Will的美语课

Do me a solid是什么意思? 由来是什么?

September 20, 2015September 19, 2015 by Will

Do me a solid是一个比较常见的口语，它的意思是：帮我个忙。等同于：do me a favor，help me out。参考UrbanDictionary提供的例句：I want to date this hot chick but she wants to bring her not-so-hot friend. Can you do me a solid and go out with her friend?（我想要和那个辣妹约会但是她想把不是那么热辣的朋友也捎上。你能帮我个忙，把她的朋友支开吗？）。

在美国NBC电视台经典喜剧Seinfeld（宋飞正传）”The Jacket“（1991）的剧集中，有这样一段对话：

KRAMER: Hey. Hey, would you do me a solid?

JERRY: Well, what kind of solid?

KRAMER: I need you to sit in the car for two minutes while it’s double-parked. I gotta pick up some birds.

克莱默：嘿，嘿，你能帮我个忙吗？

杰瑞：恩，什么样的忙啊？

克莱默：我的车临时挨着人家的车靠边停着，我需要你在车里待上2分钟。我得去取几只鸟。

在美国另一部动画片《Regular Show》中，有一集的名字就叫做《Do me a solid》（2011），Wikia对该集的剧情描述如下：Mordecai and Rigby decide to play a game of “Solids” (a game of which one must do a favor for the other). They do each other solids things like getting a glass of lemonade, changing the channel, fold a pair of socks, and drying their hands.（Mordecai和rigby决定玩一个名为”Solids”的游戏–这个游戏规定玩家必须互相帮忙。帮忙的内容包括：帮人拿一杯柠檬水，换台，叠袜子，擦干手等。）

在Mancards.com，有这样一条关于do me a solid的好玩句子：I wish the NSA would do me a solid and retrieve that one awesome tweet I deleted on accident that one time.（我多希望国家安全局能帮我个忙，恢复那条我之前无意中删掉的、特棒的那条推文啊。）

你可以把solid理解为favor。但是关于do me a solid说法的起源并未形成一致的观点。answers.com提出了一个有趣的解释，”it came from cannabis users who deal resin, aka solid. do me a solid refers to give me some drugs which evolved to mean do me a favor“ 意思是说：该短语源自吸食大麻者，他们也交易大麻脂(resin)，又名solid（因为resin是些小硬块）。do me a solid意指给我些毒品，最后演变成帮我个忙。听起来倒是合情合理。

Prefer用法总结(prefer to及prefer doing, etc)

September 19, 2015 by Will

Prefer是一个实用的高频词汇，正确、熟练地运用这个单词可以为你的美语口语增色不少。Prefer的意思是：更喜欢，更倾向于，英文解释为：to like better or value more highly。Prefer的发音有点特别，注意它的重音位于第二个音节fer。其音标是：/prɪ’fɜːr/（prefer美语发音）。Prefer的近义词包括：favor, would rather, opt for。下面对Prefer的常见用法进行总结/汇总：

1. Prefer A to B

与事物B相比，更喜欢事物A。例句：I prefer art to sports. （与运动相比，我更钟情于艺术。）再比如：Which one do you prefer: PlayStation 4 or Xbox One? （PS4和Xbox One，你更喜欢哪个？）在选项已知的情况下，也可以直接说prefer sth，如：”Coffee or tea?” “I’d prefer tea, thanks.”（喝咖啡还是茶？喝茶吧，谢谢。）

2. Prefer doing A to doing B

与做事件B相比，更倾向于做事件A。例句：She preferred cooking at home to eating in restaurants.（与进餐厅相比，她更倾向于在家做饭吃。）

3. Prefer doing something

更倾向于做某事。例句：I prefer taking public transportation when available.（条件允许的情况下，我更倾向于乘坐公共交通。）

4. Prefer to do something

更倾向于做某事，用上述用法3意思一致，只是形式不同（3用动名词，4用不定式）。例句：-“will you do it?” – “I’d prefer not to.” （- “你会做这件事吗？” -“还是不要了吧。”）

*Caution: 注意使用误区，人们往往容易把prefer和than搭配起来用，但这种用法是绝对错误的。Prefer只与介词to连用，不可以与than连用。

Escort Service是什么意思?

February 5, 2020September 19, 2015 by Will

在英文里，Escort Service的意思是：陪护服务，或陪伴服务。所谓的陪护，有两层含义，一层是指：正常的活动陪同，包括：陪同参与社交活动，或保护安全等；另外一层则是：（由女性提供的）色情服务（sexual services）。在美国，escort service的这两种含义都很常用，具体指哪种，需视语境而定。在两种情况下，提供陪同服务的人，都被称为escort(s)。

需要注意，escort具有动词、名词两种词性。它的发音有些特殊，作动词时，发音为：/ɪˈskɔːrt/（收听发音）。参考例句：The President arrived, escorted by twelve bodyguards（在12名保镖的护送下，总统已抵达。）作名词时，发音为：/ˈeskɔːrt/（收听发音），参考例句：I have no idea that Jake’s ex-girlfriend has been secretly working as escort（我完全不知道Jake的前女友一直偷偷从事色情陪护服务。）

当escort service指由女性提供的付费色情服务时，escort这个词可以翻译为：陪侍女郎，或陪玩女郎。有点类似于Call Girl。在美国，escort girl的档次要比普通的性工作者要高，她们通常打扮入时，拥有漂亮脸蛋，傲人身材。Escorts提供的服务包括：户内陪同（spend some time together in private ），包括在私密的环境下聊天、看电影；或是外出就餐（dinner date）、游玩（a night out on the town）等。而比较低层次的性工作者被称为：prostitutes，或者美语俚语里会说hooker，whore，street walker，因为她们可能往往在街边揽客（working on the streets），提供单纯的性服务。

一些escort girl选择独立提供服务，也有的则受雇于专门的escort agency（陪护公司）。在美国，顾客可以方便地查看到其他顾客写的陪伴服务点评（review），知名网站wikihow甚至写了一篇如何挑选escort的详细指南。

最近在美国比较吸引眼球的一件事情是，美国前奥林匹克短跑运动员Suzy Favor Hamilton转型做了一名拉斯维加斯的high-priced escort。在与丈夫达成一致的前提下，Hamilton体验了身为赌城escort的刺激生活，并获得不菲收入。之后Hamilton将从事escort service的经历写成了一本名为《Fast Girl: A Life Spent Running from Madness》的回忆录，并上了美国著名的访谈节目ABC 20/20，Dr. Phil。也算是得以从escort行业全身而退吧。

此外，美国2015年的一部浪漫爱情电影《The Escort》比较真实地描述了当今美国社会escorts们的生活状态，目前在IMDB的评分为6.0，大家有兴趣不妨看看。

参考链接：

http://www.jingyanpal.com/what-is-topescortbabes-a-quick-intro/

爱心树(The Giving Tree)英文版

April 14, 2019September 18, 2015 by Will

你将要读到的，也许是世上最打动人心的文学作品之一。尽管在书店，《爱心树》这本并不太厚的读本常被归入童书目录，但它更像是一则写给成人的寓言。对于那些已为人父母的读者，书中的文字尤为扣动心弦。

书中写的是一棵爱心树和一个孩子的一生，这何尝又不是我们每个人的人生写照？曾经，我们也像书中的孩子般可爱、天真，随着年岁渐长，我们又是否正如书中的那个成年人，逐渐变得冷漠无情，索取无度？爱心树只是一直在那里，心甘情愿地满足我们的各种索求。我们忙着追逐着自己的幸福与梦想，直到我们发现 … 自己老了。而那颗默默陪伴我们成长的爱心树，只剩下一个可供我们休憩的树桩。

中文我就不提供了，傅惟慈先生翻译的《爱心树》中文版堪称是英文版的最佳译本。如果你喜欢本文提供的英文版，喜欢Shel Silverstein的文字给你带来的简单感动、泪水或是思考。建议你购买并收藏中文版或The Giving Tree英文原版，它值得你和孩子、家人在夜里一起细细品读。

The Giving Tree

by Shel Silverstein

Once there was a tree….
and she loved a little boy.
And everyday the boy would come
and he would gather her leaves
and make them into crowns
and play king of the forest.
He would climb up her trunk
and swing from her branches
and eat apples.
And they would play hide-and-go-seek.
And when he was tired,
he would sleep in her shade.
And the boy loved the tree….
very much.
And the tree was happy.

But time went by.
And the boy grew older.
And the tree was often alone.
Then one day the boy came to the tree
and the tree said, “Come, Boy, come and
climb up my trunk and swing from my
branches and eat apples and play in my
shade and be happy.”
“I am too big to climb and play” said
the boy.
“I want to buy things and have fun.
I want some money?”
“I’m sorry,” said the tree, “but I
have no money.
I have only leaves and apples.
Take my apples, Boy, and sell them in
the city. Then you will have money and
you will be happy.”
And so the boy climbed up the
tree and gathered her apples
and carried them away.
And the tree was happy.
But the boy stayed away for a long time….
and the tree was sad.

And then one day the boy came back
and the tree shook with joy
and she said, “Come, Boy, climb up my trunk
and swing from my branches and be happy.”
“I am too busy to climb trees,” said the boy.
“I want a house to keep me warm,” he said.
“I want a wife and I want children,
and so I need a house.
Can you give me a house ?”
” I have no house,” said the tree.
“The forest is my house,
but you may cut off
my branches and build a
house. Then you will be happy.”

And so the boy cut off her branches
and carried them away
to build his house.
And the tree was happy.
But the boy stayed away for a long time.
And when he came back,
the tree was so happy
she could hardly speak.
“Come, Boy,” she whispered,
“come and play.”
“I am too old and sad to play,”
said the boy.
“I want a boat that will
take me far away from here.
Can you give me a boat?”
“Cut down my trunk
and make a boat,” said the tree.
“Then you can sail away…
and be happy.”
And so the boy cut down her trunk
and made a boat and sailed away.
And the tree was happy
… but not really.

…

本文只引用了部分原文，若希望阅读全文及精彩英文评论，还请读者移步allpoetry.com。

（注：英文内容引自：allpoetry.com，原文版权归作者Shel Silverstein所有）

Console的美式发音是什么?怎么读?

September 18, 2015 by Will

Console是个有点特别的词，它具有两种不同的词性，而不同的词性具有完全不同的发音。我们可能经常见到console的动词（verb）形式，其意思是：安慰（to try to make someone feel better when they are unhappy or disappointed）。做动词时，console的发音是：/kənˈsoʊl/（收听发音）。

然而，在美国日常生活中，尤其是对青少年人群而言，console的另一个含义更受欢迎，那就是：主机（a piece of electronic equipment that plays digital games. You connect it to a screen and game controllers.）。在这里，console作为名词（noun），备受游戏迷喜爱的game console，即表示游戏主机。作为名词时，console的读音是：/ˈkɑnˌsoʊl/（收听发音）。

与中国年轻人群钟爱PC网游不同，美国年轻人相当青睐视频游戏（video gaming），而这类游戏必不可少的核心就是game console。美国目前最受欢迎的游戏主机包括：Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360等，都支持互联网对战平台。需要注意的是，由于单词council和console的读音、拼写有些接近，不要将二者混淆哦，council的意思是：委员会，如：city council（市政委员会），council的音标为：/ˈkaunsəʊl/（收听发音）。