The english we speak(BBC教學)第106期:Get your hands dirty 親自動手
Neil: Hello, I'm Neil. What a miserable day it is today! Hey, I think that's Li! What on earth's she doing?! She's on her hands and knees in the mud. Li!
尼爾：大家好，我是尼爾。今天真是痛苦的一天！我想那是李！她到底在做什麼？！她的手和膝蓋都在泥裏。李！Yang Li: Oh! Hello!
楊李：哦！你好！Neil: Are you okay?
尼爾：你還好嗎？
Yang Li: Yes, I am fine, thanks.
楊李：我很好，謝謝。Neil: Is there any particular reason you are in the mud?
尼爾：你待在泥土裏有什麼特殊的原因嗎？Yang Li: Oh yes, I am making myself dirty.
楊李：哦，對啊，我在把我自己弄髒。Neil: Ri-ight.
尼爾：好吧。Yang Li: For the neighbourhood festival–it's tonight you know!
楊李：爲鄰居節做準備，你知道今晚要舉辦鄰居節！Neil: I know. But I think I'm going to be having a shower and making myself clean, rather than dirty. Maybe this is some kind of low-cost spa treatment...?
尼爾：我知道。可是我認爲我要去衝個澡，把我自己洗乾淨，而不是弄髒。也許這是某種便宜的水療護理方法……？Yang Li: No, this is not a beauty treatment, the festival coordinator told us to do this.
楊李：不，這並不是美容保養，節日協調員讓我們這麼做的。Neil: Did he?
尼爾：他這麼說了？Yang Li: Yes, last week he asked each of us to contribute and said if it's going to be a success, you must all get your hands dirty.
楊李：對，上週他讓我們所有人都參與進來，而且他說如果要想成功慶祝這個節日，你們所有人都必須要把手弄髒。Neil: Ohhhhhh!
尼爾：哦！Yang Li: What?
楊李：怎麼了？Neil: I don't think he meant you should actually come with dirty hands. It's an expression!
尼爾：我想實際上他的意思並不是讓你把手弄髒。這是一個表達方式！Yang Li: An expression?
楊李：一個表達方式？Neil: Yes. 'To get your hands dirty' means to get really involved in the work–including the parts that are not enjoyable-rather than standing back and watching others do it.
尼爾：對，這個短語的意思是實際參與到工作中，包括那些可能不太有趣的部分，而不是置身事外看其他人工作。Yang Li: Oh.
楊李：哦。Neil: For example.
尼爾：下面來舉個例子。Woman: Unlike other bosses, Mr Stevens really likes to get his hands dirty. It's as if he's one of us.
女：與其他老闆不同，史蒂文斯先生非常喜歡親自動手。就像他是我們中的一員一樣。Man: Mary pretends to work hard, but I've never actually seen her get her hands dirty.
男：瑪麗假裝努力工作，可是我從來沒看見過她親自動手。Yang Li: So what I was actually being asked to do was to get fully involved in festival preparations–I wasn't being asked to arrive with dirty hands.
楊李：所以實際上他是讓我完全參與到節日的準備工作中，而不是讓我把手弄髒。Neil: Yes.
尼爾：沒錯。Yang Li: You know what? I don't care, I was really beginning to enjoy myself in the mud, and I'm sure my skin feels softer. Come on Neil, try, this is fun. Let's get our hands dirty–for real! Come on…
楊李：你知道嗎？我不在乎，我已經開始享受在泥土裏的感覺了，我確定我的皮膚會感覺更柔軟。來吧，尼爾，試試，這很有趣。我們來把手弄髒吧！來啊……Neil: I'd rather not... no, please... argh!
尼爾：我寧願不要……不，拜託不要，哎呀！Yang Li: Come on, Come on, Come on...
楊李：來吧，快來啊，來呀！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；
eg. Why on earth didn't you tell me the truth?
你到底爲什麼不跟我說實話？
eg. We felt puzzled. What on earth did they want to do?
我們都感到納悶兒，他們到底想幹什麼？
2. rather than
而非；勝於；而不是；
eg. Her speech was memorable for its polemic rather than its substance.
她的演說之所以令人難忘，不是因其內容而是因其辯論方法。
eg. We prefer you to work voluntarily rather than by coercion.
我們寧願你工作出於自願，而不是被迫。
3. get one's hands dirty
親自動手；
eg. Now that you have an understanding of the concepts behind the photo sharing application, it's time to get your hands dirty.
對照片共享應用程序背後的概念有了基本的瞭解之後，就可以着手進行實踐了。
eg. We spend considerable time and effort getting our hands dirty to understand the nuances and intricacies of each new product or version.
我們花費了相當多的時間和精力，親自動手去了解每種新產品或新版本的細微差別和複雜性。
4. get involved in
捲入的；參與的；與…有密切關聯的；
eg. If you get involved in the controversy, you may burn your fingers.
要是你捲入這場爭吵的話，你會吃苦頭的。
eg. She encourage her child to get involved in activities at school.
她鼓勵孩子積極參加學校活動。
5. stand back
置身事外，退一步（考慮問題）；
eg. Stand back and look objectively at the problem.
退一步，客觀地看待這個問題。
eg. We're not going to stand back and let those crooks get away with murder.
我們不會撒手不管讓那些騙子逍遙法外。
6. for real
真實地；真正地；不是假裝；
eg. All physical existence is false, only what you could feel exists for real.
物理上存在的東西都是假的，只有你能感受到的纔是真實存在的。
eg. But even among people with no religious affiliation, well more than half said angels are for real.
即便是沒有宗教信仰的人，也有一半以上相信天使是真實的。
