The english we speak(BBC教學)第87期:Fly by the seat of your pants 憑感覺
Chris: Hi, I'm Chris and I'm here today with Li.
克里斯：大家好，我是克里斯，今天我們請到了李。Li: Hello.
李：大家好。Chris: Did you see that Superman film on television last night? I love Clark Kent. By day, he's just a regular guy, but he also has the power to fly! It's a classic movie.
克里斯：你昨晚看電視上播的超人電影了嗎？我喜歡克拉克·肯特。白天他只是個普通人，可是他卻有飛翔的能力！那真是部經典電影。
Li: No, I didn't see it. The aerial on my roof is broken and I don't really know how to fix it, so I can't watch anything at the moment.
李：我沒有看。我家屋頂的天線壞了，我不知道要怎麼修，所以我現在什麼也看不了。Chris: That's a shame. If you want, I could have a look to see if I can fix it for you? I'd be flying by the seat of my pants, but it's worth a try.
克里斯：真遺憾。如果你想，我可以去看看是不是能幫你修一下。我可以憑感覺試試看，這值得一試啊。Li: You can fly? Like Superman? Do you have to wear your pants on the outside like him, too?
李：你可以飛？就像超人一樣？你也要像他一樣把內褲穿在外面嗎？Chris: No, I don't mean I can actually fly–and I'm certainly not putting my underwear on over my trousers! The phrase 'to fly by the seat of your pants' means to do something difficult without being trained to do it or really knowing how.
克里斯：不，我不是說我可以飛，我肯定也不會把內褲穿在褲子外面！to fly by the seat of your pants這個短語的意思是在做某些困難的事情時沒有經過訓練，實際上也不知道如何做。Li: So I don't have to worry about actually seeing your pants?
李：所以我不用擔心會看到你的內褲了？Chris: No, Li, you don't have to see my pants–it's just a phrase.
克里斯：李，你不會看到我的內褲的，那只是個短語。Li: I see–so you'll have a go at fixing my TV aerial, even though you aren't quite sure what you're doing.
李：我明白了，你要去試着幫我修電視天線，可是你不是很確定你在做什麼。Chris: Exactly. Let's hear some more examples of the phrase in action.
克里斯：沒錯。我們再來看一些這個短語的應用。Examples:
例子：This report has to be finished today but no one is here to show me how to do it. I'll be flying by the seat of my pants, but I'd better try.
這份報告今天一定要完成，但是這裏沒有人告訴我如何做這份報告。我只能自己摸索了，不過我最好還是嘗試一下。John is trying to put new tiles in the bathroom, as he won't pay for a decorator to do it. He really is flying by the seat of his pants.
約翰正在試着給浴室換新瓷磚，因爲他並不想僱傭裝修工來工作。實際上他是憑感覺做試試。Li: So this is a phrase that we can use when you know very little about something, but you're going to do your best to complete the job.
李：所以我們在對某件事知之甚少的時候就可以用這個短語，可是你也要盡全力完成那件事。Chris: People often use this phrase when they have to do a job quickly, but don't know how.
克里斯：人們在必須快速完成一份工作、但卻所知甚少的情況下通常會使用這個短語。Li: So, do you think you can fix my aerial?
李：那你認爲你能修好我的天線嗎？Chris: Well, I'll certainly give it a try–have you got a ladder, then…?
克里斯：嗯，我肯定會試一試的，你有梯子或者……？Later…
一會兒之後Chris: Well, there you go. I really did fly by the seat of my pants, but it looks like it's fixed.
克里斯：嗯，好了。雖然我是自己摸索着修的，不過看起來好像修好了。Li: Let me turn on the TV… It works! Great picture. You know Chris, even though you don't have your pants like Superman, you really are my hero.
李：我打開電視看一下……修好了！畫質真棒。克里斯，你知道嗎，雖然你沒有像超人一樣內褲外穿，可是你真的是我的英雄。Chris: Erm… thanks.
克里斯：額……謝了。重點講解：
1. fly by the seat of one's pants
憑感覺；憑直覺；
eg. When Jones started up business in a new town, he didn't know anybody, so he had to fly by the seat of his pants.
當瓊斯在一個新的地方開始經營他的生意的時候,他在那裏一個人都不認識。所以他只好全靠自己摸索着辦。
eg. I passed that test by the seat of my pants.
我跟着感覺走通過了那次考試。
2. have a go at
嘗試；
eg. My son asked me to let him have a go at the heavy box.
我兒子要我再讓他試一試，把這個沉重的箱子擡起來。
eg. No matter how difficult it is, he is determined to have a go at the experiment.
不論困難有多大，他都決心去嘗試一下這個實驗。
3. do one's best
盡力；竭盡所能；
eg. I'll do my best to find out.
我會盡力查明真相。
eg. It's a Championship fight — do your best.
這是錦標賽——要盡全力。
4. give it a try
試一試；
eg. I don't think it will lift my spirits but I'll give it a try.
我想那也不會讓我的情緒好起來，但我會試試。
eg. I almost can't wait to give it a try.
我等不及要試一試了。
