流行美语 第 23 课

[流行美语]又和大家见面了。Michael 这个美国学生今天好象什么事都不太顺当。
他的中国同学李华也发现他好象有心事。到底是什么事呢？你听了Michael 和李
华的对话就知道了。他们在对话中会用到两个美国年轻人常用的说法，一个是to
bomb；另一个是to mess up。

L: Michael, 怎么啦？你好象有心事。
M: I think I just bombed my history test. I don't think I'm going to pass.
L: 噢，你怕刚才历史测验会不及格。嗨，没必要，这又不是大考。Michael，你
刚才说什么"bombed my history test"，bomb 不是炸弹，或 是爆炸吗？你可不要开
这样的玩笑，现在大家对安全问题都很敏感。
M: No, I said I bombed my test, that means¹ I did very poorly, and probably will get a
very low mark.
L: 考得不好，分数低，这我都听懂了，就是那个词bomb 用在这里 有点怪。我
想，这就是中文里说的考试考糊了。那除了考试外还 能用在哪里呢？
M: Well, sometimes we might say a movie or a play "bombed". That means that no one
wanted to see it, and it probably lost a lot of money.
L: 噢，还可以指电影，或话剧太次，没有人要看，卖座率太低。我上 星期去看
了一次电影，剧院里没几个人。后来我才看到报纸评论 说这部电影太糟了。我能
不能说："The movie I saw last week bombed"?
M: Sounds like it bombed to me. Remember the play we went to a few weeks ago? The
actors were terrible!
L: 对，你说几个星期前去看的那场话剧，有几个话剧演员简直是 太糟 了。That
play really bombed! 我说得对不对？
M: Absolutely! Hey listen, Li Hua, can we please change the subject? I don't want to
think about failure right now. What would you like to eat? It's my treat.
L: 你不要再谈这种丧气的事情，没问题！要请我吃饭，行，我 吃沙拉和三明治。
不过，Michael，你真是得省点钱，要是老是考 试不及格，研究院会把你开除的！
M: Please! Don't mention tests!
L: 跟你开玩笑嘛！
M: Ah, here's my hamburger. Ack! They messed up my order! There are onions on this
burger!
L: 你说什么呀？他们把你的汉堡包怎么啦？
M: I told them not to put onions on my burger, but they forgot. Therefore I said that
they "messed up my order". I can also just say "they messed up."
L: 噢，你叫他们不要放洋葱，他们忘了。所以，to mess up 就是做 错了事，对吗？
M: That's right. Also, "to mess up something" can mean to break or damage something.
L: 噢，to mess up something 还可以指把什么东西弄坏了。昨天，和 我同房间的
学生问我借自行车，等她还我的时候，自行车的链子 断了。我是不是可以说："She
messed up my bike"？
M: Sure! Hey, you'd better tell her to buy you a new chain.
L: 对啊，我是让她去买新链子，可是她说都是我不好让她差一点没 出严重的车
祸。
M: What? She broke your bicycle, and she's angry at you? That's just wrong!
L: 她就是那样的人，上回她把借来的电视机给弄坏了。
M: She messed up the TV she borrowed? You don't need a roommate like her.
L: 虽然她弄坏了我的自行车，其他方面她还是很好的。嗨，Michael，你能帮我
修自行车吗？
M: Well, I'm really out of luck today. I bombed my test, they messed up my burger, and
now I have to repair your bike!
L: 这也算什么倒霉呀！没几分钟你就修好了。我先谢谢你了！
M: Ok, ok!

今天李华学到两个常用语，一个是：to bomb，另一个是：to mess up。这次[流行
美语]就到此结束，我们下次节目再见。

1 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。