The english we speak(BBC教學)第148期:Two Ticks 一會兒
William: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, I'm William Kremer.
威廉：大家好，歡迎收聽地道英語節目，我是威廉·克萊默。Wang Fei: And I'm Wang Fei. So how are you today?
王飛：我是王飛。你今天怎麼樣？William: Two ticks...
威廉：稍等一下……
Wang Fei: What?
王飛：什麼？William: Give me two shakes, Wang Fei, I just need to...
威廉：王飛，給我點兒時間，我只是要……Wang Fei: Eh? What's that?
王飛：什麼？那是什麼？William: I'll be with you in a jiffy...
威廉：我馬上就和你一起主持……Wang Fei: In a jiffy. What's a jiffy? William, what are you talking about?
王飛：In a jiffy。jiffy是什麼？威廉，你在說什麼？William: There, done now. I just needed to send a text.
威廉：好了，搞定了。我只是要發個短信。Wang Fei: But what were all those ticks and jiffys?
王飛：不過剛纔你說的那ticks和jiffys都是什麼啊？William: Ahh, and shakes?
威廉：還有shakes是嗎？Wang Fei: Yes.
王飛：對。William: Well they're all expressions of time, Wang Fei. So they're ways of saying 'just a Moment', or 'just a minute'.
威廉：嗯，這些都是有關時間的表達方式，王飛。這些都是“稍等一下”、“馬上”的表達方式。Wang Fei: I see.
王飛：我明白了。Can you come and help me lift this sofa?
你能來幫我搬下這個沙發嗎？Yeah, I'll be with you in two ticks.
好的，我馬上就過去幫你。William: Two ticks. In English, we say clocks make this noise: tick tock, tick tock. So two ticks is just like saying two seconds.
威廉：two ticks。在英語中，我們說鐘錶會發出這樣的聲音：滴答，滴答。所以two ticks就相當於兩秒鐘。I said, can you come and help me here? It's too heavy for me.
我說，你能不能過來幫幫我？這個沙發對我來說太重了。Yes, yes. I'll be there in two shakes.
好，好的。我馬上就來幫你。Wang Fei: Hmm. Two shakes?
王飛：嗯。Two shakes？William: Yeah, the full phrase here is 'two shakes of a lamb's tail', but we shorten this to 'two shakes'.
威廉：對，完整的短語是“小羊搖兩下尾巴的時間”，不過我們會縮短成two shakes。Wang Fei: Oh I see. Two shakes of a lamb's tail. English can be a very weird language!
王飛：哦，我明白了。“小羊搖兩下尾巴的時間”。英語還真是奇怪的語言！William: Yes, it can be! I guess that this is because lambs' tails shake very fast, so two shakes is a short time! And finally...
威廉：對，是這樣！我想這是因爲小羊的尾巴搖的非常快，所以搖兩下只用很短的時間！最後……Look Neil, this sofa isn't going to lift itself. Get a move on!
看，尼爾，沙發是不會自己長腿走的。快點過來！I know, I know. I said I'll be with you in a jiffy.
我知道，我知道。我說過我馬上就會去幫你的。Wang Fei: In a jiffy. So in a jiffy also means 'in a short space of time'. But what's a jiffy?
王飛：In a jiffy，這也是“短時間”的意思。不過jiffy是什麼？William: Well, you know what, Wang Fei? Nobody is completely sure of the origin of this word. But it has been in use for over 200 years!
威廉：嗯，王飛，你知道嗎？沒人準確地知道這個詞的來源。不過這個詞已經用了200多年了！Wang Fei: 200 years! That's quite a long time. More than a jiffy!
王飛：200年！那真是很長時間了。比短時間可長多了。William: Yes, and that's several billion shakes of a lamb's tail.
威廉：對，那可是小羊搖了幾十億次尾巴的時間啊。Wang Fei: Yes and all those ticks of a clock! Bye for now.
王飛：對啊，還有那些時鐘的滴答聲。現在該說再見了。William: Bye bye.
威廉：再見。Are you going to help me with sofa or not?!
你到底要不要幫我搬沙發？What sofa? You need help with a sofa?
什麼沙發？你需要幫忙搬沙發嗎？重點講解：
1. in a jiffy
很快；瞬間；
eg. He conjured up a whole meal in a jiffy.
他一眨眼功夫就變出了一桌飯菜。
eg. We will do it in a jiffy.
我們馬上去做。
2. just a moment/minute
等一下；且慢；
eg. Just a moment. Let me mark down your name and address.
等一下，讓我把你的姓名和地址記下來。
eg. Just a minute, I have to fix my hair.
等會兒，我得整整頭髮。
3. get a move on
快點；抓緊點；
eg. We'd better get a move on before it rains.
我們最好在下雨之前趕快做。
eg. Tell Harry to get a move on.
叫哈里快些！
4. a space of time
一段（時間）；期間；
eg. They've come a long way in a short space of time.
他們在很短的時間之內就大老遠地趕了過來。
eg. It was all over in a relatively short space of time.
不一會兒工夫就完全結束了。
5. be sure of
一定的；必定的；無疑的；確保的；
eg. Since you are so sure of it he'll believe you.
既然你對此這麼有把握，他會相信你的。
eg. I'm not too sure of it.
這件事我不太有把握。
