我们在电影里看到的美国人,他们婚恋观很开放,真正做到了“身高不是问题,年龄不是距离”,只要有火花(only if they have passion)。When passion kind of burns out, they will definitely break up.
看看《老友记》第1季第22集这段对话,Monica跟一个小她几岁的“大学生”谈恋爱,朋友们都是什么反应。
[Scene: They are having a chat at Central Perk.]
Monica: All right, I'll see you guys later. (raises)
Rachel: Off to see young Ethan?
Monica: Thank you.
Joey: How young is young Ethan? Young?
Monica: He's...our age.
Chandler: When we were?
Monica: Okay, he's a senior in college.
Ross: College?
Joey: Rob that cradle.
Monica: He’s smart, mature and grown-up.
Ross: Mature and grown-up. He’s a big boy.
Chandler: Whoa! And this manchild has no problem with how old you are?
Monica: No, of course not. It's not even an issue. Because I told him I was 22.
All: What?
Monica: Oh, I can't pass for 22?
Phoebe: Well, maybe 25, 26.
Monica: I am 26.
Phoebe: There you go.
这段对话比较简单,但可以看出来,朋友们对Monica“姐弟恋”百般调侃。解析:
(1)off:adv. means away or from where something is
英文中的小词(麻雀虽小五脏俱全)经常蕴含着巨大的能量,像“do”。
“Off to see sb?”要去见某人?
例:We’re off(=we are leaving).
It happened while his wife was off on a business trip.
(2)He’s our age. 他和我们差不多大。
Chandler平时最喜欢打趣别人,Ethan前面加上了young,可见很小啦,他就问:
(He’s our age)when we were? 我们要倒退几年才和他差不多大呢?
(3)he's a senior in college. 他是大四学生。
归类学习:把大一~大四一起记一下
freshman n. a student in the first year of high school or college
sophomore n. a student in the second year of high school or college
junior n. a student in the third year of high school or college
senior n. a student in the last year of high school or college
(4)rob that cradle
cradle means “a small bed for a baby that you can rock(=move gently from side to side)”:婴儿床
望文生义,想想这个词什么意思呢?
“rob that cradle” means “to have a sexual relationship with someone who is a lot younger than you”:老牛吃嫩草
(5)Monica说年龄完全不是问题,这个小男友“smart, mature and grown-up”。
这里的grown-up=mature, adj. means behaving like an adult
它的动词形式:grow up,在口语中表示“said to tell someone to behave more like an adult, especially when they have been behaving in a childish way”
例:
比如我讲了一个成人的正经的话题,朋友们都在窃笑。我可以说:Would you guys grow up?
<相反>“孩子气”怎么表达?
例:
If you guys wanna be children about this, that's fine.
(6)26岁的Monica谎称自己才22岁,啧啧啧!还反问朋友们:I can't pass for 22?
If somebody or something passes for something else, people think they are that thing, although they are not really.
例:
Even though Shawn’s only 17, he’s so big and tall he could pass for 21.
It’s amazing what passes for entertainment on TV(=what bad quality things people will accept as entertainment).
最乌龙的就是,事情发展到最后,这个Young Ethan turns out to be a senior in HIGH SCHOOL! So Monica has no choice but to break up with him. 看来老外也觉得年龄是个问题啊!至少在“姐弟恋”中,女方同样承受着巨大的压力。