Hi again. Welcome back to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam.
大家好,欢迎回到英格威英语学习网。我是亚当。
Today's lesson is a little bit interesting. I'll give you a little bit of a background first of all.
今天的课程很有趣。首先我来跟大家讲一些背景知识。
English speakers, and this is a very cultural part of English... And remember, culture plays a lot...
讲英语的人,这是英语文化的一部分...记住,说到语言,文化扮演着...
Has a big role when it comes to language. A lot of speakers, in English, don't want to say certain words.
很重要的角色。在英国,很多讲英语的人不想说某些词语。
For some reason, they think this word is dirty or heavy, or they just don't like this word, so we find soft expressions.
出于某些原因,他们认为这些词是肮脏和沉重的,或者他们不喜欢这个词,所以我们使用委婉的表达。
We find other ways to say the same thing that everybody understands, everybody from the culture understands.
我们找到其他方式来表达大家都理解的同一件事,来自这个文化的每个人都理解。
It may be a little bit difficult for non-native English speakers to understand these expressions, so today we're going to look at a few.
对于英语非母语的人来说,理解这些表达可能有一点困难,所以今天我们酒来学习一些。
There are many, many such expressions. We're just going to look at a few for today.
有很多很多这样的表达。我们今天就来学习一些。
Firstly, these soft expressions are also called euphemisms. You don't need to know this word.
首先,这些表达也被称为委婉表达。你不需要知道这个单词。
If you want to look up more expressions, type: "euphemisms" into your search box on the internet, and you'll see many more.
如果你想查找更多的表达,输入:在网上输入“euphemisms”,你就会看到更多。
I'm just going to give you a few to give you an example of what a euphemism is.
我今天就给大家讲一些委婉表达的例子。
And when you watch Hollywood movies or TV shows, if you hear these expressions, now hopefully, you will understand what they mean.
你在看好莱坞电影或者电视节目时,如果你听到这些表达,但愿你会明白他们的意思。
So we're going to start with: "passed away" which is very common.
我们来以“pass away”开始,这个表达很常见。
I think many of you probably know this expression. Or: "did not make it".
我认为很多人都知道这个表达。或者说“did not make it”。
So if you go to the hospital, your friend was in a car accident,
如果你去医院了,你的朋友出了车祸,
and you bring him to the hospital or the ambulance brings him to the hospital,
你带他去医院,或者救护车带他去医院,
and he's in there for a while, and then you see the doctor.
他在里面待了一会儿,然后你去见医生。
And you go to the doctor: "How's my friend?" And the doctor says: "Oh, I'm sorry. He didn't make it."
你对医生说:“我朋友怎么样了?”医生说:“抱歉。他没有挺过来。”
What does that mean? Or: "I'm sorry. He passed away." What does that mean? It means he died.
这是什么意思?或者:“抱歉。他去世了。”这是什么意思?意思是他去世了。
Now, why people don't like to say the word "died", well, it's a very heavy word.
为什么人们不喜欢说“died”这个单词,因为它是一个重词。
Death, people don't like to talk about death, so they find other ways to say the same thing.
死亡,人们不喜欢谈论死亡,所以人们找到其他表达死亡的方式。
Okay? Now, all of these are not bad things, but you know, we just want to soften the language.
所有这些都不是不好的事情,但是你知道,我们想委婉地表达。
We want to be a bit more polite sometimes. If you want, if you're in the washroom and you want...
我们有时想更有礼貌一些。如果你想,如果你在洗手间,你想...
Sorry, if you're in the restaurant and you want the washroom,
如果你在餐厅,你想去洗手间,
but you don't want to say the word "washroom" or you don't want to say the word "toilet", you say...
但是你不想使用“washroom”这个词,你不想用“toilet”这个词,你就说...
If you're a boy, you say, or a man, you say: "Where's the little boys' room?"
如果你是一个男孩,或者一个男人,你可以说:“男盥洗室在哪?”
If you're a woman: "Where's the ladies' room?" Now, we understand all this to be toilet.
如果你是一名女性:“女盥洗室在哪?”现在我们明白这些都是指厕所。
But people think "toilet" is a dirty word.
都是人们认为“toilet”是一个肮脏的词汇。
They don't like to say the word "toilet", so they say: "Little boys' room", or: "Ladies' room".
他们不喜欢说“toilet”这个词,所以他们说:“Little boys' room”,或者“Ladies' room”。
Okay? Now, sometimes you'll see people in a wheelchair. Maybe they had an accident, maybe they were born this way, but they can't walk.
有时,你会看到坐轮椅的人。或许他们出了什么事故,或者他们生来如此,他们不能走路。
They're in a wheelchair. Or you see people who have a...
他们需要坐轮椅。或者你看到有些人...
Who were born with a disease, and they're not, you know, they're not fully functional like everyone else.
他们生来就患病,他们不像其他人那样功能齐全。
We used to say: "handicapped". But people find this word to be a little bit offensive,
我们过去常说:“handicapped”。但是人们发现这个词有些冒犯。
and so it's not politically correct; it's not a nice thing to say.
所以它不符合政治正确,这样说起来不好听。
So now, we say: "They are mentally challenged." Or: "They are physically challenged." It used to be: "handicapped" or: "disabled".
所以现在我们这样说:“他们有智力缺陷。”或者:“他们有生理缺陷。”过去的说法是“handicapped”或者“disabled”。
But people don't want to say "disabled" because they think or they know that these people are very able,
但是人们不想说“disabled”,因为他们认为或者知道这些人很有能力,
they can do many things; they're just limited. Okay? They are challenged by their condition.
他们能做很多事情,他们就是受限制了。他们受到自身状况的挑战。
So they are mentally challenged or they are physically challenged is a more polite way to say it.
更礼貌的表达是,他们有智力缺陷或者他们有身体缺陷。
Okay, so now, we're going to look at the next expressions.
现在我们来看下其他表达。
If you want to talk about a man or a woman, and the not polite way to talk about them is to say: "He or she is fat", big.
如果你想谈论一个男人或者一个女人,不礼貌的表达方式是:“他或她很胖,很大。”
So, people don't like the word "fat". So, for a more polite way or a softer way to say "fat" for a woman is:
人们不喜欢“fat”这个单词。所以,一个更礼貌或者更委婉地表达女性“胖”的方式是:
"She is full-figured." Full-figured means she's complete.
“她很丰满。”意思是她很齐整。
She's full in all the places, and that's what we say. A man, we're a little bit less nice to men.
她哪里都有肉,这就是我们说的意思。对男人就没那么友好了。
A man has "let himself go". Means he stopped taking care of himself, and became fat.
一个男人“放飞自己了”。意思是他不再照料自己了,变成了一个胖子。
Okay? Again, not a nice word, but not necessarily a very nice expression either, but it's softer.
不是一个友好的词,不是一个非常友好的表达,但是它更加委婉。
It's not as direct, but everybody understands what this means.
它没有那么直接,但是大家都理解它的意思。
Now, if you have a friend or you have a family member and he says that...
如果你的一个朋友或家人说...
Or you introduce him as being "laid off" or "between jobs", this is a more polite, a softer way to say he is unemployed.
或者你介绍他“下岗”或者“待就业”,这是一个更礼貌,更委婉的方式来表达他失业。
It means he doesn't have a job. He's looking for a job. He's being laid off.
意思是他现在没有工作。他在寻找工作。他被解雇了。
"Laid off" is a nicer way to say "fired". He lost his job.
解雇是一个更好的表达开除的方式。他失去了他的工作。
So, if somebody's between jobs, they are unemployed.
如果某人待就业的话,他们现在没工作。
People don't like to say they are unemployed; everybody has a certain judgment about that,
人们不喜欢说自己没工作,每个人对此都有自己的判断,
so they say they're between jobs or they're looking for something.
所以他们说,他们当下是待就业状态,他们在寻找工作。
Same idea. Now we get into a little bit more fun expressions. So, for example: oh, I have a new iPad. Only $100. Brand new.
同样的观点。我们来说一些更有趣的表达。例如:我有一个新平板电脑。只有100美元。全新的。
And somebody says: -"Oh. How did you get it so cheap?" -"Oh", I said: "I got it off the back of a truck."
有人说:“怎么会这么便宜?”我说:“我是从卡车后面得到的。”
or: "It fell off the back of a truck." In British English, they would say: "lorry".
“它从卡车后面掉下来。”在英国英语中,他们会说:“lorry”。
"Lorry" means truck. If somebody tells you they got something off the back of the truck...
“lorry”意思就是卡车。如果有人告诉你他从卡车后面得到什么东西...
Sorry, it's also the back of the truck. It means it is stolen.
它也指卡车的后面。意思是这个东西是偷来的。
So you didn't buy it from the store; you bought it on the street.
你不是从商店买来的,你是从街上买来的。
Somebody had a truck, you paid them cash, they give you the product.
有人有卡车,你付给他们现金,他们给你产品。
It was stolen somewhere. You don't care. You have a brand new product for less than half the price.
东西是从别处偷来的。你不用在意。你能以一半的价钱买到新产品。
So, "off the back of the truck", "fell off", it was stolen. If something... Oh, sorry.
“从卡车后面掉下来”,“fell off”,它是被偷的。
Let me make sure we understand that these are here. Now, when...
让我确保这些在这里。
It used to be a long time ago that when you bought a car, you could buy a brand new car or you could buy a used car.
很久以前,当你买车时,你可以买一辆全新的车,或者买一辆二手车。
But then, eventually, people started not to like the word "used".
然后,最终,人们开始不喜欢“used”这个单词了。
"Used" means somebody else used it, had it for its good time, and then got rid of it.
“used”意思是有人使用它,用过它,然后处理掉。
So marketing departments got smart, and they started using a different expression to mean used.
市场部门变聪明了,然后他们开始使用一种不同的表达来表示“用过”。
"Previously enjoyed". Somebody else enjoyed this thing, now you can enjoy it too.
“以前享受过”。有人以前享受过这个东西,现在你也可以享受它。
It's still used. It still has 100,000 kilometers on it, it still has a cigarette hole in the seat, but it was previously enjoyed.
它仍在使用。还能跑100000公里,座位上还有个烟洞,但是以前有人享受过它。
Now it's your turn to enjoy it. Okay, the next expression we have is, for example,
现在轮到你享受它了。下一个表达是,比如,
if you see someone in your office, a co-worker, she comes to work and her stomach is a little bit bigger.
如果你的一个同事来到办公室,你看到她的肚子变得有点大。
Then the next week, it's a little bit bigger, a little bit bigger, but the rest of her is staying slim.
下一周变得更大了,但是她身体的其他部分还是瘦的。
So you say: "Oh, you know, I think she might have a bun in the oven." A "bun in the oven" means pregnant.
所以你说:“你知道,我觉得她可能怀孕了。”“bun in the oven”意思是怀孕了。
Now, if you're in high school, for example, and one of your classmates, she's like 16 or 17,
如果你在高中,比如,你的一个同学,她大概16,17岁的样子,
and same thing, her stomach's getting bigger, then we say: "You know what? I think she's knocked up."
同样的事情,她的肚子变大了,然后我们说:“你知道吗?我觉得她被搞怀孕了。”
"Knocked up" also means pregnant, but this is more slang, and it's a little bit more of a negative idea.
“Knocked up”意思也是怀孕,但是这是一个更俚语的说法,更像是一个偏负面的说法。
Okay? So it's not necessarily softer. It's saying the same thing, pregnant, but it's a bit of a negative connotation to it.
所以它不怎么委婉。它表达的是同一件事情,怀孕。但是它有点负面的含义。
So be careful about using that one. But just so you know what it means.
所以要小心使用这个表达。但是要知道它的意思。
Now, again, like I said before, there are many, many, many such expressions in the English language.
就像我之前说的,在英语中,有很多很多这样的表达。
Look them up online. And if you want, you can always come and ask me a question in the comments section at www.engvid.com.
你可以上网搜索。如果你想的话,你可以在英格威网站的评论区向我提问。
You can also come test your knowledge of these ones with the quiz.
你也可以做小测,来检验你对这些表达的掌握情况。
Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel, and come see us again very soon. Bye.
别忘了订阅我的油管频道,来看我们的课程。再见。