流行美語第255課
流行美語第255課
Larry和李華剛剛忙完手頭的工作。他們一起去吃冰激淩。李華今天要學兩個常用語：my treat和ginormous.
LL: Well, Li Hua, you just finished a big paper, and I just finished an important project at work. Let's go for ice cream and celebrate. It'll be my treat.
LH: 冰激淩是your treat? 可我也要吃啊，應該是our treat才對吧。
LL: Well, the ice cream will certainly be for both of us - and it will be a treat for both of us, but when I said it was "my treat" I meant that I would pay for the ice cream.
LH: 哦，原來是你要請客啊！
LL: That's right, to TREAT someone means to pay for someone's food or entertainment as a form of a gift.
LH: 那太好了。謝謝你請我去吃冰激淩。
LL: It is my pleasure, Li Hua.
LH: 為了表示感謝，這個週末我請你去中國餐館吃飯。My treat.
LL: That's very considerate, Li Hua. But you don't really have to treat me to dinner just because I treated you to ice cream.
LH: 我可不是因為你請我吃冰激淩才請你去吃飯的，我請你吃飯是因為咱倆是好朋友嘛！
LL: In that case, I'll be happy to go for Chinese food this weekend - especially if it is your treat.
LH: 我有個問題，Larry, 在美國，如果有人提出請你吃飯，你還用爭著付錢嗎？
LL: Generally, you can try to protest a little, but the most polite thing to do is to let the other person treat you and allow his or her to feel generous.
LH: 在中國的時候，我有個叔叔，人特別大方，經常請朋友和家裏人出去吃飯。
LL: It is wonderful to have generous relatives. When I was growing up, my grandmother would always treat us to the circus - or sometimes a movie.
LH: 看馬戲？哎(嘆氣) -- 小時候真好！我爸爸也經常帶我去看木偶劇。
LL: Yeah. My Dad would always treat us to ice cream at a shop just like this one. Say, why don't you go ahead and order your ice cream, Li Hua.
LH: 我要一個巧克力、香草和草莓的冰激淩蛋筒。
******
LL: That is the most ginormous ice cream cone I have ever seen, Li Hua.
LH: Ginormous? 你是想說enormous吧？
LL: Well, actually, Li Hua. You are right. I do mean that your ice cream cone is enormous. But ginormous is a slang word formed from two other words: gigantic and enormous.
LH: 哦，gigantic前面的音和enormous後面的音連在一起，就變成了ginormous, 也就是特別、特別、特別大的意思嘍？
LL: Yes. Something that is ginormous is both gigantic and enormous. It is something that is really, really, really big.
LH: 我餓極了，現在正需要一個ginormous的冰激淩，因為我有一個ginormous的胃口。
LL: You just want to be careful that you don't eat too many sweets, Li Hua. You don't want to end up with a ginormous cavity!
LH: 吃甜的長個大蟲牙我倒不擔心，我擔心的是我的腰圍。
LL: Hey, here comes my hot fudge sundae. Wow! It is ginormous, too. Maybe we should have split one ice cream between the two of us.
LH: 吃完這兩個特大號的冰激淩，恐怕我們就得趕緊節食了。
LL: You aren't kidding. I think this ice cream must contain a ginormous amount of fat and calories.
LH: 嗨，管它呢，先吃了再說。
LL: That sound's good...Oh, watch out, Li Hua! Your ice cream cone is melting and starting to tip! If it falls on the floor, it'll make a ginormous mess.
LH: 還好你提醒我，總算沒掉下來。不過我還是得趕快去拿一大疊餐巾紙來，先準備著。
LL: That's a good idea. I could use a napkin, too. I think I have a ginormous chocolate moustache from my sundae.
LH: 巧克力鬍子？Ha, ha...你的巧克力冰激淩確實沾了一嘴。快給你，餐巾紙。
今天李華學到了兩個常用語。一個是 my treat, 是我請客的意思。另一個是ginormous,是巨大無比的意思。