L: 你想知道我心目里谁最hot呀？我才不告诉你呢，免得你泄露了我的机密。
　　M: Fine, be that way, but I will find out sooner or later.
　　******
　　L: 哎, Michael, 你喜欢的那个女孩去付钱了。要不要我去跟她说话？和她认识以后再给你介绍一下。
　　M: NO!

　　L: 为什么？你是信不过我，还是怕羞呀？
　　M: I"m not sure. Besides, I don"t want her to know that I have a crush on her. She might not even like me.
　　L: 你不要她知道什么？You have a crush on her -- 这是什么意思？
　　M: "To have a crush on someone" means you really like the person.
　　L: 噢，to have a crush on someone就是喜欢某人。那我喜欢你，你是我的好朋友，我能不能说I have a crush on you呢？

　　M: No, "to have a crush on someone" means you like that person romantically.
　　L: 噢，对不起，刚才没弄清楚。 所以，to have a crush on someone是说对异性有好感，希望和这个人谈恋爱，才能这么说。那我能说I have a crush on Tom Cruise吗?
　　M: Yes, that would be appropriate. But when are you going to like someone you actually have a chance of meeting.
　　L: 你想知道我真的要谁做男朋友啊？这种事我怎么能告诉你啊。
　　M: Why not? Don"t you trust me?
　　L: 这不是什么信任不信任的问题。好，等你告诉那个女孩你喜欢她以后我再告诉你，好不好？
　　M: Then I guess I won"t know who you have a crush on any time soon.
　　L: 啊呀，你真是没胆量。怪不得你交不到女朋友呢！
　　Michael和李华在学校的书店里买书，李华学到了两个常用语。hot是指一个人对异性很有魅力和吸引力；to have a crush on someone是指对异性有好感。


日期：2007-8-30　9:32:36

　　「美国习惯用语」第六十七讲
　　to get a kick out of
　　to kick the bucket
　　美国多年来有一首流行歌曲，它的名字叫“I get a kick out of You.” Kick就是用脚踢的意思，不管是人的脚，或是马的脚，被踢的人一般来说是会感到很痛的。但是，这首歌的名字“I Get A Kick Out of You”却毫无痛苦之意，相反的，它的意思是：由于你的爱情使我感到快乐和激动。下面这个例子里的年轻人发现自己对过去半年里有时一起出去玩的那个女孩产生了爱慕之心。他对这位姑娘说：

　　例句-1 : Say, Barby, let me tell you something. I really get a kick out of being around you. If you feel the same way about me, maybe we ought to get serious and think about getting engaged to each other.
　　这个年轻人说：“咳，芭比，我有些想法要告诉你。和你在一起真使我感到非常愉快。要是你对我也有同样的感觉的话，那我们得认真对待我们的关系，考虑我们是否应该订婚了。”
　　To get a kick out of这个俗语并不完全和爱情联系在一起。它可以用于任何一个使你高兴的人，或任何一样令你喜爱和激动的东西。例如：一个成年人在说他自己的爱好：
　　例句-2:I"m not a kid anymore but I still get a big kick out of going to see a circus. The elephants, the clowns, the acrobats--they make me feel like a kid again.
　　他说：“我已经不是个孩子了。但是，每次去看马戏总是使我感到非常高兴和激动，那些大象、小丑和杂技、使我感到我好像又成了一个小孩子似的。”
　　******

　　下面我们还要讲一个由kick这个字组成的俗语，那就是：to kick the bucket。尽管这个俗语也同样有kick这个字，但是它的意思却全然不同。To kick the bucket，它的意思是：一个人死了。特别要指出的是，to kick the bucket这个用法一般是对死者不太尊重的，所以在有礼貌的谈话中不太使用这一俗语。我们来举个例子吧：有一个人骑了马到一个农场去找他以前的老朋友Charley，到了那儿，农场的一个人对他说：

　　例句-3: Your old friend Charley"s not working here any more. In fact we heard he kicked the bucket down in Texas last winter; he got kicked in the head by a horse he was trying to saddle up.
　　这人告诉他：“你的老朋友查理已经不在这儿做了。事实上，我们听说他去年冬天已经在得克萨斯州死了。他在套马的时候，那匹马往他的头上踢了一脚。”
　　To kick the bucket这个俗语也可以用于动物。例如：
　　例句-4: That old dog next door finally kicked the bucket. He was sixteen years old, toothless, blind and could hardly get around. Sixteen years is a long time for a dog, so it was time for him to go.
　　这句话的意思是：“隔壁的那条狗终于死了。那狗已经有十六岁了、牙都没了、又瞎、行动也不方便。十六岁了，对狗来说也是时候了。”


日期：2007-8-30　9:36:05

　　流行美语第67课
　　今天Michael和李华刚上完课在学生休息室里聊天。李华会学到两个常用语：out of line和to trash something.
　　L: 嗨， Michael，刚才我听到历史课的教授在对你嚷嚷，什么事呀？
　　M: I argued with him because I thought that a book he"s assigning us to read is no good. I guess I was out of line.
　　L: 你说教授指定要我们看的书不好！你真是没有分寸。嗯，你刚才还说什么来啦？Out of line? Line, 是l-i-n-e这个字吗？那不是排队的意思吗？
　　M: No, "to be out of line" means to speak or act when it is not appropriate, especially when dealing with someone who is your superior.

　　L: To-be-out-of-line就是话说得不恰当，或者是做事做得不合适，特别是对长辈。那不就是我刚才说的“没分寸”吗？我们中国人对长辈特别要有礼貌，哪有象你那样跟教授争论的嘛！
　　M: Well, in America, you"re not always out of line when you disagree with your teacher. Still, I was wrong to criticize our professor so loudly in front of the whole class.
　　L: 我知道，美国学生和老师辩论是很正常的。可是，象你那样在全班同学面前对教授大声嚷嚷，那才是出了格，out of line。Michael，out of line只是指你和长辈说话没有分寸吗？
　　M: Not always. For instance, I once told my classmate he should break up with his girlfriend. The two of them had been together for many years. I was not a close friend of this guy, so I was out of line to say that.
　　L: 你要你同学和他女朋友分手？你跟这个同学又不熟。哎哟，你不仅是out of line， 你简直是疯了-- out of your mind!

　　******
　　L: Michael，我觉得那教授对你大声嚷嚷也有点过份。
　　M: Well, I really trashed the book he was asking us to read. I probably should have been a little more tactful.
　　L: 噢，你还把那本书扔到垃圾桶里啦？那可真是太没礼貌啦！
　　M: What are you talking about? I didn"t throw anything in the trash. I said I "trashed the book". That means I said really bad things about it.
　　L: 噢，to trash the book不是把书扔到垃圾桶里，而是把它说成一钱不值。
　　M: Last year I made a professor angry because I trashed General MacArthur in a history class. I wrote a paper on his mistakes in the Korean War.

　　L: 去年你写了一篇论文例举了麦卡瑟将军在韩战中的种种错误？我怎么不知道呀？Michael, 你不能老是这么贬低历史人物嘛！对了，除了书和人以外，to trash something还能用在别的地方吗？
　　M: You can trash anything. For instance (sips coffee), this coffee is horrible! It tastes like dishwater.
　　L: 这咖啡象洗碗水？我觉得还可以嘛。有什么东西你觉得好吃的吗？
　　M: Not really. That"s the problem with Americans. We don"t have good taste in food or drink. Americans don"t understand what good cheese, bread or chocolate taste like. We always eat junk.
　　L: 你听听，现在你又在贬低美国人了，说他们不知道什么是好吃的，不懂得什么是好的奶酪、面包和巧克力，老是吃那些垃圾食品。 Now you"re "trashing" your own country.

　　M: Hey, this is a free country. I can trash America anyway I want.
　　L: 把自己的国家说得一钱不值似乎也有点out of line了。你这个人啊，就是爱看到反面的东西。嗨(sighs) Whatever.
　　今天李华学到两个常用语，一个是：out of line, 意思是没有分寸，出格。另一个是：to trash something, 是把什么东西说成一钱不值。

日期：2007-8-31　10:23:16

　　「美国习惯用语」第六十八讲
　　to kick up one"s heels
　　to kick off
　　人们大概都看到过一匹年轻的俊马在宽阔的草原上兴高彩烈地奔跑的情景吧！这是一幅很美丽的图象。马的前腿往前伸展，后腿很有节奏地往上踢。美国有一个俗语就是建筑在这一形像之上的。这个俗语就是：to kick up one"s heels。To kick up one"s heels，从字面上来解释就是：把后脚往上踢。但是，实际上to kick up one"s heels是用来形容人们到外面去寻欢作乐，就像马在草原上奔跑一样。比如说，有两个人在办公室里说话：