VOA流行美語 Unit 111: to go off on someone/What&#

VOA流行美語 Unit 111: to go off on someone/What's the deal

李華剛下課，走出課堂就碰上Larry。李華在和Larry 談話中會學到兩個常用語：to go off on someone 和what's the deal.

(School building lobby SFX)

LH: Hey, Larry. 你剛下課啊？對了，我剛好要問你，今天你有沒有見到Dave？

LL: Dave? No, I haven't seen him anywhere since professor Jones went off on him yesterday morning.

LH: Jones教授對Dave怎麼啦？你說他went off on Dave? 那是什麼意思呢？

LL: To go off on someone means to suddenly get very angry at someone. "To go off " can mean "to explode"- for instance, something like a bomb or a gun can go off.

LH: 噢，to go off on someone就是突然對某人大發脾氣，就好像炸彈爆炸，槍支開火那樣。那Jones教授爲什麼突然對Dave大發脾氣呢？

LL: Dave asked Professor Jones if he could turn in a paper a few days late, and Professor Jones just went off on him.

LH: Dave 怎麼經常要求晚幾天交報告吶？唉，也難怪Jones教授要go off on him對他發脾氣了。Larry，你再給我舉幾個go off on someone的例子吧！

LL: Hmm, let me think. I remember when I was in Beijing I tried to pay a taxi driver, and he went off on me for several minutes. I had no idea why he was so angry. It turned out, what I gave him was a counterfeit note.

LH: 你給出租車司機假鈔票，那他當然要對你大發脾氣咯！

LL: Li Hua, have you ever gone off on someone here in the U.S.?

LH: 我啊，我英文還不是很好，輕易不敢和人吵架。我只有對我過去那個同屋發了好幾次脾氣，因爲她實在太髒，而且還想偷偷搬出去，就是爲了想賴掉一個月的房租呢！

LL: She tried to cheat you out of a month's rent? If my roommate did that, I wouldn't just go off on him, I'd take him to court!

******

LL: So anyway, what's the deal with Professor Jones lately? He always seems to be in a bad mood.

LH: What's the deal? 你在說什麼啊？deal不是交易的意思嗎？你是問我，Jones教授在和什麼人作交易？

LL: No, no, Li Hua. When I ask "what's the deal", I mean "what is the situation?" I was asking why he is in a bad mood.

LH: 噢，我知道了，what's the deal就是我們中文裏常說的“怎麼回事”。你剛纔是問我，Jones教授心情不好到底是怎麼回事。我聽說，他對今年沒能升上正教授的職位好像挺失望的。

LL: Really? What's the deal with that? He's been in this department for years!

LH: 就是啊! Jones教授在我們繫上教書也有好多年了，不給他提升，究竟是怎麼回事，誰也不知道。

LL: That seems to be unfair. Well, Li Hua, what's the deal tomorrow night? Is everyone still planning to go together to that concert?

LH: 明天晚上是這樣，我和另外三個同學會去聽演唱會，可是我的車出問題了，現在還在修車廠呢。Larry，我們能搭你的車去嗎？

LL: Well, here's the deal: I've got class until six thirty tomorrow, and the concert is at eight. It's probably best if you meet me here at school, since I might not have enough time to pick you all up.

LH: 哼，你明天6點半才下課，而演唱會8點就開始。對，要你去接我們恐怕是來不及。那就照你說的吧，我們到學校來等你！噢，對了, Ed明天不想去，他和Jill剛分手，不想和Jill見面。

LL: Really? What's the deal with those two? I thought they were really happy together, but I heard that Jill went off on Ed the other night.

LH: 他們倆到底是怎麼回事？誰知道！大家都以爲他們在一起很高興。Jill 那天晚上對Ed大發脾氣是因爲Ed沒跟她商量就決定明年到國外去念書。

LL: Oh well. That's too bad. Anyway, the deal tomorrow is you and your friends will meet me here at school, and we'll all leave together. OK?

LH: 沒問題，那就明天晚上在校園見了！

今天李華學到兩個常用語。一個是：to go off on someone, 意思是突然對某人大發脾氣。另一個常用語是: the deal with something, 這是指情況如何，怎麼回事。