美国之音《流行美语》 362

　　Larry在学校书店，陪李华买新学期要用的书。他们会用到两个常用语： bite your tongue和stoop¹ down to someone's level。
LH: 啊呀，怎么这么多人都选今天来买书!
Larry: Well, classes do start on Monday. Everyone is getting ready for school to start.
LH: Larry，刚才我结帐的时候，你听见那个收款员嘲笑我了么？他看我买这本书，说什么：“呦，你还上这门课哪？有什么用啊这种课!”他怎么能这样呢？! 气得我够呛!
Larry: Yea, I almost said something to him, but I just wanted to get out of there. Sometimes it's just better to bite your tongue and walk away.
LH: Bite your tongue? Larry你咬舌头啦？ 疼不疼啊？
Larry: No, Lihua. My tongue is fine. Biting your tongue is a phrase² that means³ you force yourself to keep quiet - Like you have to bite your tongue to keep it from talking.
LH: 哦，to bite your tongue意思就是忍着不说话。你是说，你本想说那店员两句，可不想引起争执，所以就忍着没作声。
Larry: That's right, Lihua, and saying something mean back to that rude cashier⁴ just wouldn't be worth it. Better to bite my tongue and walk away.
LH: 这倒是。我真希望刚才那个收银员也知道什么时候闭嘴，bite his tongue，不要对客人说这么没礼貌的话。
Larry: He was probably just having a bad day. When someone gets frustrated⁵, it's easier for them to forget to bite their tongue when they should...Like last Friday when my boss asked me to work late...
LH: 啊？老板让你加班，你说什么啦？
Larry: Well I wanted to tell him to get lost, but, of course, I bit my tongue instead.
LH: 幸好你忍住了！对老板大发脾气可不是明智之举！
Larry: That sure would be a mistake. Another example of a good time to bite your tongue is when your teacher makes you angry in class.
LH: 没错！有时候我也想顶老师几句，可想想得罪老师的后果，我呀，还是bite my tongue，装哑巴算了!
Larry: That's definitely⁶ the smart thing to do. You wouldn't want your teacher to be angry at you!
******
LH: 每个人在生活中都应该“三思而后言”，不能想到什么说什么。一想起刚才那个没礼貌的店员，我就来气！
Larry: It's alright, Lihua - there's nothing we can do about it now anyway. We would only be stooping⁷ down to his level if we returned the insult⁸.
LH: "Stooping down to his level"“弯腰到他的水平”？这是什么意思？
Larry: To stoop down to his level would mean to be rude to him just like he was rude to us. Just because he is rude does not mean that we have to act the same way.
LH: 我明白了。stoop down to someone's level意思就是“跟某人一般见识”。如果别人对你没礼貌，而你也用粗鲁的语言去回敬他，那你就是把自己降低到和他一样的档次了。
Larry: Right. For example, if someone speeds past you while you're driving, it's better to let them go instead of trying to catch up and race them.
LH: 对，别人不守交通规则，咱不能跟他们一般见识，和他们一块儿违章开车。
Larry: Exactly. If they want to be unsafe, let them be unsafe by themselves.
LH: 对了，Larry, 刚才咱们排队的时候，后面一群女生在议论你的新鞋。
Larry: My shoes? What did they say??
LH: 呃....她们在嘲笑你的鞋子老土...不过没关系，我忍了，什么都没说，我不能跟她们一般见识，叽叽喳喳说人坏话，你说对吧？
Larry: My shoes? Out of style? That's so rude. I'm glad you didn't stoop down to their level. If I had heard them, I might not have been able to control myself. Why, I would......
LH: Larry! 你怎么啦？!咱们刚才不是才说么，不要想到什么就说什么!
Larry: You're right. I wouldn't want to stoop down to their level.
LH: 要不，咱们还是给你买双新鞋吧！
Larry: New shoes? What, you don't like these either?
LH: Um, I....
Larry: Yes?
LH: 我想我还是bite my tongue吧!
Larry: It doesn't work if I already know what you are going to say! (Sigh) OK. There's a shoe store. Let's hope the cashier there is having a better day.
今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是bite your tongue，表示“忍着不说话”。另一个是stoop down to one's level, 意思是“跟某人一般见识”。

1 stoop   

n.佝偻，屈服；v.弯下，弯下上身，屈服

参考例句：

• It pains me to stoop down.痛得我蹲下来。
• He has to stoop to get through the tunnel.他得弯下腰走过地道。

2 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。

3 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

4 cashier   

n.出纳员，收银员

参考例句：

• The young cashier gave a patient sigh.年轻的出纳员忍耐地叹了一口气。
• One brother is a cashier and the other sells.两个兄弟一位当出纳，另一位当店员。

5 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

7 stooping   

adj.（尤指肩和背部）弯曲的v.弯腰( stoop的现在分词 )；屈身；俯首；屈尊

参考例句：

• Stooping, he stared at him in breathless and frozen ferocity. 他弯下身躯，盯着他，满脸凶相，令人失魂落魄，毛骨悚然。 来自辞典例句
• The rest were all somewhat stooping, as though watching the manoeuvres of this last. 其余几个微微俯身向前，像是在看他做什么。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

8 insult   

vt.侮辱，凌辱；n.侮辱的言词或行为

参考例句：

• You will insult her if you don't go to her party. 你要是不去参加她举办的聚会，就对她太无礼了。
• I can't sit down with that insult.我不能忍受那种侮辱。