The english we speak(BBC教學)第99期:To get your knickers in a twist 惱火;煩悶

Will: Hello, I'm William and here I am in Vera's garden to present the programme today…

威爾：大家好，我是威廉姆，我現在在維拉家的花園主持今天的節目……

Vera: Hi Will! Yes, I'm Vera, and well, before the programme I've got to hang up my washing!

維拉：你好，威爾！我是維拉，在節目開始前，我要把剛洗好的衣服掛起來！

Will: No problem, actually Vera that's quite handy to have you doing that as we have an expression to teach today that many people might find quite amusing. To get your knickers in a twist!

威爾：沒問題，實際上維拉，讓你晾衣服非常有用，因爲我們今天要講一個表達方式，很多人可能會覺得那非常有趣。這個表達就是To get your knickers in a twist！

Vera: No, Will, my knickers are not twisted. I've got my knickers nicely hung here from this washing line, as are my blouses, my tablecloth, my jeans… What are you saying about my washing hanging technique? Do you think I'm not doing my washing right?

維拉：不，威爾，我的內褲沒有扭在一起。我把我的內褲平整地掛在這根晾衣繩上了，就像我的襯衫、桌布、牛仔褲一樣，掛得很整齊……你說我的晾衣服技術怎麼了？你認爲我衣服晾得不好嗎？

Will: No, I didn't mean that. I even like these pink pyjamas with yellow polka dots that I can see hanging further down the line. Vera, people can probably see them from the moon! They are a bit too bright for my taste, I've got to say.

威爾：沒有，我不是那個意思。我甚至非常喜歡這件帶黃色圓點的粉色睡衣，我可以想象把它們掛在晾衣繩的情景。維拉，人們在月球上可能都會看到這些睡衣的！我必須要說，這些睡衣太鮮豔了，不對我的口味。

Vera: You see, now you are poking fun at my taste in fashion! My mother's taste, actually! She gave me these pyjamas for Christmas. I hate them but … I didn't want to disappoint my mother and she keeps asking me if I wear them often.

維拉：你看，現在你在取笑我的時尚品味！準確地說是我媽媽的時尚品味！這些睡衣是她送我的聖誕禮物。我很討厭它們，但是……我不想讓我媽失望，她一直在問我有沒有經常穿這些睡衣。

Will: Alright! Okay. Well, don't get your knickers in a twist!

威爾：好吧！好。別爲這點事發火！

Vera: Here you go again! Stop criticising my knickers! How about your own knickers? Maybe they are twisted!

維拉：你又來了！別再批評我的內褲了！那你自己的內褲呢？也許它們才擰在一起吧！

Will: Well, okay, I must confess that sometimes … well, lots of times perhaps, I do get my knickers in a twist. And it's not when I am hanging up my washing. Knickers is a British word that refers to ladies' underwear–they're what Americans call panties. But 'to get your knickers in a twist' has got nothing to do with it: it can be used for either a man or a woman.

威爾：好，好，我必須要承認有時是……嗯，也許很多時候都是，我的內褲的確會擰在一起。而我晾衣服時不會。Knickers這個詞在英國英語中指女士的內褲，美國英語稱爲panties。但是這個短語的意思和女士內褲沒有任何關係，既可以用在女士身上也可以用在男士身上。

Vera: Oh, it has nothing to do with underwear?

維拉：哦，這個短語和內褲沒有任何關係？

Will: Exactly. That's right. It's an expression in English that you use when you want to say that someone is getting upset about things that are not important, trivial matters. Let's listen to some examples:

威爾：沒錯。完全正確。在英語中，當你想說某個人爲某些不重要的小事煩惱時，你就可以使用這個短語。我們來聽一些例子：

(Phone ringing)

（電話鈴響起）

Female 1: Your phone's been ringing all morning and you haven't bothered to pick it up.

女1：你的電話響了一上午了，可是你一直懶得接。

Female 2: Alright! Alright! I will do it now. Don't get your knickers in a twist!

女2：好啦！好啦！我現在就接。別爲這點兒小事生氣！

Male: My teenage son is very sensitive. Whenever I tell him to tidy up his room he gets his knickers in a twist and slams the door!

男：我十幾歲的兒子非常敏感。每次我讓他整理房間他就會發脾氣，然後摔門而去！

Vera: Ah, so it has nothing to do with knickers!

維拉：所以這個短語和內褲沒有任何關係！

Will: That's right. And, by the way, the ones that you have hanging from your washing line aren't twisted either. You're doing a really great job, Vera.

威爾：沒錯。順便說一下，你掛在晾衣繩上的內褲也沒有擰在一起。你做得非常不錯，維拉。

Vera: Thank you, Will. But… I've been doing it for some 20 minutes but now I have to take them down! It's going to rain quite heavily and I won't have dry clothes to wear tomorrow… This is so annoying! Why does it have to rain so often? It is not fair! Just when I've managed to make some time to wash all these clothes. And even the pink and polka dot pyjamas I hate so much. Why can't my mother just give me socks or something else? She has never allowed me to wear what I like. When I was a teenager I wanted to wear miniskirts and she told me off.

維拉：謝謝你，威爾。可是……晾衣服這件事我已經做了20分鐘了，可是現在我必須要把它們都拿下來！馬上就要下大雨了，我明天沒有乾衣服穿了……這太煩人了！爲什麼雨下得這麼頻繁？這不公平！我好不容易找出時間來洗這些衣服。而且我非常討厭這件粉色帶圓點的睡衣。我媽媽爲什麼不能送我襪子或其他的東西當禮物？她從來不讓我穿自己喜歡的衣服。我還是十幾歲的孩子時，我想穿迷你裙，可是她責備了我。

Will: Here we go again! Knickers in a twist! Goodbye.

威爾：又來了！雙因爲小事生氣了！再見。

Vera: Goodbye. But why do we always have to finish the programme so soon. People like to learn English. We should have longer programmes so that we can talk about some more expressions. It's not fair with learners…

維拉：再見。可是爲什麼我們總是要這麼快就結束節目呢。人們喜歡學習英語。我們的節目時間應該長點兒，這樣我們就能講更多的地道表達了。這對學習者來說不公平……

重點講解：
1. get one's knickers in a twist
惱火；煩悶；
eg. The company, which makes its money on 3,000 grocery lines has its knickers in a twist about Sunday trading.
這家依靠3，000種食品雜貨盈利的公司爲其星期天的營業狀況煩惱。
eg. Don't get your knickers in a twist. It is just a small test.
別不高興了，這只是一個小考試而已。
2. poke fun at
取笑；戲弄；拿…開玩笑；
eg. She poked fun at people's shortcomings.
她拿別人的缺點開玩笑。
eg. We all poke fun at her because she wears such a strange hat.
我們大家都笑她戴這麼一頂古怪的帽子。
3. bother to do sth.
操心；費力；麻煩；
eg. Few black children today bother to humiliate themselves like this.
今天，幾乎沒有黑人孩子爲像這樣讓他們丟人的事情而煩惱。
eg. He did not bother to undress.
他懶得脫衣服了。
4. tidy up
收拾；整理；
eg. I really must start tidying the place up.
我真得開始收拾收拾這個地方了。
eg. Anne made the beds and tidied up the nursery.
安妮把牀鋪都整理好，然後把幼兒室收拾停當。
5. by the way
順便說一下；
eg. OK. By the way, tell your wife she throws a successful party.
好.。還有，請告訴你夫人，她辦了一個很成功的宴會。
eg. By the way, I want you to know that none of this was my idea.
順便說一句，我想讓你知道所有的一切都不是我的主意。
6. tell off
斥責；訓斥；訓誡；
eg. He never listened to us when we told him off.
我們教訓他時，他從來不聽。
eg. I'm always being told off for being so awkward.
我笨手笨腳的，總挨訓。