VOA流行美語 Unit 168:whatever floats your boat和up a&nb

Larry和李華正在討論星期六要幹什麼。李華要去逛街，但是Larry想去打籃球。今天李華會學到兩個常用語：whatever floats your boat和up a creek。

LH: Larry，我真的很想去逛街嘛！這個週末在購物中心有大特賣耶！

LL: I don't understand why you like shopping so much, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

LH: Boat？你在說什麼啊？我是想去逛街買衣服，不是要去乘船玩啦！

LL: No, "whatever floats your boat" is an expression. Whatever floats your boat means that you should do whatever you like doing. It also implies that everyone likes to do different things.

LH: 噢，whatever floats your boat就是說你愛幹什麼就幹什，而且還有每個人愛好不同的意思。好，那我星期六去逛街！

LL: Fine then. You should do whatever floats your boat. However, I think I'll go play basketball instead.

LH: 行，你想去打籃球，那就去吧！ Whatever floats your boat!

LL: I guess we won't be spending Saturday together. We could still meet for dinner, though.

LH: 沒問題，晚上一起吃晚飯，那你想去哪裏吃飯呢？

LL: I don't have any preferences. Whatever floats your boat is fine with me.

LH: 真的嗎？由我來決定去哪兒吃飯啊？

LL: Yep, the decision is yours.

LH: 嗯... 這樣啊，我們能不能去學校附近那家新開的泰國餐廳？我朋友告訴我，他們的菜很好吃！

LL: If that's what floats your boat, then it's fine with me.

LH: 好，沒問題。那我們星期六晚上6點半在餐廳見嘍！

LL: Okay, I'll see you then.

******

LH: 怎麼啦？Larry，出了什麼事嗎？

LL: I lost my keys when I went to play basketball today. Now, I'm really up a creek.

LH: 你把鑰匙弄丟了？哎呀，那可真是麻煩了。不過，這跟a creek有什麼關係哪？ Creek那不就是小溪嗎？

LL: If someone is "up a creek" it means that he or she is stuck in a bad situation without an obvious solution.

LH: 噢，我懂了，up a creek就是說一個人碰上難題，而且還沒有辦法來解決。也就是我們中文裏說的“陷入困境”。唉，你現在真的是碰上大難題了。那你打算怎麼辦呢？

LL: I don't know. I can't get into my apartment or my car without my keys.

LH: 對，你沒有鑰匙就進不了家，也進不了你的車。那你能不能打電話問你房東，或許他有多一把鑰匙。

LL: My landlord is out of town for the weekend, so I'm up a creek until he gets back on Monday.

LH: 什麼？你的房東出遠門，要到星期一纔會回來？那可真麻煩了。也許你可以找個鎖匠來開鎖？

LL: I think that might be my only solution, but it's going to be expensive.

LH: 我知道請鎖匠來開鎖，可能要花一點錢，可是那總比你一個週末被關在家門外，不得其門而入要好吧？

LL: Yeah, you're right. I have no idea what to do about my car keys, though. They're a little bit more difficult to replace.

LH: 不好意思，我不開車，所以不知道上哪兒能找到新的車鑰匙。看來你真是up a creek, 陷入困境了。

今天李華學到兩個常用語。第一個是whatever floats your boat，意思就是你愛幹什麼就幹什。另一個常用語是up a creek。這是形容一個人陷入困境。