今日口语:
LL: I need to get one of those whatchamacallits that add memory. The memory on my laptop computer is almost full. What do you need to get?
LH: 我想买一些磁盘。Larry, 什么是whatchamacallit?这个词听起来好怪啊!它能帮你增加laptop的内存?那是电脑的部件吗?
LL: No, no, it's not a part of the computer. Whatchamacallit actually, it is the combination of the words "what you might call it" joined together and said very fast.
LH: 噢,原来whatchamacallit是what-you-might-call-it这几个词合在一起的啊。那whatchamacallit这又是什么意思呢?
LL:When you don't remember the real name of the thing you are talking about, you might say whatchamacallit. I forget what the thing I need is called, so I just call it a whatchamacallit.
LH: Oh, 原来是你叫不出一样东西的名字时候你就可以说它是whatchamacallit。哎,在这种情况下,不就像我们在中文里说的"那个叫什么来啦"?
LL: Exactly. But you cannot tell a shop clerk "I want to buy whatchamacallit".
LH: 那当然哟,要是你对店员说你想买那个叫什么来啦,他怎么知道你要什么呢?Hey, Larry, 你看这是什么?Look at this whatchamacallit!
LL: That's a zip drive. You can use it to save things on disks.
LH: 噢,原来这就是我们平时常说的zip drive啊!What about that whatchamacallit?
LL: That's a digital music player. Li Hua, you can't just start calling everything a whatchamacallit!
LL: 怎么啦?我不知道这个东西叫digital music player,所以我就用你教我的这个词whatchamacallit 。
LL: I guess you're right, but don't use that as an excuse not to learn the real names of things.
LH: 你放心,你没看见吗?我学了就用啊,每次都是你教什么我就用什么! |