William: Hello and welcome to bbcukchina.com. You're listening to Authentic Real English. I'm William Kremer.

Feifei: I'm Feifei. What's today's word, William? 今天要学的俚语是什么？

William: Well,there's a footballing theme to this week's question, or at least a sporting theme. Let me ask you, Feifei, what characteristics do you associate with British people? 嗯，这次的主题是足球，不管怎么样，是和运动有关的主题。问你个问题，菲菲，你觉得英国人的特点是什么？

Feifei: 我把什么特性和英国人能联系在一起呢？Um... well, you're all a bit cynical 愤世嫉俗的，有点儿冷嘲热讽的。

William: Ye-es. That's... That is probably fair. But what about more positive characteristics? 是的。你的说法可能是公正的，还有什么积极的特征吗？

Feifei: Um... 嗯……

William: To do with sport... 和运动有关……

Feifei: 你们英国人善于发明体育项目，不过虽然很多体育项目是你们发明的，可是在比赛中水平反而不及其他国家，哎。

William: Yeah, that's also probably fair as well. But what about our sportsmanship, Feifei? In particular, our sense of fair pay? Fair play on the football pitch? 是，这样说也有道理。但是有想过运动员精神吗，菲菲？特别是我们观念里的公平的竞争？

Feifei: Maybe. Fair play 的意思就是公平比赛，公平竞争。英国人向来都认为在体育竞技和每日生活中，fair play 是非常重要的一个原则。But what about the phrase, fair play? When do we use that, William? 什么时候使用这个短语呢？

William: Well, that's a little bit tricky to explain. But we tend to say "fair play" when somebody does something annoying or perhaps a little negative but we shouldn't criticise them because they were sticking to the rules of the game, or to the spirit of the rules. 嗯，说起来很微妙，但是当有人做出一些让人厌烦的事时，我们用这个词。这个词有些消极，当人们坚守比赛规则或者条例的时候，也用这个词来说明。

Feifei: Right. That is a little tricky to understand. Can you give us an example? 对的。是有点难以捉摸。能举个例子吗？

William: I'd be delighted to, Feifei. This example is from two men watching a football match. A goal has just been disallowed because the scorer was offside.我很愿意，菲菲。这个例子是正在看足球比赛的两个人的对话。这一球是不合规矩的，因为它越位了。

Feifei: 下面对话中两位男士在观看一场足球比赛。一个进球刚刚被判无效，因为一名队员越位了。Offside 越位。他们对裁判 ref 的这一判决很是不满。

Example
Man: Oooooh! Ref, I can't believe it?! 哦！裁判，我简直不敢相信？！
Man 2: That is a shame. That is a shame. 真丢人，真丢人。
Man: What a joke! This referee needs to get some glasses. 笑话！裁判的眼睛应该放大一点。
Man 2: Yeah, but fair play to him, that player was offside. 是的，但是公平的竞争，运动员越位了。

Feifei: 虽然这两位男士对裁判的判决很是不满，但是其中的一位还是说了"fair play to him, that player was offside".

William: Yeah, fair play to him. Now although this phrase comes from sport, we don't just use it to discuss football and so on. So let's hear another example. 是的，对他来说是场公平的竞争。现在尽管这个短语来自运动，我们还可以用在别的场合。

Example
Man: Have you heard about Gary? 你听说过盖里吗？
Man 2: No... 没有……
Man: He's kicked his son out of his house. 他把他的儿子赶出家门了。
Man 2: No, what, Kevin?! 不，说什么，凯文？
Man: Yeah, he's kicked him out. I mean, fair play to Gary, Kevin is 42 now.是的，他的儿子被赶出家门了。我是说，对于盖里来说，凯文已经42岁了。
Man 2: Yeah and he crashed Gary's car, remember? 记得吗，他曾撞到盖里的车？

Feifei: Hmmm. 在上面的这个例子中两位男士在谈论关于他们朋友 Gary 把自己的儿子 Kevin 赶出家门的事情。

William: One of the men says, "Fair play to Gary, Kevin is 42 now."

Feifei: 因为他们朋友的儿子已经42岁了，而且他还把自己父亲的汽车给撞坏了，所以父亲一气之下就把他给赶出去了。Fair play to him.

William: Maybe not everyone understood that clip, but then, fair play to them, it was quite hard. Let's listen again. 也许还有人不是很理解这个片语，再来看下面的例子。

Feifei: William 我注意到刚才上面两个例子里都是男士们在说话。

William: Yes, I think this might be a phrase that men are a little bit more likely to use than women. Maybe that's because it comes from sport. 是的，这个短语男性比女性更常用，也许是因为它源于运动。