第二部分:从汉语到英语 打碎玻璃天花板

Breaking through the Glass Ceilings

打碎玻璃天花板

我的朋友C总是对我说,他觉得英语里最难的学的是那些短语(phrase)、成语(idiom)和俚语(slang)。他学英语已经很久了,这些年单词记了一大堆,就连托福(TOEFL)词汇,GRE词汇手册几乎都背过了,可是读书读报时遇到一些成语,却还是常常被绊住。C说,他在与人交谈时就尽量不用成语,而是找一种别的方式代替成语的意思。用他的话说,就是绕一个弯,用一个解释成语的长句子代替最简练的成语。我对他说,我也常常遇到这样的情况。

英语的短语、成语和俚语数量实在太大了,一个动词就可以引出十几个、甚至几十个短语和成语,比如,do, get, go, make, put, take这样的动词,都可以引出几十个词组(成语),还有大量的名词、介词、副词,都可以和别的词一起组成成语,比如:名词ground就能组成下面这么多词组:

break ground 破土动工(修建)

break new (fresh) ground 创新

common ground 共同的基础、看法、兴趣、利害等

cover (the ) ground (交谈)涉及了……方面

cut the ground from under 使失败,破坏其计划

fall (be dashed) to the ground (计划)失败,(希望)被粉碎

gain ground 取得进展,情况好转,(谣言)有了市场

get off the ground 取得初步进展或成功

have (keep) one’s feet on the ground 脚踏实地,实实在在地

lose ground 后退,失利,情况恶化,力量变弱,失去支持者

stand (hold) one’s ground 不肯后退,坚持不认错

suit one down to the ground 正合某人需要

这样看来,要记住大量的成语,确实是很困难的。不仅如此,由于成语是人们在长期的使用中“习惯成自然”而形成的,其中就渗透着历史和文化的内涵,在特定的环境中才有意义。所以,我从不敢盲目地使用成语,更不敢望文生义,总是担心用不好就会闹出笑话。比如,下面这段对话里,就用了好几个成语:

A: I’m furious with John! He’s always late.

(我对约翰真是烦透了!他总是迟到。)

B: Always? Why don’t you talk it over with him? Encourage him to be on time.

(总是迟到?你为什么不跟他好好谈一谈?鼓励他遵守时间。)

A: Look! I’ve talked till I’m blue in the face. It’s out of the question.

(瞧!我已经说得嘴皮都磨破了,可是不管用。)

B: There must be something you can do.

(你一定能做点什么的。)

A: I doubt it. Last night we went to a concert. Do you know what time we got there? Just in time to go out for the intermission!

(我不信。昨天晚上我们去听音乐会。你知道我们是什么时候才到的吗?我们正赶上幕间休息!)

B: I guess you’re just wasting your breath then. Time means nothing to John.

(我想你是白费劲儿了。时间对约翰来说是无所谓的。)

在这段对话里,黑体字标出的都是成语。其中:

talk something over指的是discuss,比如:

Tom talked his plan over with his father before he bought the car.

(在买车之前,汤姆认真地同父亲谈了他的计划。)

on time指的是not before or late of the time arranged,比如说:

The train left on time.

(列车正点开走了。)

till one is blue in the face不是说某个人的脸发紫了,而是说,until one can say no more in trying to convincing someone of something,比如:

Jane argued with Bill until she was blue in the face.

(简和比尔争了起来,直到她气急败坏,无话可说。)

in time to指的是be at a place at the right time to do something; soon enough,比如:

We got to Washington in time for the cherry blossoms.

(我们赶到华盛顿的时候,正值樱桃开花。)

out of the question指的是impossible; beyond consideration; unthinkable,比如说:

Your suggestion that we go swimming is out of the question; it’s much too cold today.

(你建议我们今天去游泳,这是不可能的,天太冷了。)

waste one’s breath 指的是 speak uselessly, to no purpose:

If you tell Jack not to go, you’ll just be wasting your breath; he’ll go anyway.

(如果你告诉杰克不要去,那完全是白费口舌,他无论如何都要去的。)

我想,要记住并且能熟练地应用成语,关键在于勤学苦练,加强记忆。最主要的还是在于积累,通过大量的阅读和其他形式的学习,比如进行读和写的训练,把英语成语逐渐地变成自己的成语。要做到这点,就要在学习中把遇到的每一个成语的意思弄明白,只有理解了,才能记得牢。下面的一些成语并不难,我很喜欢,在给朋友写信或者打电话时,顺便说几句也很有意思,比如:

I know the answer, but I cant put my finger on it.

(我知道答案,可我说不确切了。)

I dont believe Sallys pregnant. Its just coffee talk, just gossip.

(我不相信萨莉怀孕了,那只不过是瞎扯。)

I’m a little ahead of time, I know, but it would be better to wait here rather than miss the train.

(我想我来得稍早了一点,不过,就是在这儿等,也比赶不上火车好。)

Kathy never has time to be bored. She’s as busy as a bee from morning to night.

(凯西从没有时间烦恼。她从早到晚像蜜蜂一样忙个不停。)

I like to live here because people here call a spade a spade, and they have a sense of humor.

(我喜欢住在这儿,因为这儿的人有什么说什么,他们也有幽默感。)

Carol James had done her homework before the tour started, and she knew where to go.

(卡罗尔?詹姆斯在旅行开始前就已经作了充分的准备,她知道要去哪儿。)

A silver-tongued salesman sold me this car, but I cant drive!

(一个能说会道的推销员卖给我这辆车,可我不会开车!)

You’d better get your things together. There’s no time to lose.

(你最好把东西收拾一下,没有多少时间了。)

The movie stars always wanted to be in the spotlight.

(电影明星总想成为人们瞩目的中心。)

He sailed through his examinations and graduated at the top of his class.

(他一帆风顺地通过了考试,以全班第一名的成绩毕业。)

He talked my ear off all afternoon but didn’t really say a thing.

(他整整一下午把我的耳朵都说出茧子来了,可实际上一句有用的话也没说。)

He doesn’t know what he’s talking about—why, he’s all wet about the issue.

(他不知道自己到底在说些什么,因为他把事情全搞错了。)

我觉得,比短语和成语更难掌握的是俚语(slang)和俗语(colloquial expression)。我从不以为俚语和俗语是老百姓的话,不登大雅之堂。其实,在正式的场合,人们说话的时候都挺胸直背,字斟句酌,而在日常生活中,俚语和俗语却是经常使用的。俚俗语言源于人们的日常生活,听起来亲切自然,真实有趣,在日常交谈中要是能恰如其分地使用俚语,说不定还会拉近人与人之间的距离,使交流变得更融洽和生动。

当然,俚语比起成语来或许更难理解,比如,有一次我收到美国芝加哥一个女性残疾人康复中心寄来的杂志Resourceful Women,在一篇论述残疾妇女就业权利的文章里,就有这样一段话。

When you encounter such an unfair treatments and you think your rights are harmed, and then circle your wagons.

我怎么也想不明白这句话的意思,“circle your wagons”?为什么要把车子圈起来呢?我查阅了能找到的所有成语词典,却还是没明白为什么要把车子圈起来。我只好给我的美国朋友Judi Rogers发e-mail,请她告诉我什么是circle your wagons. Judi几乎立刻就回复了我的信,她很详细地作了解释。原来,这是美国西部开发时期的一个用语。那时候,人们纷纷涌向西部去开发,向西行进的车队浩浩荡荡,但是行进中的车队却常常遭遇强盗的袭扰和抢劫,遇到这种情况,车队的人们就把车子围成一个圈,构成一个临时工事,从里向外射击。

So “circle your wagons ” means to prepare a defense and counter-attack.

所以,上面这句话的意思是:当你遇到这种不公平的对待,你认为你的权利受到损害时,就要准备反击。

还有,在一篇论述妇女职务升迁的文章里,有这样一句话,我也曾觉得很难理解。

Now, professional women do not always look at the glass ceilings. They try to break through it.

(现在,职业妇女不再总是盯着玻璃天花板,她们试图击碎它。)

玻璃天花板是什么?真的有用玻璃制成的天花板吗?如果有,它对妇女在职业领域里的升迁意味着什么呢?

后来,也是Judi Rogers告诉我,glass ceilings具有象征的意义。美国社会表面上宣扬男女平等,但是实际上,对女性的种种歧视和不平等却无处不在。职业妇女在工作中很难得到职务提升的机会,虽然她们才华横溢,能力很强,但她们与高级职务之间就像隔着玻璃天花板一样,可望而不可及。尽管近年来美国有一些杰出女性进入了社会的高层,在大公司的CEO中,声誉卓著的女性不乏其人,甚至还有个别的进入了政府的权力机构,但从总体上说,对女性的歧视和不平等仍然存在。最近的一期Resourceful Women上,有文章指出,针对妇女的家庭暴力(domestic violence)在增加,长期以来对残疾女性的性歧视和性压迫(sexual oppression)并没有消除,很多残疾女性开展了争取生育权利(reproductive rights)的斗争。看来,glass ceilings在美国还会继续存在下去。

glass ceilings不仅存在于社会和职业领域,在英语学习中不是同样存在吗?我们总是想学好英语,学了很多教材,背单词,记语法,听磁带,写作文,考等级,可结果却还是和自己的期望有很大差距,我们与美丽的梦想之间好像总是隔着一层玻璃天花板,什么时候才能breaking through the glass ceilings,让我们的英语得心应手呢?

成语和俚语固然能使交流变得生动活泼,可是,如果学得不精,或者不求甚解,甚至望文生义,也许就会引起误解。记得有一次,我和德国莱比锡大学的朋友恩斯特?弗里德里希在网上聊天,我们谈到了“the meaning of life”这个话题,我们谈论了一个晚上:

…………

Haidi: As to the meaning of life, I agree with Rousseau, Gandhi and Einstein, i.e., the meaning of life is to love, help and serve other people. I believe this will be agreed to by most of the people.

(海迪:讲到生命的意义,我同意卢梭、甘地和爱因斯坦的看法,也就是说,生命的意义是爱他人,帮助他人,为他人服务。我相信大多数人也会同意这一看法。)

Ernst: Except me. I consider that Freud, Kafka and Sartre were right. They claimed that the human life is meaningless, because life and death are all natural processes, and Freud even advocated that life and death were all instincts of human beings.

(恩斯特:我不在其中。我认为弗洛伊德、卡夫卡和萨特是对的。他们声称,人的生命是没有意义的,因为生和死是自然的过程,弗洛伊德甚至鼓吹生和死都是人的本能。)

Haidi: As advanced and well evolved creatures, human beings are not merely natural, they are also (and more important) rational. They have their views of the world, of the universe, and on this basis, they build their own ideals.

(海迪:作为高等的、充分进化的生物,人类不仅仅是自然的,同时也是(而且更重要的是)理性的生物。他们有自己的世界观、宇宙观,并在此基础上建立了自己的理想。)

Ernst: The ideals of human beings are all mixed up, and have never been realized. From the primitive society to the contemporary world, all their ideals, no matter how beautiful and persuasive they had been, perished in the merciless wars. So, talking about the meaning of life is nonsense.

(恩斯特:人类的理想都是混杂的,并且从来也没有实现过。从原始社会到当代世界,他们的所有理想,不论多么美妙和诱人,都在残酷的战争中消失了。所以,谈论生命的意义是愚蠢的。)

Haidi: What you’ve said is perhaps of some sense, but since the new century has begun, it turns over a new leaf for human society.

(海迪:你所说的也许有某些道理,但是自从新世纪开始以来,人类社会已经翻开了新的一页。)

Ernst: Not any sense of new, I’m afraid. I would rather be in the old times, because all things are more familiar and customized.

(恩斯特:恐怕没有什么新意可言。我宁愿呆在旧时代里,因为旧时代的一切都是熟悉的,也更习惯。)

Haid: Oh, sorry. I have a phone call. Let us stop here, but I’ll stick to my guns.

(海迪:哦,对不起,来电话了。我们就聊到这儿吧,但是我将会stick to my guns.)

Ernst: What? You’ll stick your guns at me? Fortunately I’m online, otherwise…

(恩斯特:什么?你要把你的枪对着我!幸亏我是在网上,不然……)

Haidi: Ha…ha…ha! I know you’ve misunderstood me. “I’ll stick to my guns” means I’ll hold on to my views.

(海迪:哈哈哈!我知道你会误解我的话。“I’ll stick to my guns”,意思是说,我将坚持我的观点。)

Ernst: Ah…Well, I’ll stick to my guns too…

(恩斯特:啊——好吧,那我也stick to my guns!)

那一会儿我曾想,真正学好用好英语的成语、俚语等习惯用法其实不容易,与人交流是生活中必不可少的,要做到与英语国家的人,或是使用英语的人之间的真正理解,准确地掌握和使用语言是最重要的。而短语、成语和俚语就像英语这道大餐中味美可口的佐料,用的时候千万要放得适当啊!