Neil 把胡子剃得一干二凈,因?yàn)榱艉毈F(xiàn)在是“a thing”,所以他不要隨波逐流??匆曨l,學(xué)習(xí)這個(gè)詞的新流行用法。
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(關(guān)于臺(tái)詞的備注: 請(qǐng)注意這不是廣播節(jié)目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能沒(méi)有體現(xiàn)錄制、編輯過(guò)程中對(duì)節(jié)目做出的改變。)
Feifei
大家好,歡迎收聽(tīng) BBC 英語(yǔ)教學(xué)的《地道英語(yǔ)》節(jié)目。我是馮菲菲。
Neil
And I’m Neil.
Feifei
Where’s your beard?
Neil
Well, I, uh, shaved it off. I fancied a change. Beards are such a thing these days.
Feifei
Yup, ever since beards became a thing, I’ve found them a bit boring.
Neil
‘A thing’. Of course, we know what the word ‘thing’ normally means, but what does ‘a(chǎn) thing’ mean here?
Feifei
本集節(jié)目中給大家介紹的表達(dá)是“a thing”。大家都知道 a thing 最常用的意思是“一件東西,一個(gè)物品”,而目前流行的說(shuō)法是用“a thing”來(lái)表示“一個(gè)潮流,一種時(shí)尚”。比如:如果我們說(shuō)“留胡須 is a thing”,那實(shí)際要表達(dá)的意思就是“留胡須很時(shí)尚,lots of people have them”。
Neil
Yes. Cats on the internet – they’re a thing.
Feifei
Oh, fidget spinners. They’re definitely a thing.
Neil
Fidget spinners?
Feifei
對(duì),就是那個(gè)風(fēng)靡全球的“fidget spinners 指尖陀螺”。Those little metal or plastic toys that spin on your finger. Know them?
Neil
Oh, those things that kids everywhere are playing with.
Feifei
Not just kids. Anyway. What else is a thing? Listen to these examples.
Examples
Using funny GIFs in your message is such a thing.
You know parkour: the sport of running and jumping across buildings? Why is that such a thing?
Organic powdered food. Since when has that been a thing?
Feifei
A well-known use of this phrase was after American personality Kim Kardashian posted a picture of herself pregnant, with the words “pregnancy lips 懷孕的嘴唇”.
Neil
It’s a term not many people had heard of, and prompted responses like this: “Pregnancy lips? Is that even a thing?”
Feifei
當(dāng)你對(duì)別人所描述的一件事情一無(wú)所知,或?qū)λ枋龅氖虑槌謶岩蓱B(tài)度的時(shí)侯,你就可以說(shuō)“Is that a thing?”或“Is that even a thing?”。
Neil
But there’s little doubt the phrase ‘a(chǎn) thing’ is itself ‘a(chǎn) thing’ – it’s now been included in major dictionaries.
Feifei
There we are. A thing. No plans to grow the beard back, then?
Neil
Only when being clean-shaven becomes too much of a thing!
Feifei
Bye.
Neil
Bye.