迷你對話學地道口語地886期:久等;久候

A: Hi, Patti. I am sorry for being late.

黑，帕蒂，對不起，我遲到了。

B: I have cooled my heels for nearly an hour.

我百般無聊地等了將近一個小時。

A: I am awfully sorry. There are Traffic jams everywhere this hour of the day., you.know.

實在是對不起，這個點兒到處塞車，你也知道的。

B: You should have started earlier.

你可以早點出來嘛。

特別聲明：該內容出自可可編輯Juliet和外教，英語教育專家共同合作發行出版的《娜娜教英語》之《小題大做》篇，在此傾情供給可可會員學習，若需轉載，請註明出處。

cool one’s heels

1. 解詞釋義

Cool one’s heels的字面意思是“使得某人的腳後跟變涼了”，意即：讓人就等了。在此，引申爲“百般無奈地等待”。

該習語產生於16世紀，原指馬跑了很長一段路後，馬蹄變熱，主人就得停下來再繼續趕路，後來此語轉來指人。

2. 拓展範例
e.g. Let him cool his heels in the outer office, that will teach him to be more polite.

讓他在外間辦公室等候着，那將可教訓他以後客氣點。

e.g. I was early for the appointment, so I had to cool my heels in the outer office.

我比約定的時間來得早，所以只得在外面的辦公室裏等着。

e.g. I'm going to let you cool your heels in jail until the chief gets back.

我要讓你在監獄裏多呆一會兒，直到警長回來爲止。

e.g. Although I was normally quite patient, I was beginning to feel he had been left to cool his heels too long.

我雖然好耐性，卻也感到坐冷板凳的滋味了。

1. be sorry for：因……而感到抱歉，對不起……

e.g. I'm sorry for what I said; I never meant to insult you.

我爲我所說的話道歉;我不是有意要侮辱你。

e.g. "I am sorry for having taken your material," Pablo said."It was an equivocation."

“我拿走了你的器材，非常抱歉。”巴布羅說，“那是一時糊塗。”

e.g. It is never too late to be sorry for the past and to start a new life.

痛改前非，重新做人，永遠不會太晚的。

e.g. I think you'll be sorry for being so stubborn about Jem.

我想你自會爲對傑姆的偏見感到抱歉的。

2. traffic jams：交通堵塞

e.g. Traffic jams happen all the time during rush hours.

交通高峯期塞車是常有的事。

e.g. This section of the road is so narrow that there are bound to be traffic jams now and then.

這個路段太窄以至於交通有時不免堵塞。

You should have started earlier.

要點解析1：這句話使用了虛擬語氣，是情態動詞should的虛擬語氣用法，這個用法是should + have done，表示“過去本應該做的事情但是沒有做”。

要點解析2：start這個詞語是不能用於現在完成時態中的，這裏的have started是情態動詞should的虛擬語氣用法，所以，不要認爲這裏出現語病。