流行美语 (Popular American) 312

李华和Larry星期六早上一起去吃午饭。今天我们要学两个常用语：get a leg up on和crush¹.

LH: Larry, 一星期没见，你最近是不是特别忙？

LL: Hi Li Hua. It has been a busy week.

LH: 下星期是不是就没事了？你陪我去看Disney On Ice冰上迪斯尼怎么样？

LL: Unfortunately I think next week might be even busier. We are bidding against our top competitor for a huge advertising² contract, so everybody is going to have to work especially hard to win it.

LH: 那家公司不是特别厉害吗？不过没关系，我相信，你们公司一定能赢。

LL: Yes, although they have a lot of talent, I think we'll be able to get a leg up on the competition.

LH: A leg up一条腿在上？这是什么意思？

LL: Haha...A leg up on the competition means that we have an advantage over them.

LH: 噢，a leg up就是具有优势。

LL: Yes exactly. Because we have got a leg up on our competitors, I'm pretty confident that we'll be able to win the contract.

LH: 这份合同是做什么的？

LL: It's a contract to advertise soda³.

LH: 你为什么觉得自己have a leg up on the competition比对手有优势呢？

LL: Although the other company has worked with them in the past, their last ad campaign was not so successful. We on the other hand have been very successful with similar products, so I think we have got a leg up on them.

LH: 那太好了。

LL: It is VERY good, especially because if we win this contract, we might all be able to get a bonus this year.

LH: 拿到合同就发奖金？那你们还不得使出吃奶的劲儿来。

LL: What's new with you Li Hua?

LH: 好消息，我们排球队刚刚杀进小组前四名，下一场比赛是这星期五晚上。你一定要来。虽然对手很厉害，可我们还是有优势。We have a leg up on them.

LL: Why do you say that Li Hua?

LH: 虽然他们球员的个人技术都不错，但整体配合不如我们有默契。

LH: That's great. What time is the game?

LL: 星期五晚上七点一刻。

******

星期五晚上，Larry来看李华比赛。

(Whistle Sound)

LL: Congratulations!

LH: Hooray! We won!

LL: Won? You crushed⁴ them!

LH: Eh? crushed them? 那是什么意思？

LL: Crushed them, it means you beat them severely⁵.

LH: 你是说我们狠狠地打败了他们。太夸张了，比分还是挺接近的。

LL: I don't know, Li Hua, your team was clearly on top. I'd say you crushed them.

LH: 你别忘了，刚开始的时候，她们可是一路领先，I thought they would really crush us.

LL: Well it certainly seems like you were able to come back from behind then for the victory.

LH: 是啊，她们耐力不够，比赛一开始劲头十足，可没多久主力队员就累得不行了。

LL: I guess that is when you were really able to start crushing⁶ them.

LH: 是啊，我们今天超水平发挥。

LL: It was a really good game to watch. You were on fire out there.

LH: 我的表现只能说一般，还是大家的功劳。对了，你最近忙吗？

LL: Have I ever! You remember that account I told you about? The ad campaign that we were competing for?

LH: 当然记得，结果怎么样，合同拿到手了吗？

LL: We got the contract! We crushed our competitors and now we'll be in charge of this huge new account.

LH: 太棒了，I'm glad to hear that you crushed them.

LL: We were able to show our past successes, and our rates were much lower than their old company. We really crushed them.

LH: 这个合同由谁来负责呢？

LL: Well the boss is still trying to decide who to put in charge of the project, but I am hoping it will be me.

LH: 那你是不是会忙上加忙呢？

LL: It will mean a bit more responsibility, but no real change in the hours.

LH: 我们得好好庆祝一下。去吃饭？

LL: Sounds good to me!

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是get a leg up on, 意思是占据优势。另一个是crush, 意思是彻底打败。
 

1 crush   

v.压垮，压倒，压服，镇压；压碎，碾碎

参考例句：

• This machine is made to crush the rock into powder.这台机器是用来把石头压成碎末的。
• You can't crush so many people into the classroom.不能让这么多人挤进教室。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

4 crushed   

a.压碎的，倒碎的

参考例句：

• The car was completely crushed under the truck. 小轿车被卡车压得完全变形了。
• The box was crushed when the car ran over it. 汽车辗过箱子时把它给压碎了。

5 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

6 crushing   

adj. 打破得支离破碎的, 使不能在站起来, 压倒的 v. 动词crush的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• a crushing defeat in the election 在选举中的惨败
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity. 偷袭珍珠港（对美军来说）是一场毁灭性的灾难。