Say It in Style
中文:找工作
英文正確說法:search for a job
範例1
Tina: You’ve been at that computer all day long. Do you have a term paper due?
(蒂娜:妳已經在電腦前坐了一整天。是在趕要交的報告嗎?)
Sally: No, I’ve been searching for a job. We only have a few months before graduation!
(莎莉:不是,我在找工作。離畢業只剩下幾個月的時間了!)範例2
Rick: Did you hear that Tom was working as a chef?!
(瑞克:你有聽說湯姆現在當廚師的消息嗎?)
Joe: Yeah. He searched for a job in finance for months, but couldn’t find one.
(喬:是啊。他本來要找金融相關的工作,但是找了好幾個月都沒消息。)英文錯誤說法:search a job
你可以說“search the web,因為這意思是在網路上「搜尋」(search for)資料,而不是搜尋某個網站。因此,如果你要說搜尋或尋找某樣東西,search之後一定要加上“for,例如“I can search my pockets for spare change.(我可以在我口袋找找看,有沒有多餘的零錢。)中文:沒有人想到……
英文正確說法:No one ever imagined that…
範例
Reporter: When you were a little boy, did you want to be a movie star?
(記者:小時候你就希望成為電影明星嗎?)
Famous actor: No, I always wanted to be a fireman. No one in my family, including me, ever imagined that I would end up acting in movies.
(知名演員:沒有,原本我希望成為消防員。我家沒有一個人想到我會成為電影明星,包括我在內。)
英文錯誤說法:No one knows that...
一般人都會直譯成“No one knows that... 但是在美式口語中並沒有這樣的用法,你也可以說“No one ever dreamed that...Buzz Spotlight 流行俚語
That was brutal!
難受極了!
在口語中,“brutal表示「困難」或「痛苦」的意思,包括身體或心理狀態。範例1:
Carla: How was your drive to New Mexico?
(卡拉:開車去新墨西哥的路程還好嗎?)
Peter: It was brutal! I couldn’t see ahead of me because the sand kept blowing into my windshield, and the temperature never dropped under 100 degrees.
(彼得:非常難受!完全看不到前面,因為沙塵不斷吹到擋風玻璃上,而且氣溫一直在華氏100度以上。)範例2:
Mark: When did you break up with Ellen?
(馬克:你什麼時候和愛倫分手的?)
Oliver: Yesterday-- she broke up with me! We talked for eight hours straight and she kept crying. Last night was brutal!
(奧立佛:昨天,她和我分手的。我們連續談了8小時,她不停地哭。昨晚真的很不好受!)