The english we speak(BBC教學)第348期:Give us a bell 給我打電話

Rob wants Feifei to give him a bell. Why does he want one and how is Feifei going to carry it? Or is this another example of confusing authentic real English? Listen to the programme to find out what he really means.

羅布想讓菲菲“給他一口鐘”。羅布爲什麼想要個鐘？菲菲要怎麼拿給他？還是這是另一個令人困惑的地道英語表達？請收聽本期節目，瞭解這個短語的真正意思。

Rob: Hello, I'm Rob...

羅布：大家好，我是羅布。

Feifei: I'm Feifei and this is The English We Speak.

菲菲：我是菲菲，歡迎收聽地道英語節目。

Rob: So Feifei, what are you doing this weekend?

羅布：菲菲，你這週末有什麼安排？

Feifei: I thought I'd do some sightseeing in London – I never get time to see my home city, so that's what I'm going to do.

菲菲：我想在倫敦觀光遊覽，我一直沒有時間遊覽一下我的家鄉城市，這就是我週末的安排。

Rob: Good idea. You mean the Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey...

羅布：好主意。你是要去參觀倫敦塔、聖保羅大教堂、威斯敏斯特大教堂……

Feifei: and especially Big Ben. I've always wanted to stand underneath and hear the clock strike 12.

菲菲：對，我一定要去大本鐘。我一直想站在大本鐘下面，聽鐘敲12下。

Rob: Do you know what, I might the do same thing. When you're there, give us a bell and I'll come and meet you.

羅布：你知道嗎，我可能也會做同樣的事情。你到那裏以後，可以給我打個電話，我過去找你。

Feifei: 'Give us a bell'? There is no way I can give you a bell – do you know how heavy it is?

菲菲：“給我們一口鐘？”我不可能給你一口鐘，你知道那有多重嗎？

Rob: Errr, I don't want a bell from the clock tower. I just meant, give me a call – on your phone. Give us a bell!

羅布：呃……我並不想要鐘樓上的鐘。我的意思是，用你的手機給我打個電話。給我打電話！

Feifei: Why didn't you just say that!

菲菲：那你爲什麼不直接說！

Rob: 'A bell' originates from the days when phones had a bell that rang when someone called it. So when I say 'a bell', I mean 'a call'. So will you 'give us a bell'?

羅布：“鈴聲”這個說法的來源是，以前的電話上都有一個鈴鐺，有人打電話時，鈴鐺就會響。所以我說a bell的意思就是“電話”。那你會給我打電話嗎？

Feifei: Let me just think about that, while we hear some more examples...

菲菲：我要考慮一下，這期間我們再來聽幾個例句。

Examples

例句

When you get there, give us a bell and tell us what it's like.

你到那裏以後，給我們打個電話，告訴我們是什麼情況。

Just give us a bell and I'll tell you how to get here.

給我打個電話，我來告訴你怎麼去那裏。

After our blind date, he told me to give him a bell but every time I call it his phone diverts to voicemail.

相親之後，他讓我給他打電話，可是每次我給他打電話都會轉到語音信箱。

Feifei: That's give me – or give us – a bell, meaning phone me! But Rob, you said give US a call – are you going to be with someone else?

菲菲：所以這個短語的意思就是給我打電話！可是羅布，你剛說“給我們打電話”，你是要和其他人一起去嗎？

Rob: No. In informal English we tend to say 'us' even when there's just one of us – just me. But of course 'us' can mean more than one person.

羅布：不是。在非正式英語中，即使只有一個人，也就是隻有我，我們也會說“我們”。當然了，“我們”也可以指多於一個人的情況。

Feifei: Right. But this weekend you want me to call you because you'll be on your own and you've got nothing else to do – so you want to spend the day sightseeing with me?

菲菲：好。不過這個週末你想讓我給你打電話，是因爲你只有一個人，沒什麼事可做，所以你想和我一起去觀光，對嗎？

Rob: Yes. Just give us a bell and I'll be there.

羅布：對。給我打電話，我會過去。

Feifei: Hmmm, well sorry I can't – I haven't got your number.

菲菲：嗯，抱歉不行，我沒有你的號碼。

Rob: Well, I could give you a bell – what's your number again?

羅布：哦，我可以打給你，你的電話號碼是多少來着？

Feifei: Ah, saved by the bell – sorry, got to go, maybe next time. See ya.

菲菲：啊，這個鈴聲救了我，抱歉，我得走了，也許下次吧。再見。

Rob: Oh. Bye.

羅布：哦。再見。

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重點講解：
1. no way 沒有可能；
例句：There was absolutely no way that we were going to be able to retrieve it.
我們絕對不可能把它找回來。
2. originate from 起源；來自…，源於；
例句：All carbohydrates originate from plants.
所有的碳水化合物均來自植物。
3. tend to do sth. 往往會；經常就；
例句：I tend to stick to fresh fruit for pudding.
我一直堅持用新鮮水果做甜點。
4. on one's own 單獨地；獨自地；
例句：He lives on his own.
他獨自一人生活。