The english we speak(BBC教學)第304期:Close, but no cigar 幾近成功

It's illegal to smoke inside the BBC, but Neil risks his job to teach you an English expression. Can Feifei guess what it is?

BBC大樓內不允許吸菸，可是尼爾冒着丟掉工作的風險教了一個英語表達方式。菲菲能猜到短語的意思嗎？

Neil: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, I'm Neil and joining me is Feifei...

尼爾：大家好，歡迎收聽地道英語節目。我是尼爾，今天和我一起主持節目的是菲菲。

Feifei: Hi there everyone.

菲菲：大家好。

Neil: In this programme we have an expression you can use when someone has almost succeeded — but not quite. Now Feifei, could you just pass me that lighter, please?

尼爾：本期節目我們要講的短語用來形容一個人幾乎就要成功了，但是沒有完全成功。菲菲，你能把打火機遞給我嗎？

Feifei: Lighter? What on earth are you doing with that cigar? You can't smoke in here!

菲菲：打火機？你到底要用那支雪茄做什麼？你不能在這裏吸菸！

Neil: It's a clue. You have to guess what the expression is.

尼爾：這是個提示。你要猜出這個表達方式是什麼。

Feifei: Oh OK. Is it 'to smoke like a chimney?'

菲菲：好。是不是“煙癮大”？

Neil: Close, but no cigar.

尼爾：接近，但是不對。

Feifei: OK, is it 'no smoke without fire'?

菲菲：好，是不是“無火不成煙”？

Neil: Close, but no cigar.

尼爾：接近，但是不準確。

Feifei: Oh, I give up!

菲菲：好吧，我放棄了！

Neil: I've told you twice already — it's 'close, but no cigar.' If someone almost succeeds — but not quite — you can say to them 'close, but no cigar.' Here are some examples.

尼爾：我已經告訴你兩次了，這個短語就是“close, but no cigar”。如果有人差點就要成功了，但是沒有完全成功，你就可以用這個短語。下面是例句。

Examples

例句

A: How old do you think I am?

A：你覺得我多大了？

B: 36?

B：36？

A: Nope — 35. Close, but no cigar.

A：不是，我35歲。你差點就猜中了。

Five of my numbers came up in the lottery. Close, but no cigar.

我的彩票中了5個數。差點就能中獎了。

They hit the post in the last second of the game. Close, but no cigar!

他們在比賽最後一秒擊中了門柱。差一點就成功了！

Neil: So, there we go. If someone almost succeeds, but doesn't quite, we can say to them 'close, but no cigar.'

尼爾：好了。如果有人差一點就成功了，但是沒有完全成功，我們就可以對他們說“差點就成功了”。

Feifei: Right, well you can put that cigar away now we've finished.

菲菲：好，現在節目結束了，你可以把雪茄收起來了。

Neil: Actually, it's a really good one — shame to waste it.

尼爾：其實這支雪茄很不錯，浪費了太可惜了。

Feifei: Neil!

菲菲：尼爾！

Neil: Uh oh!

尼爾：噢！

譯文屬僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載

重點講解：
1. on earth （用於以how, why, what 或 where 開始的問句，表示強調，通常表示問題沒有答案或很難回答）究竟，到底；
例句：I don't know what on earth he's playing at.
我不清楚他究竟在幹什麼。
2. no smoke without fire 無風不起浪；
例句：As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire.
常言道，無風不起浪。
3. give up 放棄；戒除；
例句：He have intended to go, but on second thought, he give up the idea.
他本來想去，但進一步考慮後，打消了這個念頭。
4. put away 把…收起；放好；
例句：Ah! This is where I put away this shirt.
啊，原來這襯衫是收在這地方。