生活美語討論精華區一
本精華區內容承蒙倪無言先生大力支持, 在此特別誌謝.
| 1. More on Rain Check | 11. Knowledge is Power 的起源? |
| 2. Doop 這個字 | 12. Knock yourself out? |
| 3. 看電視學英語& 托福準備 | 13. 雙關語 |
| 4. 關於 Casual 的用法 | 14. For crying out loud. |
| 5. 吃醋怎麼說? | 15. For the greater good. |
| 6. 何者孰高怎麼說? | 16. Speak of the Devil. |
| 7. 嘴巴破洞英文怎麼說? | 17. 介紹好的英文字典 |
| 8. 英文難學怎麼辦? | 18. 介紹好的文法書 |
| 9. 祝你有好胃口? | 19. 如何增強自己的聽力? |
| 10. There you go. | 20. 說到.. 關於? |
精華區本文:
MORE ON "RAIN CHECK"
Say, a Sony TV formerly tagged $30,000 at SOGO is now sold as $20,000 though it is not a
"clearance sale". You visit the store before the sale ends, but you're late: all
products are gone. You file a complaint to the manager, " There is no restriction
such as 'While quantity lasts' in your advertisement." "All right, my
friend," replied the manager, "you can take a RAIN CHECK." Actually, it is
not a check but a little piece of paper, on which you are promised to get that kind of TV
at the sale price when more products arrive. Even if the sale is over, you still get the
sale price.
In the movie "Working Girls" (starring Louise Smith, 1987 ; not to be confused
with "Working Girl", starring Sigourney Weaver and Melanie Griffith,
1988), a man was looking for sex and visiting a brothel in New York. When the man learned
the woman he was going to have sex with had had children, he immediately changed his
mind by saying, "I'll take the RAIN CHECK." What he really meant was "I'll
pass this time." or "May be some other time."
(By the way, "Working Girls" , directed by Lizzy Borden, is a critically
acclaimed docurama.)
在電視上看到
doop 這個字...查字典也查不到....
According to Dictionary of American Slang by Robert Chapman
doop = whoop-de-do, hoopty-doo, hoopty-do, hoop-de-doo, hoop-a-doop, hoop-de-doop,
whoop-de-doo, whoop-de-doodle
(1) n. Raucous confusion; noisy celebration; jolly fuss:...a gay sense of flossy
whoop-de-doo --- Esquire/...but, in spite of this whoopp-de-doo --- Time/Cowboys and
soldiers created a deafening hoop-a-doop --- New York Times
(2) adj. The racketeering, gossiping, whoop-de-doodle thing, it is a piece of stinking
fish ---Thomas Wolfe
(3) n. A series of ruts or bumps in a road: A department analysis of the ripples, called
whoopdedoos by engineers... ---Milwaukee Journal
You know the black comedienne Whoopi Goldberg, do you?.......
whoopi = whoopee = whoop-de-do
whooper-dooper: a carouse; a wild party
看電視學英語 &
托福準備
你說多看電視可以學英文,我覺得蠻認同的,
可是我現在人在英國唸書,明年要準備申請研究所,可是他們的電視及電影竟然
都沒有字幕,所以根本沒多大幫助,另外想請問你有考TOFEL嗎,如何準備才能得
:
高分,有沒有 academic vocabulary 啊,要不然在這邊要背的單字實在太廣泛
:
了,THANKS A LOT!!
1. TV programs without caption: Rent videos of American releases. Most American videos
come with closed caption, unless they are B-movies or they are produced by small
independent production companies. Of course you must have a built-in or a stand-alone
closed caption decoder When you view the video for the first time, do not turn on the
caption. Try your best to pick up the dialogues. Don't worry if you miss part or most of
them. Next time, you turn the caption on and copy down and study the words, phrases, or
sentences you have missed. In thr third-time viewing, turn the caption off and see if you
have improved.
2. TOEFL: There's no short cut in building up vocabulary. If you have a long word list,
it'll be very hard to remember all of them just by memorizing. The most effective way to
increase your word power is read comprehensively and regularly. Read articles you are
interested in from magazines, newspapers, and so on. However, the most useful readers are
the articles in the Reading Section of TOEFL preparation books. The reasons are: (a)
Almost perfect writing, out of which you can learn writing, too. (b) The contents cover a
variety of subjects, including history, science, arts, just to name a few. (c) You can
test yourself in reading .
You can improve your listening ability by watching TV, listening to radio or language
tapes. Moreover, you must build an abundant vocabulary so that it'll be easier to
pick up what people say. When you practice conversation dialogues, you should read out
loud and train yourself to be able to respond to other's talk intuitively.
Thoroughly study a good grammar book. My personal favorite is Longman English Grammar by
L. G. Alexander. Its Chinese edition is available, but I suggest that you keep one copy
each of both Chinese and English editions.
Try to write something in English everyday. When writing e-mail, use English. To write
essays well, you still need to learn the rules for composition.
Consult dictionaries constantly. Take the advantage of the features of a dictionary. For
example, if you use English
Learners Dictionary, which is published by Collins Cobuild, make sure you fully understand
the usage notes beside the entries. They'll help you improve tremendously in understanding
grammar more clearly and writing more idiomatically.
Q1: WHAT DOES "CASUAL FRIEND" MEAN IN OUR LANGUAGE?
Q2: WHAT DOES "CASUAL ATMOSPHERE" MEAN IN OUR LANGUAGE?
******************************************************************
(1) Here "casual" means"without clear any clear aim or serious
interest". casual friend 亦即"普通朋友", 見過面,講過話,平常沒什麼
來往,只是認得這樣的"相識"者(acquaintance)
(2) Here "casual" means "being without formality" or
"relaxed".
"casual atmosphere" 亦即"輕鬆的氣氛"或"非正式(嚴肅)的場合"
.
(3) casual clothes 便服
(4) casual remark 隨口說的話
(5) casual sex 逢場作戲(露水姻緣)的性行為
(6) casual manner 隨便(不認真,無所謂)的態度
(7) casual observer 無心(注意)者
(8) casual visitor 稀客
(9) casual computer user 平常很少使用電腦的人
(10) casual employee 臨時雇員(工),短工
(11) casual meeting 臨時(非定期)會議
(12) casual look 不經意地看了一眼(眼神),一般的衣服款式(便服)
I would just say, "I am jealous."
***********************************************
另外 green 這個字也有"jealous"的意思,語出 Mary McCarthy "The
Group" "...her roommates were green with envy"
但16世界時 envy 卻是與黃色相關(黃色後來才演變成代表"懦弱")
莎士比亞的 "威尼斯的商人" 中提到過"green-eyed
jealousy";稍後在 "奧賽羅" 中有這樣的句子
"O beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-ey'd monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on"
後來就以the green-eyed monster 來比喻 "嫉妒"
Jerry Corbetta 的合唱團 Sugarloaf 在1970年有一首 Green-eyed Lady 得到 Billboard
排行榜第三名
***********************************************
It depends. 要看"高"的定義如果你是指誰的"身高"比較高,那麼可以說
Who's taller?
Which one of them is taller?
(them 也可是其他表示複數的字,如 you, his sisters, the bears...)
如果你是指誰的"本事"比較高,那麼可以說
Who's better?
Which one of them is better?
不過有一種情況不用比較級的型式. 有兩位拳王單挑.賽前其中一位對另一位放狠話說
Let's see who's the best.
這裡為什麼不用比較級的better而用最高級的 best 呢?因為他意思是說
who's the best in the world. 誰贏了就是世界第一拳王!
請問嘴巴破洞的英文怎麼說啦
?
====================================
請問是怎麼個破法呢?是在口腔內,還是口腔外呢?
一般所謂嘴巴破洞大概是口角潰瘍(發炎),有底下幾個字:
1. stomatitis (醫學名詞,說了可能洋人也不會.多半只有在你的病歷表或醫學報導中見到.
口語中不用此字. stoma-是表示"口腔"的字首, -itis是表示"發炎"的字根)
2. canker, canker sore ("潰瘍",尤指"口腔的潰瘍",也可以指馬的疾病"
馬蹄瘡)
3. ulcer (一般的潰瘍,如 peptic ulcer "胃潰瘍",duodenal ulcer "十二指腸潰瘍"
###### 其他的相關字 #####
1. herpes (一般的"ㄆㄠ(四聲)疹") [字型中缺此字]
2. blister (一般突出於皮膚表面的小ㄆㄠ(四聲);水ㄆㄠ(四聲))
3. inflammation ("發炎",非醫學名詞,一般人不是醫生也認識這個字)
l am a F.5 student,l live in hong kong, l think learning english is very diffcult,what
can l do it ?
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
It's a huge question. You may not get completely satisfactory
answers, but some tips are offered here.
(1) Learn the pronunciation rules. They help you memorize words. Get you familiar
with word forms (noun form, adjective form, verb form, and adverb form), too. Make sure
you pronounce each word correctly and fluently. Watch for the accentuation (stress) for
multi-syllable words. In the case of idioms, you read them with one breath; in other
words, do not articulate. Ditto for the entire sentence. Once you build up your
vocabulary, you'll pick up listening a lot more easily. Good vocabulary also helps you
with speaking. You'll reduce stuttering significantly.
(2) Thoroughly study a good grammar book. Longman English Grammar by A.G. Alexander is a
good choice. Keep a good reference book such as Practical English Usage by Michael Swan at
hand.
(3) Read in a wide variety of subjects. Study the grammar and usage in the reading while
you learn new words. This will also help you with essay writing.
(4) Get yourself involved in an English environment by listening
to English news or songs, watching English video tapes, movies or
TV programs, practicing spoken English with anyone who can help
you, and reading and writing English articles constantly.
(5) Build up your cultural knowledge in English.
(6) Take good advantage of dictionaries. Keep at hand a few dictionaries that have
different features. Collins-Cobuild
English Dictionary is good for those who use English as a second language. When any
question arises, consult dictionaries. Don't be lazy.
(7) Keep notes regularly. Write down all questions, answers, findings, observations, or
any other ideas about English in a
notebook. Who knows when you'll publish your own Notebooks some day.
(8) Visit this web site regularly.
How to say "祝你有好胃口?"
in English?
******************************************************************
Literally, you say, "Have a good appetite!" Many waiters/waiteresses will say,
"Enjoy your meal!" At higher social
level, a French phrase is commonly heard,"Bon appetit!" Please look it up in
your dictionary for its French pronunciation.
I am not sure how to translate "there you to" into Chinese. I often
hear the DJ said this sentence.
:
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
When the DJ said, "There you go.", he might mean, "Coming up!" [來了]
Eg. Supposing the DJ was looking for a CD before he played a song requested by a
listener. When he found the CD and was ready to play the song, he might say,
"There you go.", and
played it. [(接下來)這就是您所點播的歌曲]
Generally speaking, what "There you go!" means really depends. According to
NTC's Thematic Dictionary of American Slang (Richard A. Spears, 1997), the phrase can be
used in the following situations
(A) Encouragement. It means, "Hooray! You did it right!" [對!就 (像)這樣!]
Eg. (1) There you go! [完全正確!] That's the way.
Eg. (2) Good shot, Chuck! There you go! [就(像)這麼辦!]
(B) Reality. It means, "That is the way things are, just like I told
you."; "Isn't this just what you would expect?" [你看吧
(早就料到了)]
Eg. (1) There you go. [你看看] Isn't that just like a man!
Eg. (2) There you go [我就料到你...], acting rude and ugly!
(C) Scolding. It means, "You are doing it again." [你又來了]
Eg. (1) There you go! [你看你又來了] You said it again!
Eg. (2) I just told you not to put that junk on the table,
and there you go. [你又給我這樣搞]
Can you tell me: Who is the originator of the everyboby-knows-it"Knowledge
is power"?
:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was Francis Bacon, the Englsih philosopher and essayist (1561~ 1626).
Originally, it was written in Latin as "Nam et ipsa scienta postesas est."
in De Haeresibus (1597) In English, it was
"Knowledge is itself power."
Sir James Murray, first editor of what became the Oxford English Dictionary wrote
"Knowledge is power." (in English) on the flyleaf of his copy of Cassell's
Popular Educator -- quoted in Elizabeth Murray,"Caught in the Web of Words."
(1977)
Source: p. 69, Cassell Companion to Quotations, Nigel Rees, 1977,
Cassell Book
Knock yourself out 或 Knock out yourself?
It should be "knock yourself out" instead of "knock out yourself".
:
Could you find out about it?
:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phrasal verbs in the form of VERB + PARTICLE (such as OUT, OFF, AWAY, UP...) are commonly
seen in English. Some of them are transitive, others are intransitive. For a transitive
phrasal verb an object is required. Among these transitive phrasal verbs, some of them are
separable, which means you can put the object before or after the PARTICLE. However, if
the object is a pronoun, it always comes before the PARTICLE. Therefore, "knock
yourself out" is correct.
請問有哪些詞是有兩種意思的...例如
:
Nurses are patient people
:
就是護士是照顧病人的...
:
但另一方面，諷刺護士必須要多一點耐心照顧病人....
:
像諸如此的用法呢？？
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
雙關語(puns)並不罕見；它的形成至少有兩種方法．第一種就如你的例子，
"Nurses are patient people." patient 既當作形容詞作"有耐心的"意思（護士是有耐心的人），又當作名詞"病人"解（護士是是照顧病人的人）．另一種是將字詞字面的（literary）意思，用來做為比喻的（figurative）意思，或倒過來(or
vice versa)．例如某人在市立交響樂團擔任副團長又兼任第二小提琴手．當別人問他在在市立交響樂團擔任什麼職務時，他就可以說：I
play the second fiddle.（既擔任"副"團長｛figurative的用法｝，又擔任第二小提琴手｛literary｝的用法．）像這樣的用法"I
play the second fiddle"可以同時有兩種意思，就是雙關語了．如果他兼任的是第一小提琴手，他可以說，"I
play the second fiddle, but I also play the first fiddle."由於"play the first
fiddle"並不是成語(idiom)，它並沒有"當家做主"的意思，因此聽者自然就會明白他是既擔任"副"團長｛figurative的用法｝，又擔任第一小提琴手．如果他擔任某公司的副總經理，他也可以說"I
play the second
fiddle."．不過，最後兩個例子就只有figurative的用法，而不成為雙關語了．
:For crying out loud
要怎麼翻成中文?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[口語] (感嘆詞)(用以強調請求或命令) 唉呀!我的天啊!
[口語] (感嘆詞)("真是的!"(表示驚愕,意外,輕蔑等意)
For crying out loud! Who did this? 唉呀!這是誰幹的好事?!
[口語] (感嘆詞)(表惱怒,不耐煩)
For crying out loud, stop nagging me about it!
拜託你不要老跟我咕噥那件事!
～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～
英國法學家及哲學家 邊沁 Jeremy Bentham
〔倡導 功利主義 utilitarianism 〕
功利主義之原則即是：為了 the greatest good of the greatest number 因此，
"It's for the greater good." 意思應是：
"為了(大)多數人的幸福〔好處，利益等〕"
～～～Thanks for providing the context.
Dear小笨霖:
:
:
這句成語我之前有在聯合報上讀過(馬耳扣梁), 上面是寫 :
Speaking of the devil, the devil appeared.(我記得是這樣)
這兩種說法應該沒什麼差異,不過我覺得在說的當時,應該是這句比較順一點...因為是說曹操,曹操到.所以應該是現在進行式吧?
:
這句之前在 "魔鬼代言人" 裡面 艾爾帕西諾也有說過喔! ^_^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speak [talk] of the devil, and he will [is sure to] appear. 此句中 Speak [talk] of the
devil 本來是 If you speak [talk] of the devil 而在口語中把if you 省略掉了．(你注意到逗點後的子句有一個
and 嗎？這表示前面應該也有一個完整的子句．)
如果是在文章裡的話，的確應該使用分詞構句 Speaking of the devil
才算嚴謹．(speaking
是進行式的動詞型式沒錯，但此處不是作為進行式來用而是作為分詞構句中的現在分詞來用；用作進行式的話前面必須要有
be 動詞．)
不過本句已經成為習語，連字典也這樣寫，那就不必太追究文法啦．
Speaking of the devil, the devil appeared. (毋需連接詞 and)
本句在文法上有一點小瑕疵．分詞構句中提到主要子句的主詞the devil之後，主要子句的主詞應該使用代名詞
he．還有，成語中句子的時態不可以隨意改變，因此 appear
不可用過去式 appeared，何況這一句用的是假設語氣．另一個例子是
習語 Curiosity killed the cat. 中的 killed 也不能改成 kills.
Hi ~ 你英文好好喔...可不可以請你介紹一本好的英文字典....中英
或是
:
英英的都可以...謝謝 ~~~~~~~~~
^___^^___^^___^^___^^___^^___^^___^^___^^___^^___^^___^^___^^__^
謝謝 ! 您過獎啦! 不好意思．．．
個人認為英漢字典較好的有
(1)文馨英漢活用詞典(一定要買有"活用"兩字的版本)
(2)五南英漢活用詞典
(3)牛津高級英漢漢英雙解詞典(第四版)
以上三本對"用法""語法"交代詳細
如果只想要字多的字典，就要算"遠東"和"東華"的英漢辭典
英英字典以Collins Cobuild 及 Longman 這兩家(英國人編)最新版字典最
好（專為英語非本國語的外國人而編的）；以上兩本字典對"用法""語法"也是交代詳細,
如果只想要字多的字典，就要算"Random House"和"Merriam-Webster"兩家(美國人編)的英英辭典,
不管那本字典買回來後，務必先把說明體例先仔仔細細，完完全全讀一遍，英文馬上就有很大進步喔！
p. s.幾乎每家書店都會有「文馨英漢活用辭典」；「五南英漢活用辭典」則不一定，台北市重慶南路應該有許多家書店會有．
which grammar reference book is good, i am a form 3 student in hongkong. R.S.V.P.
***********************************************
For students at intermediate to advanced level, any of the following three very good
English grammar books is strongly recommended here.
(1) Longman English Grammar, L.G. Alexander, Longman.
(2) English Grammar, John Sinclair (editor-in-chief), Collins Cobuild.
(3) A Practical English Grammar, A.J. Thomson & A.V. Martinet, Oxford.
There are workbooks for all books. Also, all books have Chinese translation; for (1) it is
published by 朗文出版社 (of Hongkong), for (2) is published by 商務印書館 (of
Hongkong), and for (3) it is published by 東華書局 (of Taiwan).
There are quite a few grammar books in a series for students at basic level. For example,
the series of (A) Basic English Grammar (B) Fundamentals of English Grammar, and (C)
Understanding and Using English Grammar by BettySchrampfer Azar is very popular and
widely received. If you are looking a reference book on English grammar, any of the
following three books is strongly recommended.
(1) Basic English Usage, Michael Swan, Oxford.
(2) Practical English Usage, Michael Swan, Oxford.
(3) Oxford Guide to English Grammar, John Eastwood, Oxford.
The first two books have Chinese translation and they are
published by 東華書局(of Taiwan).
如何增強自己的聽力?
:
一直以來我都有一個疑問,聽別人說剛開始學英文就要多聽,但我覺得很因
:
惑.我根本就聽不懂.一次不懂,同樣二次也不懂,不明白為什麼英文會進步,
:
我在想是不是要在聽的同時也要做一些其他的功課,例如查單字,查翻譯..
:
可是如果我聽的是ICRT這類的節目,根本就不知道他會說什麼,更別說如何
:
去查單字了,所以我真不知如何是何,還有我查了很多的單字但日子一久又
:
全都忘,真的快要瘋了,救命啊!
:
真不好意思寫那麼多,但這是我一直都不解的疑惑,煩請各位能幫我解答,真
:
的非常感謝大家.
～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～
聽力的培養非一朝一夕之功．以下心得必須配合使用．
(1)
對於英文句型結構要熟悉．以英文氣象報告為例，每天都在重複相同的句型，只不過把mostly
sunny sky 改成 mostly cloudy sky 罷了．
(2) 對於單字片語成語要熟悉．閱讀要廣泛才能學到許多單字片語成語．
(3) 學了單字片語成語以後，自己去想一個情境來使用它(自問何時何地會用得上)，並模仿單字片語成語出處或字典裡的例句，自己先造句．一但遇到類似情境，不但別人講馬上就聽得懂，而且自己也會自然而然地用出來(好像native speaker一樣)．這樣學來的單字片語成語非常難忘記．
(4) 多聽電視廣播英語發音的節目，使耳朵熟悉適應於英語發音．練習{學習}從聽到發音就把單字拼出來．
(5) 先從新聞開始．看過重要中文(國語)新聞後，先找出關鍵字(可參考英文報紙)，熟悉其單字片語成語及其發音(自己先多唸幾遍)，集中精神聽英文新聞就容易跟的上．
(6) 利用店視字幕機(closed caption decoder)學習[臺灣國際牌Panasonic大型電視有此功能，日立Hitachi可能也有某種機型有此功能，據說美國13吋以上彩色電視機必須有此功能]．如果你時間多可以這麼做．(1)觀看有字幕的英語節目或影帶仔細聽英文，同時不啟用字幕機功能但把節目錄下來，(2)重播此段錄影帶，此時啟用字幕機功能查詢剛才聽不懂的地方，(3)再重播此段錄影帶，此時關閉字幕機功能，測驗一下自己，一定馬上就發現自己有進步．
(7) 廣播電台新聞稿有時可在網路上找到．
(8) 「英語900句型」雖老舊，但是可以讓你熟悉英文句型結構．讀聽「空中英語教室」也很不錯．如果只想靠課本學習，就不容易使耳朵熟悉適應於英語發音，也不容易學習正確的發音及音調．最好不要用不講求句型只有free talk的課本．文橋出版社的「英語口語會話辭典」以情境分門別類，運用了多種英語教學技巧，是一本好書，如有錄音帶陪伴學習就更為理想了．
(9)
查字典時，除了名詞必要知道中文怎麼樣外，儘量使用英英字典，並且要看用法及例句．除為了方便，學習英文時最好不要用電子字典或翻譯機．
Is there any other better or common way to say 說到..關於..?
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There are a few more ways for 說到...關於...
(1)about: a book about animals
(2)of: stories of his travels
(3)on: an article on crime
(4)re: re your letter of the 2nd
(5)concerning: What is the article concerning?
(6)regarding: a footnote regarding sources
(7)related to: science related to chemistry
(8)relative to: consult a person to the subject
(9)with regard to: with regard to a person
(10)in regard to: = (9)
(11)in regard of: = (9)
(12)in one's regard: in my regard
(13)in this regard: = in regard of this
(14)with respect to: with respect to your recommendation
(15)in relation to: having nothing to say in relation to the
project
(16)as respects: as respect the origin
(17)as regards: I cannot agree with you as regards that.
(18)as concerns: = (16) = (17)
(19)as far as ... be concerned: as far as education is concerned
(20)speaking of ...: Speaking of his music talents, he has won
first place in a music composition contest.