生活英语对话 Episode 80: Skating on thin ice

本单元是关于铤而走险的对话

Alice: Are you enjoying yourself, Helen?
Helen: Do you know what? I'm having a really good time. Thanks for dragging me out, guys.
Tim: It's just nice to see you smiling, Helen.
Helen: Hey, is that Paul over there?
Tim: Hey yeah, it is him, isn't it?
Helen: It is, you know, but who's that with him? Are they his kids? Alice? Has Paul got children?
Alice: Yes, he's got two children actually.
Tim: So that means he's got a wife.
Alice: They're not together any more, and they're getting a divorce.
Tim: Are you sure about that?
Alice: Well, that's what he told me, and I believe him. He's a good man.
Helen: Ooh, Alice, you're skating on very thin ice.
Alice: Maybe I am Helen, but I can't let him go.
Helen: You really love him, don't you?
Alice: Helen, I really do.


Vocabulary 字汇

dragging me out 勉强带出去
making me go out with you even though I didn't really want to

divorce (n) 离婚
a formal, legal separation of husband and wife

skating on very thin ice (idiom) 冒险
taking a big risk

本单元的语言点是关于 ice 的习语，请看下面的解释和例句

Idioms with 'ice'

Idioms 习惯用语
Idioms use language metaphorically¹. This means that the meaning of an idiom is not the same as the meanings of the individual words in the idiom. For example, if you 'go down memory lane' it means you think about the past (the metaphorical² meaning), not that you walk down a street called 'memory Lane' (the literal meaning).

Idioms are fixed³ groups of words. This means that the wording of an idiom can not be changed. For example, you can say 'go down memory lane', but you can't say 'go down memory street'. Idioms are often verb phrases, for example: 'go down memory lane' but they can also be nouns: 'memory lane' is an idiomatic⁴ noun which refers to the idea of memories and nostalgia⁵.


Idioms with 'ice' 和'冰'有关的习惯用语

to skate on thin ice:
To take a big risk. This verb is often used in the continuous form.

He's having a secret relationship with a married woman: I've told him that he's skating on thin ice, but he won't listen to me.

to be on thin ice:
This has the same meaning as to skate on thin ice - to take a big risk.

They knew that publishing the article meant that they were on thin ice.

to break the ice:
To make people who have not met before feel more relaxed and comfortable with each other.

Experienced teachers usually start a new class with a game to break the ice.

an ice-breaker:
An activity which helps people who have not met before to feel more relaxed and comfortable with each other.

As an ice-breaker, we wrote an interesting fact about ourselves on a piece of paper. The teacher read out all the facts, and we had to guess which person had written which fact.

to cut no ice with someone:
To fail to have an influence on someone's beliefs or actions.

She made a lot of excuses for her bad behaviour, but they cut no ice with me.

to put something on ice:
to ice something:
to be on ice:
These idioms have the same meaning: to stop doing something temporarily, with a plan to finish or complete it later.

The plans for the new building have been put on ice until next year.
The plans for the new building have been iced until next year.
The plans for the new building are on ice until next year.

1 metaphorically   

adv. 用比喻地

参考例句：

• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
• Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。

2 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

3 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

4 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。

5 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。