with a list of staples that we always want in the house( eggs, butter, milk, ketchup, and so on,), and her job was to check every week and replace anything that was running low.
 
1.       Stay with us
如果不是长期居住,不用live,而用stay。
2.       Community
Community 指社区,也指小区。我们平时所说的neighborhood可能包括好几个小区及其相关生活和教育设施,范围更大,也更难界定。有点“这一带”“这一片”的意思。
3.       College
美国人管大学叫college,而英语人用university。上大学一般用go to college.
4.       Make delegation
意思是“委派任务”,可以指工作上的人物的委派和分配,也可以指文中的家庭琐事(household chores)
5.Staples
   从文中就可以猜出,这里的staples指导是eggs, butter, milk, ketchup等食品,属于groceries的范畴,后者还包括其他日用品。
6.       running low
Run low是快用完了的意思,
除了文中所说的groceries或者staples会run low之外,还有哪些东西会run low (快用完了)呢?
 
Battery 电池
Money 钱
Capital 资金
Gas 汽油
Coal 煤炭
Memory (电脑)内存
Stocks 库存
Supplies 供应、物品
Luck 运气
 
总之好像几乎什么都可以run low啦。
 
除了可以用The gas is running low,你还可以用The car is running low on gas这样的句型,且适用于其他诸如battery,memory等单词。

看Marley & Me学英语(一)

by Vincent from www.englishvincent.com.

1)博客由于备案,被down数日,惭愧惭愧。

2)上上周六,有幸受到19楼一口外语板块斑竹的邀请,在13中上了这个电影课堂。把当时给到场的朋友分发到材料发这里来。

希望对你们有用。

3)谢谢大家都关注:)

           

 
                                        19楼一口外语英语小分队第五期-电影课堂

Director(导演): David Frankel
Writers(编剧): Scott Frank, Don Roos
Cast(主演): Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, Alan Arkin, Eric Dane
Plot(情节) : A family learns important life lessons from their adorable, but naughty and  
neurotic dog. Based on the memoir by John Grogan.
Genre(类型): Comedy
 
 
 
A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he’ll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?
 
狗不需要好车,大房子或名牌衣服。一根狗咬胶就够了。狗不在乎你是贫穷还是富有,聪明还是愚钝,有趣还是乏味,聪明还是愚蠢。只要你真心待它,它也会和你心心相印。世上又有几个人能做到这一点呢?有多少人能让你觉得自己很珍贵,很纯真或很特别的?有多少人能让你觉得自己是非同寻常的?
 
(一)映前问题:
Marley & Me
 
First, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Qiqi for offering this amazing classroom to us. Without his arrangement, we are not sitting here right now. second, I want to think Kalu for bringing her laptop. Cuz this is an amazing place without a computer. 
 
Anyway, thank you so much for joining us. We are gonna watch a movie about the story between a dog Marley and a family. I’m sorry, but we will start the movie with some questions:
 
1) who are dog persons? 狗人?Dog person means a person who loves and enjoy spending time with dogs. Please raise your hands!
2) suppose that everyone of you have a dog now. and I think we can divide you guys into three categories:
 
A, Who keep dogs for meat.
B, Who keep dogs for security reasons. To guard the yard.
Ok. I think I got the idea now. You guys are bad. You people just want to take advantage of dogs. This is a movie about the love between a dog and the dog owners. You guys don’t belong here. Get out of here. The explains why you are still single. If you want to get a girlfriend, show your loves for dogs and kids in front of girls.
 
C, Who keep dogs as pets, treat them like family.
 
3)now seriously. Have you ever had a dog? Pls raise your hand.
4)What problems did you have with dogs. What do they do will drive you crazy?
5) what would you do when a large dog walks close to you?
6) Take look at the picture on the first page. This is the world’s worst dog Marley. Do you know what kind of dog Marley is?Labradorwhat adjectives would you use to describe him?
7) What’s the difference between raising a kid and keeping a dog?
8) have you ever eaten dog meat? What do you think of killing dogs for meat?
9do you think you are obliged to take care of the abortion expenses if your dog just knocked up your neighbor’s dog?
10) what would you do if you neighbor’s bog just bark all night. Your answer shows your personality.
 
1) Poison him,
2) Cook him, and enjoy it with friends.  
3) Call the apartment manager.
4) Go talk with the neighbor to think of a solution. Or do you want to talk straight with the dog?
5) call the newspaper or TV station.
6) move to another neighborhood.
7) take some sleeping pills. Or give the dog some sleeping pills.
8) kill the neighbor, so the dog will starve to death.
9) put on your earphones and listen to brutal death music.
10)play the music so loud that you deafen yourself, so you will never hear the dog barking.
11) install a soundproof windows on the wall of your house. Or your neighbor’s house.
12) wait until the dog dies. You know a dog only live less than 20 years. You can live much longer.
13) get the dog a girlfriend, so he will stop being so upset.
14) perhaps your neighbor is dead and his dog’s hungry, perhaps you should go feed him.
15) just put some cotton into your ears or stay in a hotel for the night. Probably the dog will not bark tomorrow.
 
 
() 难点及习语解析:
 
对于我们中国人来说,看英语电影,总是会碰到一些影响我们理解的地方。我的建议是,那些很难懂的东西就别学了。你要是拿着字典查半天也查不出来,证明就算会了也没什么用处。
 
1)       Friggin-
You are John Friggin Grogan.
你是牛逼哄哄的John Grogan
Frigginfreakin的变形,是用来代替fucking的一个插入语,用来放在一个单词中间,以加强语气,但没有fucking那么粗鲁。. 比如un-freakin-believable, ri-fucking-diculous extra-fucking-ordinary. In-friggin-credible 有时候放在一句话的两个单词中间,比如are you out of your freakin mind?(=are you nuts?)
2 walk the plank
看过加勒比海盗的人应该都看过walk the plank:船舷上伸出一块木板,要受到惩罚的人沿着这块木板往外走,走到尽头后,再往前跨一步就要掉进海里喂鲨鱼。
 
3) Eat heart out
这个短语的除了有表示“伤心欲绝”外,还可以用来表示“妒火中烧”,但是,拜托不要说话这么夸张。
4)  Double time
加快速度,快步走,慢跑
We gotta double-time it just a little here, honey.
我们得走快点了,老公。
催促对方加快行动速度,抓紧时间,还可以说=hurry up,和hustle
You need to hurry up/hustle if you want to make the flight.
你要想赶上飞机,就不要慢慢吞吞地了。
 
5 Ride shotgun.
You’d better ride shotgun.
你最好乖乖待在副驾驶座上
说到副驾驶座,我不经想到back-seat driver,这类人坐在后座上对你的开车技术评头论足,气死人不偿命。套用Serena喜欢用的一句话,“连掐死他的心都有了”。
 
6Tops
I’ve only left him for an hour. Tops.
我最多就离开它一个小时。
Tops放在句尾,意思是最多”. Tops还可以用maximum来代替。
 
7)       Lose=脱掉,拿下
比如摘掉你的太阳镜是lose your sunglasses,那么你们就知道如何翻译lose your pants 了吧。
 
8)        Heel!  
Heel是叫狗,作为动词又是对狗说时,是命令小狗跟着你走,估计这句英语也只有狗能听懂,你就算听懂了也不一定follow。当然此命令是你对男朋友下达的,而他又head over heels in love with you. (对你爱得痴狂,爱得死去活来),可能他就能听懂了。但是,我无论如何也想不明白,为什么headheels上面这样一个事实是如此疯狂,难道upside down才正常?
Marley, Heel.
Marley, 跟着我。
9)       Nada=nothing .
 
10)    Wannagonna的差别
You really wanna know?, wanna是个动词,意思是want to do something, or want something.所以wanna前面是不加Be动词的,而gonna相当于going to,要加be动词。很多人都漏了。当然,在口语中有时候be动词是被省略了。比如John的老大问他why you hesitating.   
 
11 Jackpot
完整的形式是hit the jackpot=撞到宝了, 中大奖了
John在冲dogshit的时候,终于看到被Marley吞下去的necklace。他说了句Jackpot,很搞笑。
Hit the jackpot是抽到大奖,撞大运的意思。
 
12 Break the streak
Streak有连胜,持续的一种状态的意思,那么打破这种规律和状态(连续数月不做爱的状态),指的就是start to have sex(开始做爱)。对于极度饥饿的人来说,streak是一个很具欺骗性的单词。这些人由于血糖下降,很容易出现幻觉,而把streak看成steak(牛排)。所以你也能猜到这些人看到flood(洪水)的时候会产生的误会。
 
13 Just so you know.
Oh, and just so you know, I am a dog person, but that’s not a dog.
哦,告诉你们(你们给我听着)。我是个喜欢狗的人,可是它根本不是狗。
上面这句话是受够了Marley欺负的小保姆说的,委曲求全过后自然是出离愤怒了。 Just so you know的意识是告诉你们,我跟你说,你们给我听着,语气上有不吐不快的气势,说话者往往带着某种情绪,说出一些不是很nice的话,想让对方难堪,或者让其他人难堪。同样是安妮斯顿主演的Friends里,她扮演的Rachel也对Ross喊了一句:Just so you know. It’s not that common; it doesn’t happen to every guy; and it is a big deal. ( 告诉你,这种情况并不是很普遍。不是每个男人都会有这样的问题;而且这不是个小问题。)
P.S. 这里的it指的是“阳痿”。我们得到的启示是,绝不可得罪女人。难道我们在这方面吃的亏还不够多么?
 
14 Luck of the Irish=good luck 太走运了!
我对于爱尔兰的印象就是几百年前他们连土豆都吃不饱,以致纷纷飘洋过海去蛮荒的北美大陆。这句话应该不是为了拿爱尔兰人做受上帝垂帘的人的典型吧。估计是指他们一千多年来都受苦受难,只要有点小转机,生活有点小改善,就应该感谢上帝让他们这么lucky了。第一个儿子肯定是Luck of the Irish,可是第三个孩子呢,尤其是她在你没有防备的情况下呱呱坠地,你家里还有一条世界上最坏的狗的时候,你只能管她叫whoops了。
 
15 Good run
You have a good run though.
不过你的情况很不错。
John感叹年华易老的时候对老年的Marley说的。他认为Marley有了second wind(第二春)。不过我一直不了解穆大叔焕发了第几春,好像你只要不停摇手指就可以永葆青春,可以不停打击80后和90后的信心,直到对方将你废了。
 
16 Party
I’m not gonna be a party to this.
我可不想助纣为虐。我可不想做你的帮凶。
Party用“同谋”的意思。英语中还有一个单词叫wingman,指的是帮助兄弟泡妞的人。我是不幸的,有时候不仅要做wingman,还要做third wheel,前者的目的是帮助对方搞定对方,后者的目的是帮助对方维持意兴盎然的关系。问题是,当任何一方受到伤害的时候,我发现自己忘了约定一个免责条款。
 
17) makes the two of us
 
JohnYou gonna get rid of me when I misbehave?
       我要是不乖(做错)什么你也会把我赶出家门么?
Jenny: I’ve thought about it.
       我考虑过。
John: Well, that makes two of us.
我也会把你赶走的。
That makes the two of us,的意思是“我也一样,我也会采取同样的措施” John在和Jenny争吵的时候说了这句话,属于气话。这句话用在。当你要表达你和对方的想法、要求、情况,和打算采取的行动和坚持的原则是一样的时候,你还可以说same here而当你要回应对方的问候的时候,你会说likewise
 
至于这种互相威胁从不兑现式的夫妻之间的争吵,我在幼年时也经常听到,因为当时父母都很年轻嘛。有时候我会掉几滴眼泪,在想:当初就不要结婚嘛,苦了孩子呀。后来我发现,父母也在成长,家庭就越来越和谐了。
 
18 Overwhelmed.
I just got overwhelmed.
我就是太焦头烂额了(最近)。 
详解见“翻译错误 4)” 
 
19) whoops
Daddy says you are whoops.
爸爸说你叫whoops
通常你会在你险些做错事或者刚发现自己做错事的时候说的。比如我高中的时候听到小甜甜的一首歌叫oops. I did it again. 你不小心把手机掉地上了也可以whoops一下。而JennyJohn的第三个孩子,明显是个“意外”,因为他们之前已经说好no more kids for a while了。所以,John对于这个“小意外”发出了“whoops”,jokingly地管他的小女儿叫“whoops”了。这让我不禁想到《平凡的世界》里的男女主角,那个时代文娱活动比较少,太阳落山只能疯狂做爱,而且他们体力充沛,青春无敌,以致安全套都不顶用。这不禁让我想起现在的食品多是用化肥种地,还用了很多催熟剂,看起来好看,吃起来没营养、否则我们也会和《平凡的世界》里吃有机食品的男女主角一样牛逼了。但是“营养论”并不适用于“阳光的灿烂的日子”里的whoops,因为后者是由于他的哥哥玩弄安全套而导致的“恶性事故”。
 
说了半天,到底JohnJenny的这个奇异事件,是是属于哪个category的呢?
 
20Come of it
I didn’t think anything would come of it.
我当时没想过会有什么结果。
A thing that comes of another thing is the outcome.
 
21with all due respect.
恕我直言/冒昧。
no offence.的意思是无意冒犯,恕我冒犯,请别见怪。当你要表达异见的时候,这么说不容易引起争端和对方的不满。当别人说了no offence, 你要是想表达你并不介意,并没有被冒犯到,gossip girl里面好像是说成none taken的。
 
22 just for the record.
Grogan. Just for the record. You surprised the hell out of me.
Grogan。记住我的话。你真的让我惊喜万分。
Just for the record是你接下来要说一些你希望对方记住的话的时候先说的一句话。(对不起,中文很拗口)而不是“明确指出”有点“mark my words”(你给我记住)的感觉。 Verb+the hell/shit out of someone的说法:you scared the shit out of me=you scared me to death. 你真是吓死我了。我真是被你吓得屁股尿流。
 
23Yeah. The football takes it out of him.
是呀,他玩橄榄球玩累了。
Take it out of someone =to get someone tired.
 
 
24If you are knocking off soon.
   如果你马上下班的话。。。
下班简单点说就是leave work, 而平时所说的打卡下班是clock off或者punch out离职,离开一家公司可以说成是leave the company. 不炒某人鱿鱼叫Keep someone in the company.
 
25 go ballistic = become extremely angry= 暴怒,脾气大作
说一个人突然脾气发作还可以说go bananas/go berserk/bristle/blow your top/hit the roof/go crazy/go nuts/have a fit
 
不好意思,我也说不清哪些表达方式是偏门的,哪些是实用的。因为以上的说法我都经常见到。起码你容易记住go bananas。有很多女生叫Apple,上次看电影还认识一个叫pineapple的女生,但是一直不明白为什么有女生给自己取英文名叫Banana。好女权主义哦,而且容易让人直接联想到香蕉。
 
26) make it
Can you make it upstairs?
你能自己爬上楼么?
常见的还有make it to the top,指的是公司员工、运动员呀等等通过自身的努力,做到公司高层或者成为顶级球星。而如果你想和我说你周六来不了(看电影),你可以说
I’m so sorry, but I can’t make it there tomorrow. I’ve got a lot of work dumped in my lap. 
不好意思,我明天来不了。(老板)突然给我一大堆工作。
而当你和朋友在聚会上等最后一个到来的朋友时,你想说某某某终于来了,你可以说xxx finally makes it. 你要某人被车撞了,送到医院后didn’t make it。意思就变成“他没挺过来”“他死翘翘了”。我上课的时候每次提用第一人称或者Vincent来举这个令人伤心的例子,大家都很开心。人品问题哪。
 
27 clearance puppy
清仓狗狗
清仓贱卖,叫做a clearance sale,而Marley由于天性顽劣,200美元就被卖给了Grogan一家。正所谓便宜没好货,尤其是当你买回家的狗智商很高。一开始装乖卖巧,被带回家后就露出庐山真面目。可惜已经太迟了。   
 
为了少浪费纸,下面的句子感兴趣的自己回家查查。可以下载lingoes,然后加载牛津双解,美国传统双解、柯林斯、朗文等字典。建议大家去买本朗文当代高级英语辞典。再次申明,学这些鸟英语没有用。下面的比较实用。 
 
We are both hanging by a thread.
There is no place like home
I will take my hat to you.
Cut him some slack
Door’s always open.
Teach football the right way. Learn it the hard way.
Gross
Flipped.
The vet seems to be on top of that.
Jen’s holding up.

 

英语是一门叫Chemistry的课–Catch-22

By Vincent
 
看格林斯潘回忆录的第130页,碰到这样一句话:This impasse made coping with the deficit and the recession doubly difficult, because it meant the administration was always looking for quid pro quo from the Fed.
 
Impasse的意思是僵局,并不是一个很常见的词,不过很好记也很好理解,且看其词源:
 
1851, from Fr. impasse "impassable road, blind alley, impasse," from in- "not" + M.Fr. passe "a passing," from passer "to pass." Supposedly coined by Voltaire as a euphemism for cul de sac.
 
可见impasse就是not passable 的意思。一种你无法通过,无法走出的局面就是僵局。其意思和用法都和我们熟知的deadlock非常相似。
试比较:
 
Impasse: a situation in which it is impossible to continue with a discussion or plan because the people involved cannot agree
 
The political process is at an impasse.
Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse .
 
Deadlock: a situation in which a disagreement cannot be settled
 
The talks have reached a complete deadlock .a last-ditch effort to break the deadlock Negotiations ended in deadlock.
 
我们可以看出,它们都是因为双方无法达成共识(cannot agree, no agreement is reached,而导致无法进展(proceedmove forward.
 
再回到impasse的词源,据说impassecul-de-sac的委婉的说法。
我们不妨看看cul在法语中的意思
在法语中,cul有屁股,臀部,和底部的意思。
而底部bottom就是可以用来指臀部的。
sac就是英语中的sack (袋)的意思,
那么cul-de-sac就是指the bottom of the sack,众所周知,袋子只有一端有开口,而其bottom是封死的。所以cul-de-sac就跟死胡同dead-end是同一个意思,还有一个同义词是blind alley
 
Alley是胡同,小巷的意思,和lane同意。不过,我们平时说的车道却不会用alley,而用lane,比如
比如单车道: single-lane road
     二车道:two-lane road
而单行线是 one-way road
双行线是 two-way road
 
最人人喊打的行为:change lane at will
公交专用车道是:bus lane
 
还有,dead end=cul-de-sac—impasse(僵局)的origin,自然也有僵局的意思。你可以说come to a dead end 也可以说reach/hit a dead end.都是指陷入僵局。
 
一个dead-end job就是指没有发展的工作 a job with no room for growth or a job without a chance of progress(发展)
 
而另一个词:glass ceiling,转至由于对妇女的歧视而认为设置的阻止其升迁的障碍。有事业心的女人要是碰到了玻璃天花板,自然是愤愤不平的。 Glass ceiling 可以指对妇女的歧视的态度,也可以指某个公司具体的相关制度和做法。
 
说道口袋的底部,我不禁想起毛遂自荐的故事来.毛遂自荐用英语怎么说呢?我猜猜可能是recommend oneself for a particular task or mission,对于毛先生来说是没有cul-de-sac这样的说法的,毛先生不怕口袋,就怕没口袋,因为他是一个锋利的锥子,如果不把它放到cul-de-sac,他是没法戳出来的。。。
 
毛遂自荐自然是赞扬一个有能力和品德的人自我推荐自己而受到重用并获得成功的行为,而自吹自擂则是指一个人对自己的成就或者不存在的成就的吹嘘。自吹自擂用英语说:blow one’s trumpt/horn.
说道horn,你自然想到了horny(欲火中烧),我自然没想到(关于horny对词源可以写一本书,按下不表)
 
还是将几句吧。通常你们看到什么会horny,无非是titscul吧。对,cul就是ass对意思。。对,还有就是看pornhorny。法语中,le cul=sex, film de cul= porn=dirty movie=skin flick。。。目前skin flick是我了解到和中文的黄片最形似并神似的词了,为亚欧文化交融欢呼!
 
当然,我并没有想到上面的东西,事实上,看了horn,我联想到了impasse
 
“be on the horns of a dilemma” 的意思是 “to be in a situation in which you have to choose between two unpleasant or difficult situations”, 也就是进退维谷,左右为难的意思.
 
有一个可能大家都知道的同义词dilemma(我是大一的时候听NellyKelly在格莱美上唱这首歌的时候了解到,没想到我后来会开始听金属) Dilemma是说你处在这样一个境地:所有的选择或者offer都是一样的好或者一样的坏,让你无从做出抉择,不知道该不该接受。也及时两难境地,窘境的意思。
 
还有一个词是catch-22,记得前几天有几个女生问我catch-22,并用充满期待的眼神看着我,以为我回答不出。我轻描淡写地说了句:进退维谷吧,哈哈。因为我电脑中还有一部叫catch-22的战争片呢。多了解一些偏僻的词汇或许并不能打动你老板给你加薪,但是有时候确实可以让小姑娘对你刮目相看。Catch-22dilemma的区别在于,catch-22是说有两件事摆在你面前,如果你要做A,你必须先做成B;可是,你要想做B,却必须先做成A。所以他的意思是无可奈何的矛盾状态从而引申到进退维谷/两难”“无可逾越的障碍(复习下glass ceiling吧,记性差的人只有向我一样多复习并多逻辑了)。无法拜托的困境
朗文上有一个非常好的例句帮助你理解catch-22
It’s a catch-22 situation,-without experience you can’t get a job and without a job you can’t get experience.
这是个无法摆脱的困境,没工作经验你就找不到工作,找不到工作也就没有工作经验。
这有点chick-and-egg了。
 
说道窘境,困境。听说这个字也念jiong。。。
 
我又想到一个我永世不会忘记的词,那就是predicament。这是Face-off教堂决战一群人互相如一张网的永强互相指着对方的时候,大坏蛋Castor Troy对警探 Sean Archer阴声怪调地说了句:What a predicament! 我当时就了解了predicament的意思了,没法扣动扳机啊,扣了大家一起死。
 
Impasse的意思好像和上面几位有点相似哦?
因为他们都有一个意思:no way out. You are so dead.
 
注:Left and rigth 并不可以用来指左右为难,而是到处的意思,=high and low.