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2025.09.21 20:40
第十七部 第九课: fed up , off the hook
- 李华到 Larry 家借书,正好赶上 Larry 的朋友 Dave 打电话来 。她今天要学两个常用语, fed up 和 off the hook。
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- That was just Dave on the phone, Li Hua. He is really fed up right now.
- Dave给你打电话,就是告诉你他吃多了吗?
- No, Li Hua. To be fed up is to run out of patience in a difficult situation and to become angry.
- 噢,fed up不是指吃多了,而是说受够了。
- That's right. Dave has been having a bad day, and he has good reason to be fed up.
- 他遇到什麼倒霉事了吗?
- Well, Dave's car broke down on his way to work today, and he called a tow truck to come and get him. He's fed up, because he has been waiting for over an hour for the tow truck to arrive.
- 拖车一个多小时还没到。换成我,也会fed up.
- And Dave is also fed up with his car. This is the third time in the last month that his car has broken down.
- 一个月坏叁次。那可真得换车了,难怪他说自己受够了。他给你打电话就是抱怨这些吗?
- He was hoping that if the tow truck didn't come in the next few minutes I might be able to give him a ride to work. He doesn't want his boss to get too fed up with him.
- 噢,原来是求你送他去上班。一而再,再而叁地因為车子拋锚而上班迟到,确实会引起老闆的怀疑。
- I don't think Dave's boss is completely fed up with him YET, but Dave doesn't want to take any chances.
- 那当然了。他好不容易才找到这份工作,因為这个被炒魷鱼,太不值得了。
- Yeah. Personally, I'm a little fed up with Dave right now, too.
- Dave有什麼让你受不了的呢?
- Well, every time Dave's car breaks down, he calls me to ask for a ride. I'm getting a little fed up with having to rearrange my schedule to keep helping Dave out.
- 确实有点儿烦。不过,他是你的朋友,大家应该互相帮助嘛!
- You are right, Li Hua. I shouldn't get fed up with Dave. (Phone rings) It's Dave on the phone.
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- Dave打电话说什麼?
- He told me the tow truck finally arrived. It looks like I'm off the hook!
- Off the hook? 这种说法跟钓鱼有关吧?
- Yes, it does, Li Hua. You know when you go fishing for fun, how you put a hook on the end of your line?
- 当然了,我还记得上次跟你老爸一起去钓鱼,鱼线最后面有一个鉤子,在上面掛上鱼饵。
- And when a worm is off the hook, it is free. Just like I am now. I am off the hook, because I don't need to drive Dave to work after all.
- 所以,off the hook就是脱身的意思。你不用再开车送Dave去上班了,所以你说自己是off the hook.
- That's right. Say, speaking of obligations, don't you have a Chinese class you should be teaching right now?
- Oh, No. I am off the hook today, Larry. 今天学校放假,所以我不用去教中文课了!
- I forgot that today is a holiday. Unfortunately, I am NOT off the hook today. I need to go into work this afternoon to finish up a project I am working on.
- 那你就是on the hook嘍?
- Well, we don't really say someone is "on the hook" in English when we mean they have something they need to do.
- 所以说不用再去做一件事情是off the hook, 但是反过来,必须去做一件事情,则不能说on the hook.
- You've got it, Li Hua. Say, how about going to a movie tonight? Do you still have to write your paper for Professor Jones, or are you off the hook?
- 唉,I'm not off the hook. 我今天晚上必须得写完那篇论文。我可不希望让琼斯教授 fed up with me.
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- 今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是 fed up, 意思是不耐烦,受够了。另一个是 off the hook, 是脱身,摆脱责任的意思。