他说：“咳，你真不会相信今天我有多倒霉。首先，我的闹钟没有响，所以我没有上生物课。然后，我又把我的数学作业给丢了。我请女朋友吃午饭，吃晚饭我才发现我把钱包忘在家里了。呵，这可真是祸不单行呐。”

日期：2007-7-23　10:32:05

　　流行美语第二十九课
　　大家都知道Michael这个美国学生正在学中文。他和中国学生李华约好每个星期至少在一起活动一次。今天他们决定到一个公园去滑冰。李华会学到两个常用语：loser 和to bug。
　　L: 今天的天气真好呀！正是运动的好天气。我已经好久都没有滑冰 了。
　　M: You"re a very good skater. I just keep falling down.
　　L: 学滑冰总是会摔跤的。多练习练习就好了。
　　M: I know, but I feel like such a loser. I keep getting passed by little kids. They laugh at me.

　　L: 小孩肯定比我们滑得快，别怕他们笑话你。你刚才说你觉得自己 是什么？ Loser? 滑冰又不是比赛，怎么会输掉呢？
　　M: I said I feel like a loser, it means that I feel like a failure. It doesn"t mean I lost a game.
　　L: 你是说loser就是一个人做某件事总是做不好。嗯， 我们在中文 里常说：“我怎么老学不好，真是个笨蛋”。这跟loser的意思 差不多吧？不过，Michael，我肯定你在滑冰方面不是个笨蛋，你只 要多练习就行了。
　　M: Thanks for the encouragement, Li Hua. But I"ve always been kind of a loser at sports. Growing up, I was always picked last for the baseball and soccer teams.
　　L: 原来你在体育方面从小就不行。不过，Michael， 在其他方面你 一点也不笨。
　　M: What do you mean, Li Hua?
　　L: 这还不明白吗？女孩子都很喜欢你呀，你还有其他好多朋友呀。
　　M: You"re right, I do have a lot of friends. But if they could see how many times I fell down today, I"m sure they would not want be friends with such a loser.
　　L: 得了吧，Michael，要说笨蛋，那天晚上我们见到的那个人才是呢。 他自以为挺帅，老是想去和女孩子搭讪，可是，谁都知道他是个 没出息的人，谁都不要和他交朋友。Michael，我们能叫这种人 loser吗？
　　M: Yeah, very good, Li Hua. That guy really is a loser. He never studies at all. I think he"s in college just to party.
　　L: 他从来不念书呀？Michael，你还滑不滑？

　　M: I guess so...Just wait up for me, in case I fall down again. Okay, let"s go!
　　(滑完冰以后)
　　L: Michael，运动一下真舒服。
　　M: Yeah, you had been bugging me about going skating for so long, I guess it was about time that I came along with you.
　　L: 什么是bugging ? Bug不是小虫子吗？
　　M: No, bugging means to bother or annoy someone about something. I didn"t mean it in a serious way, I was just kidding.

　　L: 噢，to bug就是为了某件事去麻烦别人，让人讨厌。 Michael, 你 再举一个例子好吗？
　　M: Sure. You can say that something is bugging you, such as an assignment that you haven"t been able to finish or a problem that you cannot solve. You could also...
　　L: 等等，让我先弄清楚你说的。你是说，我没能完成的功课， 或者解决不了的问题都可以用to bug这个动词。那就是说："This assignment is bugging me"，或者是：“This problem is bugging me"，对 不对？
　　M: Yes, you can also say that a habit someone has really bugs you.
　　L: 我知道，象Mary，她老是打断我说话，让我很烦，很讨厌。
　　M: You could say "It really bugs me when Mary interrupts me in the middle of a sentence." I can also say it really bugs me when you try to tell me what to do.

　　L: 嗨，我告诉你该怎么做是为了你好。老实说，it bugs me that you never listen to me.
　　M: It seems that you"ve learned how to use "loser" and "to bug". Let"s go home.
　　李华今天学了一个名词“loser"，指一个人老是不会做某件事；她还学了一个动词“to bug"，意思是为了一件事老是去麻烦别人，让人讨厌。

日期：2007-7-24　18:20:16

　　「美国习惯用语」第三十讲
　　To stick to one"s guns
　　Shooting the breeze
　　今天我们要讲的两个俗语是和枪，也就是英语里的gun这个字有联系的。我们要讲的第一个俗语是to stick to one"s guns。对于士兵来说，在被很多敌人包围的情况下还要能持续装炮弹发射的话，他们肯定需要很多勇气。这种精神在英文里就是to stick to one"s guns.
　　To stick to one"s guns从字面上来解释是指枪。但是这个俗语现在几乎和枪没有什么关系，它的意思就是：在日常生活中坚持原则，稳步前进，不屈服外界的压力。比如说，一个爸爸对他在大学念书的女儿讲话：

　　例句-1: Pumpkin, I hear that some of the students at your school are fooling around with drugs. But I hope, young woman, that you stick to your guns and keep saying no!
　　这位爸爸说：“小鬼，我听说你们学校的学生里有吸丨毒丨的现象。我希望你坚持正道，坚决抵制这种恶习！”
　　事实上，世界上有许多事都是靠坚忍不拔的精神才能办成的。下面我们再来举个例子：
　　例句-2: I have to admire the ladies who fifty years ago worked so hard to get women the right to vote. People laughed at them at first but they stuck to their guns and got the congress to pass the 19th Amendment back in 1920.
　　这个人说：“我很钦佩以前那些女士们，她们五十年前努力为妇女争取选举权。开始，许多人都笑话她们。但是，她们坚定不移，最后在1920年终于促使国会通过了美国宪法的第十九项修正案。”
　　******
　　今天我们要讲的第二个俗语虽然没有gun这个字，但是和开枪也是有关的，这就是shooting the breeze。Shoot就是开枪的意思。Shooting the breeze就是在很轻松、很愉快的气氛下和朋友聊天。例如，一个教室里的学生在等教授来上课。其中有两个学生是同乡。这两人中的一个说：
　　例句-3: Say, Bill, how about coming back to my room after class? I"ll get a couple of cold sodas and we"ll shoot the breeze for a while.
　　这个学生说：“喂，比尔，上完课你到我宿舍去吧。我去买两瓶汽水，咱们聊回儿天，你看怎么样？”

　　学生上完课聊一会儿天当然是无可非议的。可是，在某种情况下聊天可能会出问题的。你听下面这个人说的话就明白了：
　　例句-4: At the staff meeting this morning the boss told us she wanted to see us at our desks busy working instead of spending so much time standing around shooting the breeze with each other.
　　这个人说：“今天早上我们办公室开会的时候，我们的头儿说，她要看到我们都坐在自己桌子那里忙着干自己的活，而不是花好多时间站在那儿闲聊天。”

日期：2007-7-24　18:23:23

　　流行美语第三十课
　　Michael这个美国学生由于各方面的压力太大而情绪不太好。 今天他想去找李华一起出去放松放松。现在他正在敲李华的门。Michael会教李华两个常用语：to play hooky和to snap。
　　L：Michael，你在这儿干什么？你不是有课吗？
　　M：Yes, I"m supposed to be in class right now. But I didn"t read the assignment for class today, and I just didn"t feel like going, so I decided to play hooky.
　　L：你真够呛，没看今天上课的材料就不想去上课，还想在家玩什么游戏！什么是hooky呀？
　　M：No, to play hooky means to skip class.
　　L：噢，原来to play hooky是指逃学，旷课。我还以为是玩什么游戏呢！Michael, 你要进来坐会儿吗？
　　M：Actually, I was going to the student center to hang out and have lunch. I was wondering if you would like to come with me.

　　L：你要到学生中心那儿去看看，然后再吃午饭呀？我跟你一起去，我本来就要去吃午饭。不过，我只有一个小时的时间，下午我得去工作。
　　M：It seems like you have been working a lot lately. I have an idea! Why don"t you call in to work and tell them you"re sick! You can also play hooky from work.
　　L：我最近工作是很忙。Michael，你的意思是让我打电话给工作的地方说我生病，这样就可以不去上班？这也可以说是to play hooky?
　　M：Yes, you can play hooky from school or from work.
　　L：你可真能出馊主意！自己逃学还不算，还要我装病不去工作。不行，我工作的地方星期一总是很忙的，而且上星期我真的生病，请了两天假。I don"t want to play hooky from work. 我说得对不对，Michael？

　　M：Yes, very good. I guess you"d better go to work then. It"s too bad I can"t spend more time with you. Well, if you have only one hour for lunch, we"d better hurry.
　　L：别着急，一个小时来得及。等我拿件大衣。
　　L：Michael, 你很幸运，没有象我那么多的压力。我得自己赚钱付学费，还要养活自己。你可以随便play hooky, 我可不行。
　　M：Hey, I may play hooky once in a while, but I usually study hard. Do you think I don"t feel any pressure to get good grades? If I don"t do well, I won"t get a good job later on.