作者：李景莉
55. to cry in one's beer
有不少美国人经常到酒吧间去,一边喝酒,一边聊天。还有的人在心情不好的时候喜欢到酒吧间去喝酒解闷。 to cry in one's beer的意思是"坐在酒吧间里对着啤酒哭,自己可怜自己"。下面的例子是一个人在劝他的朋友:
Come on, Joe! Instead of sitting around in a bar all day crying in your beer about not having any money, why not get off your bottom and go out and look for a job? 行了,乔!与其整天坐在酒吧间里,为了没有钱而自己可怜自己,为什么不振作起来到外面去找个工作呢?
看来自我可怜的人是没有人同情的。下面这个例子是一个学生在发表他对同房间一个学生的看法:
I'm tired of hearing my roommate crying in his beer about how hard it is to get good grades. If he'd stay home and study instead of going out every night, I'm sure he'd do a lot better in his classes. 我那同宿舍的同学老是自我怜悯,说要得到好分数是多么地难。我听得都烦死了。要是他每天晚上呆在家里念书,而不是老出去玩,我肯定他的成绩会好得多。
56. cry baby
美国人把那种老是哭哭啼啼、抱怨日常生活中一些琐事的人叫作"cry baby"。大家都知道cry的意思是"哭",baby就是"婴儿"。cry baby就是指那些整天"哭哭啼啼、抱怨没完的人"。 下面的例子又是一个人在劝他的朋友:
Come on, Jack, you're twenty years old-don't be such a cry baby about everything. We all have our problems, but you ought to do something about them instead of just complaining. 行啦,杰克,你已经二十岁了,别有一点儿事就哭。我们大家都会碰到一些问题的。但是,你得想办法来解决问题,而不能老是抱怨。
许多人都怕去看牙医。但是,美国牙医一般都用麻药。为了保护牙齿,医生经常安排病人每年清洗牙齿两次。下面是一个爸爸在说他的儿子:
Bill, don't be such a cry baby about going to the dentist: all he's going to do is clean your teeth. Look at your little sister-she's not making a fuss about it. 比尔,别为了去看牙就哭哭啼啼的。他只是替你洗洗牙而已。看看你的小妹妹,她就没有这样大惊小怪的。
57. all washed up
wash就是"洗",但是,all washed up的意思是"彻底完蛋",和干净不干净毫无关系。下面这位女士在和她妹妹说另一个她们都认识的朋友:
Did you hear that Gloria's marriage is all washed up? She packed up, took the kids and moved out. Now she's suing for divorce. 你听说了没有,格洛里亚的婚姻是彻底完蛋了。她收拾起自己的东西,带着孩子搬出去了。现在,她向法院提出要离婚呢!
下面这个例子是关于一个染上恶习、到最后破坏自己生活的人:
That man over there used to be one of the best baseball players. But then he started drinking, turned into an alcoholic, and just two years later he was all washed up. 那边那个人以前是最好的棒球运动员之一。但是,后来他开始喝酒,逐渐酗酒成习。这样,只过了两年,他的棒球生涯也就完蛋了。