Jen: Hello, and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Jennifer, and with me in the studio is... yawn... Helen.
珍:大家好,欢迎来到我们说的英语节目。我是珍妮弗,今天我们演播室请到的嘉宾是……啊……海伦。
Helen: Hi Jen... are you a bit tired?
海伦:珍,你好……你是不是有点累?
Jen: Oh yes, I really am. I've been here since seven this morning - I think I'm ready to call it a day now.
珍:对,我确实很累。我从早上七点开始就一直在这里工作,我想现在我准备好要结束工作回家了。
Helen: What do you want to call it? Monday? Tuesday?
海伦:你想给日子起什么名字?周一?周二?
Jen: Oh no, I don't mean...
珍:不是,我不是那个意思……
Helen: How about Saturday? That's my favourite day. Or we could call it a new day altogether. What about Cake-day! Or Coffee-day.
海伦:周六怎么样?那是我最喜欢的日子。或者我们可以起个全新的名字。蛋糕日怎么样?或者叫咖啡日。
Jen: I don't want to rename the day. In English, if you're ready to call it a day, it means that you want to finish whatever you're doing-and usually go home.
珍:我并不想给日期重命名。在英语中,这个短语的意思是你想结束你正在做的事情,通常是指准备回家。
Helen: So you want to call it a day now? We haven't finished the programme yet.
海伦:所以你现在想结束工作回家了吗?我们的节目还没结束呢。
Jen: That's true. In that case, let's hear some examples of the phrase in action.
珍:没错。既然是这样,我们来看看应用这个短语的其他例子。
We're getting nowhere with this–shall we call it a day and start again tomorrow?
我们没有什么进展,我们今天要不要先结束,明天再开始做?
I'm getting picked up from work at five, so I think I'd better call it a day.
我五点就开始工作了,所以我想我最好结束工作回家去。
Helen: I see... so if you call it a day, you decide that it's time to finish the work you're doing.
海伦:我明白了……如果你说call it a day,意思是你决定现在是结束正在做的工作的时间了。
Jen: That's right, so let's call it a day right now.
珍:没错,所以我们现在结束工作吧。
Helen: Alright then. Do you fancy a quick drink after work?
海伦:好的。下班后你想不想去喝一杯?
Jen: Well, I'm feeling pretty tired, but I suppose I could come out for one drink.
珍:嗯,我觉得非常的累,不过我想我可以出去喝杯酒。
Helen: Let's go then!
海伦:那我们就走吧!
Voice: Some time later...
话外音:一段时间之后……
(Nightclub music)
(夜店音乐)
Helen: Jen, look at the time-we've been here seven hours!
海伦:珍,看看时间,我们来这里已经7个小时了!
Jen: I know! I don't know where the evening went. It's probably time to call it a night.
珍:我知道!可是我不知道晚上的时间都去哪里了。我想我们今晚可能就到此为止了。
Helen: I thought the phrase was 'call it a day'?
海伦:我想短语是call it a day吧?
Jen: We can also say 'call it a night' if you've been somewhere in the evening and you know it's time to go home.
珍:我们也可以说call it a night,如果你在晚上去了某个地方,而你意识到是该回家的时候了就可以用这个短语。
Helen: Well, I definitely think that you need to call it a night, then. Although look...
海伦:嗯,我当然认为你今晚需要到此结束。虽然看起来……
Jen: What?
珍:什么?
Helen: The sun is coming up already. We've been out on the town all night. Perhaps we should call it a day instead?
海伦:太阳已经升起来了。我们已经玩了一整晚了。也许我们应该回家了吧?
Jen: That means it's nearly time for work again! Can I call in sick, please?
珍:意思是又要到上班的时间了!请问我能打电话请病假吗?