【话匣子英语】有关死亡

 安德鲁和哈皮今天讨论的是朋友逝去亲人后，怎样合适地表达自己的同情

Harp¹: Yup. So let’s get started. OK. So I want to start with talking about some pretty simple, but very important vocabulary, because talking about death is quite difficult and it’s awkward². It’s awkward for us, so we’re going to try to make it a bit easier. And for me, I think, one thing I do when I find out, let’s say, a friend’s father has died, I always use the expression pass away. I’m so sorry to hear your father passed away. I don’t like to say dead. It seems very harsh³ to me.

 

Andrew: Mmhmm. That’s a good point. The verb to pass away means just to die, but it’s much softer and it’s a nicer way to express that someone has died, has passed away. So, yeah, I would recommend using this verb, to pass away, instead of to die when you are talking to somebody about a relative or a family member or even somebody that they know that has died.

 

Harp: Yeah. Exactly. So, if it happens that someone who I know has passed away, I usually contact their family, or if it’s a friend that I know, I will contact them to express my condolences.

 

Andrew: Mmhmm. And what is a condolence, exactly? When you express your condolences, what are you doing?

 

Harp: Well, it’s basically⁴ an expression of my sympathy, because they’ve lost someone important in their life, so I’m just expressing my sympathy to them.

 

Andrew: Mmhmm. So when somebody passes away and you want to reach out… Maybe your friend’s mother passed away, for example, and you want to reach out to your friend and express your condolences, your sympathy, for your friend’s loss that her mother has passed away.

 

Harp: And like I said, these are just awkward conversations to have, but they’re really necessary ’cause you want to show your friend that you’re there if they need anything so you call to express your condolences.

 

Andrew: All right. So what we’re gonna do right now is just share some expressions that you can say to someone when someone that is close to them has passed away.

 

Harp: The expression that I usually use is I’m so sorry for your loss.

 

Andrew: That’s right. I’m so sorry for your loss. And so you’re saying that you’re sorry. And when we usually use this word, it’s because we’ve done something wrong and we’re apologizing, but in this circumstance, it’s a bit different, and obviously⁵ you’re not the one who caused the death so you’re not sorry in that way. You just have a feeling of sympathy that you want to express and t

1 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

2 awkward   

adj.笨拙的，尴尬的，使用不便的，难处理的

参考例句：

• John is so shy and awkward that everyone notices him.约翰如此害羞狼狈，以至于大家都注意到了他。
• I was the only man among the guests and felt rather awkward.作为客人中的唯一男性，我有些窘迫。

3 harsh   

adj.严厉（酷）的，刺耳的，刺目的，毛糙的

参考例句：

• The sunlight is very harsh.太阳光很刺眼。
• Although his words are harsh,there is positiveness in them.虽然他的话很苛刻，但有建设性。

4 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。

5 obviously   

adv.显然；明白地

参考例句：

• Obviously they were putting him to a severe test.显然他们是在给他以严峻的考验。
• Obviously he was lying.显然他是在撒谎。