M: Yeah? Well, go ahead! Make a sentence already!
　　L: O.K. 你不是老是说那个叫Cindy的女孩儿有多可爱吗？ So come on, ask her out already!
　　M: Um, well, the sentence is correct, but I don"t really know Cindy that well. I"m a little shy around girls, you know.

　　L: 管他呢，你怕什么？ Just talk to her already!
　　M: Well, actually I"ve talked to her before, but I was really nervous. I did get her phone number. I told her I might call her if I missed class and needed to borrow her notes.
　　L: 啊，你已经有她的电话号码啦！那你还等什么？要是她肯把电话号码给你，她对你一定有兴趣的。 Call her already!
　　M: All right! All right! Shut up already! I"ll call her.
　　L: 嘿， Michael， 我是要帮你的忙啊！你干嘛跟我发脾气？
　　M: I"m sorry, Li Hua. I shouldn"t have told you to shut up. Hey, the waiter is coming. I"m hungry. Go ahead and choose something already!
　　L: 嗯，我想我要点宫爆鸡丁。
　　******
　　L: 嗨，Michael, 你知不知道有的时候你可真无礼啊。

　　M: I"m rude? You"re one to talk, Li Hua!
　　L: 哎，你说我什么，Michael？你要是还在生气的话，我现在就走了。
　　M: Please, calm down Li Hua. I said, "You"re one to talk." I meant that you shouldn"t say I am rude when you yourself are rude.
　　L: 好了，我知道有的时候我也很粗鲁啦。所以，Michael，你说：You"re one to talk，是不是就是说我们俩都半斤八两，我不用说你，其实我自己也是很粗鲁的?
　　M: That"s right. When you told me I can be rude, I thought that that was rude. So I said, "You"re one to talk!" That means, you have the same problem, so you shouldn"t criticize me.

　　L: 噢，我懂了，其实我也不是要对你那么粗鲁。我只是替你担心，因为你老是说你很寂寞，可是你又不肯主动去找女孩子，你太害羞了。
　　M: I"m shy? You"re one to talk! What about you? You are always too shy to meet new guys.
　　L: Well, 在中国，女孩子本来就不会主动去约男孩子的嘛！总是男的要去找女的。
　　M: That"s not a good excuse. I think you"re just too picky.
　　L: 什么？你说我太挑剔？You"re one to talk! 你自己不也老是说你碰不到既聪明又有教养的女孩？你这不也自以为是吗？
　　M: I"m too proud of myself? You"re one to talk! You wouldn"t even consider going out with a guy if he didn"t have a Master"s degree.
　　L: 好了，好了，Michael, 我们不要再吵了，反正也吵不出什么道理来。
　　M: Yeah, sorry, let"s just forget about it. Hey look, our food is here.
　　L: So eat already! 咱们早该吃了。

　　MC: 各位听众，李华今天和Michael一起在餐馆点菜的时候，学到了两个美国用语的用法。Already用在命令式句子的后面时，相当于普通话里面常说的：“早该如何如何”的意思。You"re one to talk!则相当于“你竟然敢说这话，我们俩都半斤八两”的意思。

日期：2007-8-19　9:59:54

　　「美国习惯用语」第五十六讲
　　peaches and cream
　　sour grapes
　　下面我们来谈谈和水果有关习惯用语。英文里“水果”这个字，也就是fruit,是来自很早以前的一个拉丁文里的动词。意思是“享受”。而事实上也确实如此，香蕉、苹果、橘子、樱桃、桃子或葡萄等水果放在果盘里看起来都十分吸引人。因此、有关水果的俗语往往是具有一种肯定和完善的含义，例如：peaches and cream。
　　大家知道peaches就是桃子， cream是指奶油。 Peaches and cream的意思是：一切都很美好。有人可能会问：桃子和奶油有什么关系呢？这是因为美国人在吃水果时往往喜欢把水果切成块，然后加一点奶油一起吃。实际上，美国人吃很多东西都喜欢和奶油一起吃。所以，peaches and cream就意味着完美无缺。请听下面这个例子：
　　例句-1: Sally and Joe had a big fight last week, but they"ve made up and now everything is peaches and cream again.
　　这句话的意思是：“沙莉和乔伊上星期大吵了一场。可是，后来他们互相谈开了，现在他们又很要好了。”
　　Peaches and cream还可以形容一个年轻少女容光焕发的面孔：
　　例句-2: Peter"s sister is a lovely girl. She has a real peaches and cream complexion, soft and white as milk and a touch of pink like a fresh ripe peach.

　　这人说：“比德的妹妹是一个可爱的女孩。她的皮肤真是完美无缺，柔软洁白得像牛奶，还透露出一点像成熟了的新鲜桃子的粉色。”
　　可是，水果在美国成语里也并不千篇一律地含有褒意，有的时候也反映了反面的意思。下面我们要讲的一个俗语就是一个例子：sour grapes。 Sour是酸的意思，grapes就是葡萄。中文里也有酸葡萄的说法，而且中英文的意思也完全相同。举个例子就能说明这一点：
　　例句-3: Bill was sure he"d be elected class president. But when Mary beat him in the voting, he told us he was glad he didn"t get the job because it was too much work. That"s nothing but sour grapes！
　　这句话翻成中文是说：“比尔开始认为他肯定能当选为班主席。但是，当玛丽在选举中击败他以后，他对我们说，他很高兴他没有得到这个职位，因为当了班主席工作太多了。他这么说纯属是吃酸葡萄！”
　　下面是另一个关于 sour grapes 的例子：
　　例句-4: Talk about a clear case of sour grapes! When Bob"s girl friend left him to marry another man, he went around telling anybody who would listen that he left her because she wasn"t good enough for him.
　　这人说：“要说吃酸葡萄吧，这件事可是很明显的了。当鲍勃的女朋友和另外一个人结婚后，鲍勃到处去对那些愿意听他诉苦的人说，是他不要他的女朋友的，因为他的女朋友配不上他。”

　　今天我们讲了两个和水果fruit这个字有联系的俗语。第一个是peaches and cream。Peaches and cream是指一切都很完美。我们讲的第二个俗语是sour grapes。 Sour grapes跟中文里的说法“酸葡萄”的意思一样。

日期：2007-8-19　10:02:43

　　流行美语第56课
　　大家现在肯定都已经很熟悉Michael和李华这两个在纽约上大学的学生了。Michael是正在学中文的美国学生，李华是从中国来的留学生。今天他们上完课以后一起去打保龄球。李华会学到两个常用语：to mess with somebody和give me a break.
　　L: 哎，得，现在我们的分数平了。Michael，你输了可不要哭哟！
　　M: Oh, oh...Come on! Miss it, miss, miss!
　　L: Michael，你好赖皮，你这样叫我“别打中，别打中”，是分散我注意力嘛，你要我怎么打啊！
　　M: Hehe, calm down, Li Hua. Don"t take the game so seriously. I"m just messing with you.
　　L: 你说你跟我做什么？

　　M: I said I"m messing with you. To mess with someone means to bother the person, or disturb him, or to play a joke on him.
　　L: 噢，to mess with someone就是说去打扰某个人，或者是跟他开玩笑。那to mess with someone是不是也有想要骗某人的意思呢？
　　M: Not really. Sometimes "to mess with someone" can be serious. For instance, a dangerous person might say, "If you mess with me, I"ll hurt you."
　　L: 对，有的流氓就会这么说，他说，“你要跟我捣乱，我就揍你。”可是，在一般情况下，to mess with someone是指跟一个人开玩笑，或者故意跟他捣乱，是不是？
　　M: That"s right. When I was in high school, the whole class would mess with the teacher sometimes. Everyone would start humming at the same time. The teacher would be angry, but couldn"t tell who was doing it.
　　L: 啊，你上中学时就这么顽皮啊。全班一起哼哼，连老师都搞不清楚是谁在做呢，就这样跟老师开玩笑啊！我们在中国啊可不敢呢。我们都很怕老师的。哎，得了，该我了！
　　M: Whao! Don"t move, there"s a bee on your neck.

　　L: 啊，什么？你说我脖子上有只蜜蜂啊？快把它赶走啊！
　　M: Heheh, just kidding! There was no bee, I"m just messing with you.
　　L: 你很讨厌呐，Michael, 把我吓了一跳。Stop messing with me，我得打球了。
　　M: Ok. Miss! Miss!
　　******
　　L: Michael， 我再也不跟你打保龄球了，我输都是因为你跟我捣乱。虽然我们说了谁输就请客，我今天不请你吃晚饭了。

　　M: What? I only coughed after you had let go of the ball. There is no way I made you miss. Give me a break!
　　L: 你说给你什么？我什么都不给哟！
　　M: I said "give me a break." When someone says "give me a break," that means he thinks what he just heard or saw is unreasonable, or they think someone is being too harsh on them.
　　L: 噢，Give me a break就是你认为你听到的，或看到的是不合理的。那你的意思是说，我说你是因为捣乱我才输了球，这么说是不合理的？
　　M: That"s right.