The english we speak(BBC教學)第148期:Two Ticks 一會兒
William: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, I'm William Kremer.
威廉:大家好,歡迎收聽地道英語節目,我是威廉·克萊默。Wang Fei: And I'm Wang Fei. So how are you today?
王飛:我是王飛。你今天怎麼樣?William: Two ticks...
威廉:稍等一下……
Wang Fei: What?
王飛:什麼?William: Give me two shakes, Wang Fei, I just need to...
威廉:王飛,給我點兒時間,我只是要……Wang Fei: Eh? What's that?
王飛:什麼?那是什麼?William: I'll be with you in a jiffy...
威廉:我馬上就和你一起主持……Wang Fei: In a jiffy. What's a jiffy? William, what are you talking about?
王飛:In a jiffy。jiffy是什麼?威廉,你在說什麼?William: There, done now. I just needed to send a text.
威廉:好了,搞定了。我只是要發個短信。Wang Fei: But what were all those ticks and jiffys?
王飛:不過剛纔你說的那ticks和jiffys都是什麼啊?William: Ahh, and shakes?
威廉:還有shakes是嗎?Wang Fei: Yes.
王飛:對。William: Well they're all expressions of time, Wang Fei. So they're ways of saying 'just a moment', or 'just a minute'.
威廉:嗯,這些都是有關時間的表達方式,王飛。這些都是“稍等一下”、“馬上”的表達方式。Wang Fei: I see.
王飛:我明白了。Can you come and help me lift this sofa?
你能來幫我搬下這個沙發嗎?Yeah, I'll be with you in two ticks.
好的,我馬上就過去幫你。William: Two ticks. In English, we say clocks make this noise: tick tock, tick tock. So two ticks is just like saying two seconds.
威廉:two ticks。在英語中,我們說鐘錶會發出這樣的聲音:滴答,滴答。所以two ticks就相當於兩秒鐘。I said, can you come and help me here? It's too heavy for me.
我說,你能不能過來幫幫我?這個沙發對我來說太重了。Yes, yes. I'll be there in two shakes.
好,好的。我馬上就來幫你。Wang Fei: Hmm. Two shakes?
王飛:嗯。Two shakes?William: Yeah, the full phrase here is 'two shakes of a lamb's tail', but we shorten this to 'two shakes'.
威廉:對,完整的短語是“小羊搖兩下尾巴的時間”,不過我們會縮短成two shakes。Wang Fei: Oh I see. Two shakes of a lamb's tail. English can be a very weird language!
王飛:哦,我明白了。“小羊搖兩下尾巴的時間”。英語還真是奇怪的語言!William: Yes, it can be! I guess that this is because lambs' tails shake very fast, so two shakes is a short time! And finally...
威廉:對,是這樣!我想這是因爲小羊的尾巴搖的非常快,所以搖兩下只用很短的時間!最後……Look Neil, this sofa isn't going to lift itself. Get a move on!
看,尼爾,沙發是不會自己長腿走的。快點過來!I know, I know. I said I'll be with you in a jiffy.
我知道,我知道。我說過我馬上就會去幫你的。Wang Fei: In a jiffy. So in a jiffy also means 'in a short space of time'. But what's a jiffy?
王飛:In a jiffy,這也是“短時間”的意思。不過jiffy是什麼?William: Well, you know what, Wang Fei? Nobody is completely sure of the origin of this word. But it has been in use for over 200 years!
威廉:嗯,王飛,你知道嗎?沒人準確地知道這個詞的來源。不過這個詞已經用了200多年了!Wang Fei: 200 years! That's quite a long time. More than a jiffy!
王飛:200年!那真是很長時間了。比短時間可長多了。William: Yes, and that's several billion shakes of a lamb's tail.
威廉:對,那可是小羊搖了幾十億次尾巴的時間啊。Wang Fei: Yes and all those ticks of a clock! Bye for now.
王飛:對啊,還有那些時鐘的滴答聲。現在該說再見了。William: Bye bye.
威廉:再見。Are you going to help me with sofa or not?!
你到底要不要幫我搬沙發?What sofa? You need help with a sofa?
什麼沙發?你需要幫忙搬沙發嗎?重點講解:
1. in a jiffy
很快;瞬間;
eg. He conjured up a whole meal in a jiffy.
他一眨眼功夫就變出了一桌飯菜。
eg. We will do it in a jiffy.
我們馬上去做。
2. just a moment/minute
等一下;且慢;
eg. Just a moment. Let me mark down your name and address.
等一下,讓我把你的姓名和地址記下來。
eg. Just a minute, I have to fix my hair.
等會兒,我得整整頭髮。
3. get a move on
快點;抓緊點;
eg. We'd better get a move on before it rains.
我們最好在下雨之前趕快做。
eg. Tell Harry to get a move on.
叫哈里快些!
4. a space of time
一段(時間);期間;
eg. They've come a long way in a short space of time.
他們在很短的時間之內就大老遠地趕了過來。
eg. It was all over in a relatively short space of time.
不一會兒工夫就完全結束了。
5. be sure of
一定的;必定的;無疑的;確保的;
eg. Since you are so sure of it he'll believe you.
既然你對此這麼有把握,他會相信你的。
eg. I'm not too sure of it.
這件事我不太有把握。