VOA流行美語 Unit 156:cash cow和tickled pink

Larry和李華到學校附近一家新開的墨西哥快餐店吃飯。今天李華會學到兩個常用語：cash cow和tickled pink。

LL: Wow! This place is a real cash cow! Look how crowded it is!

LH: Cash cow？ 什麼是cash cow？ 我知道cash就是錢，現金；cow是一頭牛。噢，我懂了，cash cow就是一頭很有錢的牛。意思就是，這裏生意這麼興隆，錢賺很多。對不對？

LL: That is right! A cash cow is a business that is very profitable. This is obviously a popular place, so they must be making a lot of money.

LH: 沒錯，這家餐廳一定很賺錢。你看，要是這裏每小時來200個客人，每人平均消費7美元，那就不得了了！

LL: That's $1,400 an hour! This place is definitely a cash cow. I wish I owned a business like this.

LH: 嗯，我也希望自己能有這樣一個賺錢的搖錢樹呢。

LL: You know what? The new movie theater that they just opened by campus is another real cash cow.

LH: 對耶！學校旁邊那家新開的電影院，是這附近唯一的一家，所以大家都上那兒去看電影。他們肯定也很賺錢。

LL: Tickets are really expensive, too, but we don't have a choice because there aren't any other movie theaters nearby.

LH: 真沒辦法，就因爲這是這兒唯一的一家電影院，儘管票價貴，大家也別無選擇！他們變成了賺錢的影院，a cash cow!可苦了我們這些窮學生！

LL: At least they give student discounts on weekdays. That makes it a little bit easier on us.

LH: 看來，我們最好在星期一到星期五之間去看電影。這樣可以享受優惠價。不過這對戲院本身也有好處麼！這樣一來，學生就願意在生意比較清淡的時間去看電影嘍！

LL: You should be a businesswoman, Li Hua. It seems like you really understand these things. If you own a business, I'm sure it will turn out to be a cash cow.

LH: 也不見得啦！我其實對做生意沒太大興趣。

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LL: I'm tickled pink with the food here. What do you think, Li Hua? Do you like Mexican food?

LH: 我很喜歡墨西哥菜，好吃極了。你說你tickled pink ？Tickle是搔癢的意思，pink是粉紅色，你是說這道菜太辣了？

LL: No, I mean that I really like the food. To be tickled pink by something is to be really pleased by it.

LH: 噢，原來，tickled pink是指非常高興，很滿意的意思。嗯，我也很喜歡這裏的菜。I am tickled pink too。

LL: Oh, I almost forgot to tell you: I got a really good job for the summer. I'm really tickled pink about it.

LH: 你找到一份非常好的暑期工？那太好了。我真替你高興。那你什麼時候開始工作呢？

LL: I'll take a couple of weeks off after exams and then start work at the beginning of June. I told my mom and she was tickled pink too.

LH: 考完試休息幾個星期再工作。這安排真是不錯。別說你媽聽了高興，誰聽了都會替你高興。我還不知道暑期幹什麼呢！

LL: Aren't you going to visit Vancouver?

LH: 對，我是要去溫哥華看我哥哥，但是我得先打工，賺了錢才能去呀！聽說學校圖書館有暑期工作。

LL: That sounds good. You could sit in the air-conditioned library all summer and read and play on the Internet. You should be tickled pink to get a job like that!

LH: 對，要是他們要我的話，我可以一個暑期坐在有空調的圖書館裏看書，玩互聯網。有那麼一個工作，我當然高興啦！

今天李華學到兩個常用語。一個是cash cow，這是指非常賺錢的生意。也就是搖錢樹。另一個常用語是tickled pink，是讓人非常高興，非常愉快的意思。