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老外平时遇见熟人是怎么客套的?和老外聊天用什么句子结束对话才不会尴尬?没听清对方提问是要怎么说才显得自然?今天来学点课上没有的,但老外都爱用的,酷酷的英语表达~
以下全是日常所见所闻,并且在国内未曾学习到的。
1. No problem!
在国内学到的是:
-Could you help me with xxx?
-No problem!
而在这边听到的往往是:
-Thank you!
-No problem.
有时甚至:
-Oh sorry!
-No problem!
2. Go by
在课堂自我介绍时,有时会说中文名,然后英文名。Instead of saying "My Chinese name is xxx, and my English name is xxx.", 你可以这样说:
-My name is xxx(你的原名), and I go by xxx(你的英文名).
一些美国学生不乐意用自己的原名,而偏好昵称,也可以用go by来表达:
-My name is Catherine, and I go by Cat.
3. Appreciate it!
每次从校车上下来时,大家都会礼貌地对司机表示感谢,有次看到四个小哥鱼贯而出,每个人表达感谢的语句都不同。除了常见的"Thank you very much!","Thanks a lot!"以外,我觉得最好听的就是“Appreciate it!"
4. Have a good one!
美国人很喜欢互相道好,无论认识不认识。每次和人再见的时候(可能是下班,结完账离开超市,下课等等),往往会对同事/收银员/老师/...说声"Have a good day/night"之类的。有时下午5,6点,天还没黑,我总会把”Have a good night!"说成"Have a good day!",后来发现,还有种更简易的表达,日夜均可使用,即"Have a good one!",简单顺口,客套必备。
5.宾语前置
(知友@Scrummble指出应该是状语前置)
这是种B格很高的表达方式,在每张美元背面都有一句话"In God We Trust"(如下图)
此外有次等红灯时,看见前面一辆车的车牌上的Motto写的是"United We Stand",当时瞬间感受到这种句式的力量与B格。
6. Without further ado
这句在YouTube视频里经常听到,那些YouTubers在视频开头往往先介绍这个视频是干什么的,再顺便扯几句近期生活,然后在切入正题之前,有时会用这么一句"Without further ado, let's get started."这句话的意思就类似于“废话少说,让我们开始吧。”
每次听到这句,我都会联想另一个四字常用词汇“原来如此”,真希望它在英文里也有完全对应的翻译,我就不用每次都将说了半句的“搜迪斯卡”咽下去了。。。
7. Figure
当想表达“我觉得/我认为/我猜”的时候,有个很好用的表达就是“I figure.."
-I figured you might wanna be alone for a while, so I didn't bother you.
8. Petite/plus size/pale/fair/tan/dark
这几个都是形容外貌的,就放在一起说。
在形容人个子矮的时候,short可能不够委婉,一般说petite。
在形容人胖的时候,fat明显不够委婉,可以说plus size。
在形容肤色时,长得白和黑不是white和black(慎用!),而是pale/fair(形容白),tan/dark形容黑
9. Email常用礼貌用语
-I hope this email finds you well.用于开头。
-Any response will be appreciated.用于结尾,通常正文是找对方询问事情。
-Please feel free to let me know if there should be any question.用于句尾,通常正文是上交文件,材料,或者回答问题等。
-It would be great/the best if you could...这就是传说中比"Could you please..."还要更加委婉的请求式句型了。
10. I'm good.
这句可以用来回答How are you?此外,常用于:
-Do you want some chips with your sandwich?
-No, I'm good. Thanks.
-Do you have any questions?
-No, I'm good.
也可用作委婉拒绝。
-Do you wanna go to a strip club?
-I'm good.
11. Shoot
除了“射击”之意,还有以下日常用法:
-Whenever you need help, just shoot me an email. (比send更口语化)
-I've collected some negative comments on you.
-Shoot. (类似于Go ahead说吧)
-I was shooting for 100, but 98 is ok. (意为本想冲击100分)
-Oh shoot...(其实就是Oh s**t! 的委婉说法)
12. 结束对话用语
-I'll leave you be. (类似于“打扰了”,“告辞了”,是在《纸牌屋》里看到Claire对一个白宫工作人员或是记者说的)
-As you were. (这句通常上司对下属讲完工作之后可能用到,是在《基本演绎法》里看到的)
13. Off the hook
意为“从麻烦脱身”,可以想象一条鱼脱离鱼钩的样子。
-He paid all the fines so he's finally off the hook now.
-He's off the hook, he doesn't do drugs any more.
《绝望主妇》里面Bree问她儿子Andrew,现在年轻人还说"Awesome"吗?Andrew告诉她,他们现在都说"Off the hook",可见,这个词组也有Cool, awesome之意。
-That party was off the hook!
印象中《宋飞正传》里Jerry, Elaine和George有对off the hook和on the hook的一段讨论,但是在网上搜出来的似乎都是小黄网站,于是隐隐觉得似乎这个表达不是什么好表达了。。。
14. Hands down
有“绝对,毫无疑问”之意。可以这样联想,因为毫无疑问,所以不会举手提问,也就是hands down。
-My favorite TV show is hands down Friends.
15. Though
大家都熟悉though用于句首和句中表转折,但可能不太了解它放在句末的用法。
-Do you want me to get you a cup of coffee?
-No, I'm good. Thank you though. (意为不过还是)
另外一个用法是在Instagram上看到的,关注了一个账号整天推送搞笑短视频,内容都是人和动物摔倒啊,被砸啊,被吓到啊等等很囧的场面。然后这个账号经常配的文字就是以though结尾的语句,可以感觉到明显的讥讽意味。例如:
(一个男人被电梯整蛊吓得尖叫)
-That scream though. (重音在scream)
(一只狗打了一个喷嚏,然后全身狂抖)
-That sneeze though.(重音在sneeze)
16. Sure/Of course/Certainly
当时初中学英语的时候记得这三个词经常一起出现,表达“当然”,一直模模糊糊地认为他们是一个意思,后来慢慢地才了解到他们的用法的区别。
Sure一般用来表达欣然同意对方的提议,意为“好呀”:
-Can I give you a call?
-Sure!
-Would you like to get a cup of coffee or something?
-Sure!
而Of course则有“那当然了”,“不用多说”的意味在里面:
-There are, of course, exceptions to the rule.
-What do you do now?
-Still farming.
-Of course.
(此对话来自《唐顿庄园》里庄主Robert问他领地里的一位农民现在做些什么,农民回答还是做农活,并且一脸颓丧的样子,潜台词是“我还能做啥,还不是做做农活而已”,Robert听后稍愣了一下,大概觉得自己问的问题有点愚蠢,于是说了句Of course. 可见,如果问了一个本该知道答案的问题,对方回答后,你可以说这么一句Of course.)
Certainly则比较少见,在Google上查到它的使用频率也是渐渐下降:
不知道是不是一个渐渐淡出江湖的词汇。
17. 模糊语气
在表达“差不多”,“接近”,“...的样子” ,“之类的”等模糊的意思时,除了nearly, approximately, almost, kind of, sort of 等词汇外,更口语的说法还有or so, -ish, ...something等:
-He has worked in the company for a year and two months or so.
-After dinner I had 30 cherries or so.
-That movie was good-ish.(此人应该觉得电影并不怎么好看)
-That color is blue-ish.
-Let's meet around 9-ish.
-30 books every twenty-something girl must read. (类似于知乎豆瓣经常出现的20多岁女孩的必读书单)
-Wanna a cup of water or something?
18. Sense
sense的意思非常多,有“...感”,“意思/意识”,“目的”等,无法和一个中文词汇完全对应。国内用到a sense of的标配经常是a sense of humor,其实可以使用的范围非常广。
-What is the sense of going out in the rain? (意为“目的”)
-The purpose of the meeting is to let you get a sense of how we work. (好难翻译!请意会)
-Does that make sense to you?(这句话很常见,通常在解释完某个复杂的事情或事物后,为了解对方是否听明白,会问这么一句,配以拧巴的眉头,微倾的头颅)
19. 没听懂对方的话时
听不懂或没听清对方的意思,这种状况常常发生,不论你是不是native speaker。除了Sorry? Excuse me? Could you repeat that? 以及英语课本里教的I beg your pardon? 可以用来要求对方再说一遍外,还可以这样告诉对方你没听清:
-!#%^*>??#^&
-Sorry, you lost me.
-#%^&^$(!_+?><
-Sorry, I didn't follow.
20. A touch of
意为"一点儿", 但是不是比a little, a bit of听起来要更有画面感?
-"Chinese White Tie" means White Tie with a touch of China. (这是美国Vogue杂志主编Anna Wintour给记者解释刚过去的中国主题Met Gala的dress code的含义时用的原句。)
-I have a touch of flu and need some rest.(意为“轻微的”)
21. Shy of
意思类似于short of。
-He's just shy of 6 feet. ("接近"6英尺=1.8288米)
《老友记》里面有次6人玩扑克牌,Ross加注的时候发现钱不够了,说了句"Joey, I'm a little shy here.",意思是钱不够了,想找Joey借钱,结果Joey傻了吧唧地拍了拍Ross肩膀,说有哥们儿在,不怕。还好Chandler听出了shy的第二层意思,掏出了钱包。
22. Dress up/down
Dress up可不是穿上衣服的意思,而是穿着正式的意思,相应的穿着随意则是dress down.
-You need to dress up for the dinner. But during the daytime, you can dress down as you like.
23. 又是几个对话常见表达,适用于特定场合
在宾馆/图书馆/售票处/电话客服..办事结束后,经常会听到一句"You're all set." 听到这句话就知道事儿已办妥可以拎着东西滚了。如果不知道自己的事儿是不是弄好了,而对方又专心致志作敲键盘状时,可以问一句"Am I all set?" 不要像楼主第一次住完宾馆在前台傻了吧唧地站在那儿等人家给我receipt等了二十分钟,人家终于忍不住问我"What else can I help you with?"才知道我早就可以滚了。。
有时用公共饮水机/洗手池时有可能不巧地前面正好有人在使用,于是站在别人身后两英尺处耐心等待,同时说一声"Take your time" 让对方不用太着急,对方使用完可能对你说声"All yours"让你放心上前使用,文明的世界真美好。
24. At some point
这个表达非常好用,可以表示过去某时刻,也可以表示将来某时刻。
-At some point I decided she was no longer my friend. (表示之前某时刻)
-Do you want me to add that information in the document?
-No. But at some point we will need that. (表示将来某时刻,比in the future明显更适用)
25. Comfort
Comfort的意思大家都懂,就是舒服,舒适,爽。在国内的时候,我只知道俺家的沙发是comfortable的,而在老美的口语表达中,这个词可以使用的语境实在是多。
-You should make sure you are comfortable with the height every time you jump off. (这是楼主第一次去攀岩俱乐部玩抱石时,教练对我说的,comfortable在这里的意思更贴近于“没有不适,能接受”)
-If no support was provided, we should perform audit steps to obtain comfort that the item was appropriately included. (这里意译过来应该是“确保”,意思等同于make sure)
可见comfortable这种状态,不一定是躺在沙发上全身放松,还可以是生活工作中每一个细小的,让你呼吸平稳,心跳规律的状态。
26. Thing
除了“事物”之意外,在口语中还有以下常见用法:
-I think he has a thing for you. (就是中文里“他对你有意思”的意思)
-Being funny is Chandler's thing and Ross's thing is getting divorced. (来自《老友记》,这里thing不好翻译,可以理解为“某人最显著的特质”,即让别人想到你就联想起来的东西。)
27. Have/get your back
意为“罩着你”,“挺你”或者“有我在”。
-If you ever need help, just ask. You know I have your back.
-Just go ahead. Don't worry. I got your back.
28. In the middle of nowhere
意为“荒郊野外”。
-Bree once dropped her teenage son in the middle of nowhere.
29. Walk through
虽然这个词组里有walk这个动词,但是通常和行走没有太大关系。可以理解为“过一遍”。
-Could you walk me through the process so I can get a better understanding of your business?
30. 标点符号的说法
仔细想想我们还没有好好学习过标点符号的英语表达呢,那就一起总结一下吧!
, comma
. period
— dash (破折号,用法为句子A - 句子B,注意字符两边都有空格)
# pound (#有时候可作编号之意,比如“#1”为“编号1”, 而No.1则为“排名第一”)
/ slash
backslash
"" quote
() [] {} brackets
*star
_ underscore
- hyphen (连字符,用法为word-word,组成一个新词,例如anti-discrimination,字符两边没有空格)
~ tilde
! exclamation point/mark
? question mark
' apostrophe
: colon
; semicolon
? bullet
numerator 分子
denominator 分母
(真是涨姿势啊!)
31. Doesn't hurt to do something
意为“做什么事有好处/不会有坏处”。
-It does't hurt to take a look of what you've done and see if it could be improved.
32. You might wanna/you don't wanna
这可以是给别人建议做某事/别做某事时使用的短语。
-You might wanna have a cup of water at hand in case that food is too spicy.
-You don't wanna call her in the middle of the night. You don't know how grumpy she could be.
33. Can use some
意为“正需要”。
-After a long week, I can really use some rest.
-That shirt is too flashy.
-You can use some flash.
(来自《宋飞正传》)
34. At the end of the day
意为“到头来”,“到最后”,“最终”,并不是“一天的最后”。
-They all said they would help me, but at the end of the day nobody did.
35. The last thing I wanna do
可不是“最后一件想做的事”,而是“最不想做的事”。
-The last thing I wanna do is hurting your brother.
(来自《老友记》Rachel对Monica说她不会伤害Ross)
36. Be my guest
这个表达可不是邀请对方做客,而是在对方提出要做某件事的时候给出允许。
-Can I have the last piece of cake?
-Sure! Be my guest.
老友记里面有一集Monica和Rachel楼上的邻居把地毯撤掉了,各种噪声通过天花板传来听得一清二楚,Pheobe问她们怎么不上去和那人说,Monica表示那人太帅了,她没法开口。Phoebe不信,决定要上楼去教训下那个人。Monica和Pheobe之间有这样一段对话:
MONICA : He took up the carpets and now you can hear everything.
PHOEBE : Well, why don’t you go up there and ask him to just, like "step lightly, please"?
MONICA : I have, like five times, but they guy is so charming that I go up there to yell and then I end up apologizing to him.
PHOEBE : Ewww, that is ...(angrily) silly. I’ll go up there, I’ll tell him to keep it down.
MONICA : Alright. Be my guest.
37. Gut
直译过来是“肚子”,但在英语里面有“直觉”之意。
-I don't know how to decide.
-Well, what does your gut tell you?
有时又指“胆量”。
-I hate that guy! I want to punch him in the face!
-You don't have the guts.
38. It works
这个表达在日常口语中实在太常见了。在国内时work往往指工作,但在英语中更像是说某件事“有效运
行”。
-I don't understand how polygamy works.
-We tried a new model and it worked!
39. Buy that
除了“买它”的直译外,还有“相信一个说法”的意思。来看例句理解吧:
-He said he didn't do it but I don't buy it.
-She told me she missed our date because she had to work.
-That's so made up! I can't believe you bought it.
40. Table
几个和table有关的表达:Bring to the table和On/Off the table。
Bring to the table指“带来的好处”:
-Do you have any advice for me on the interview?
-Just be yourself and talk what you can bring to the table with all the experience you have.
On the table指“考虑的”,相应的,Off the table指“不作考虑的”:
-The proposed new bill will soon be on the table in Parliament.
-We will take no options off the table to achieve that goal.
例句来自Google,众多美剧英剧,答主亲耳所闻,和现场脑补。
深切地感觉到,语言的学习真是终生的,也是每一天的。来美一年,英语进步了,语文却因为读得少了,写得少了,退步很多,最明显的感受就是对成语的运用能力大大下降。语言不仅是表达方式,更是思维方式,一般人来回切换模式做
不到那么干脆利落,所以常见海外党写起东西来中英夹杂。深有体会,但不该如此。生活多年的环境在自己身上打下的文化烙印值得慢慢品味,好好珍惜。