地道口语：英文“蛮横无理”法则

屈联西

2011年08月08日  中国日报网-英语点津

　　李华和Larry要去朋友家聚餐，俩人正在包饺子。他们会用到两个常用语：keep your shirt on和to walk all over someone。
　　LH: Larry！你那个饺子里放的馅儿太多了！肯定得破！
　　Larry: Sorry, Lihua, I'm trying my best here. Look, I've already made half a dozen dumplings - see?
　　LH: 啊？都快半个小时了，你才包了六个饺子？
　　Larry: Keep your shirt on! You know I've never made Chinese dumplings before, Lihua。
　　LH: Larry, 你在说什么啊？keep my shirt on？我又没脱衣服！
　　Larry: (Sigh) OK, let's both relax. What I mean is, try to be more patient. "Keep your shirt on" means "be patient."
　　LH: "Keep your shirt on"是“耐心点儿”的意思？那好吧，I will try to keep my shirt on。
　　Larry: And I'll try to work more quickly. (Pause) Here - is this how to close the dumpling?
　　LH: 天啊， Larry, 你这个饺子包得太难看了！在包饺子的时候，You need to keep your shirt on, too - 你也得有点耐心，慢慢包！
　　Larry: Why don't you help me? The work will go twice as fast - and you can show me how to properly make a Chinese dumpling。
　　LH: 好吧，听我说。包饺子最怕饺子皮按不紧，我有个笨办法，就是在皮的四周抹上一圈水，然后再按紧。你看，这样，饺子就不会“张嘴”啦！
　　Larry: Hey, not so fast! How did you do that so quickly? Why can't I make dumplings like that?
　　LH: 熟能生巧啊，慢慢练习，keep your shirt on! 不过，今天没时间让你慢慢练了，咱们得快点包，聚餐快开始了！哎？刚才让你烧开水，水开了没有？
　　Larry: Keep your shirt on, Lihua! It should be boiling in a minute。
　　(手机铃声响)
　　LH: 啊呀，来电话催了！(接起电话)喂？... 啊，对不起，还没有做好，就快好了！我知道！好好，对不起了啊，恩，好拜拜。(挂电话)唉！我朋友着急了！
　　Larry: Geez, she seems really rude! You shouldn't let her walk all over you like that。
　　LH: Walk... over me? 什么意思？
　　Larry: I mean you need to stand up for yourself. To let someone walk all over you means that you are allowing someone to be very rude to you。
　　LH: 哦，to walk all over someone就是对某人蛮横无理。
　　Larry: That's right, and you shouldn't let your friend walk all over you like that。
　　LH: 你说得对。不过，这个女生是我师姐，我应该尊重她。她说两句就说两句吧！
　　Larry: Respecting her and letting her walk all over you are two different things. For example, I definitely need to respect my boss when he tells me I did something wrong. However, if he made me stay late every night at work, that's walking all over me, and I don't have to accept that。
　　LH: 对，要是老板天天让你加班，就没有道理了，明显是在欺负人，你没必要照做。
　　Larry: Exactly. Respect between two people should be mutual - regardless of how old they are。
　　LH: 你说得对！哎？水开了没有，咱们快点把饺子做好吧！
　　Larry: Let's take our time. I don't want to hurry just to make your rude friend happy。
　　LH: 她要是再打电话来催我，我一定会让她keep her shirt on - 耐心点！不过咱们也得加快速度，再包它二十个！
　　Larry: Keep your shirt on, Lihua! I'll go as fast as I can!
　　LH: Larry, 包完饺子你还得赶快去趟中国超市！
　　Larry: The store? For what?
　　LH: 买腊八蒜啊！吃饺子哪能没有腊八蒜！另外，你最好再额外买点小菜，点心什么的……
　　Larry: I'm beginning to think you are walking all over me, too!