English Names
取個(gè)好聽得體的英文名

Dialogue 1

Jingjing: Say, Mark, this is the first time I've seen you bring your computer.
京晶：那個(gè)，馬克，我還是第一次見你帶電腦呢。
Mark: Yeah, I don't usually schlep it around with me. But today, I have to tally students' grades.
馬克：是，我不經(jīng)常隨身帶。但今天，我得給學(xué)生們?cè)u(píng)分。
Jingjing: Oh. Do you have the class lists all set?
京晶：學(xué)生名單都準(zhǔn)備好了嗎？
Mark: Yeah, pretty much. Some of the students use English names. But that's just in class.
馬克：嗯，差不多準(zhǔn)備好了。有些同學(xué)用的英文名，只在課堂上。
Jingjing: I've heard some funny English names. Do you think some of the names people choose are weird?
京晶：我聽說過一些特別好玩的英文名。你覺得有些人們挑選的名字特別奇怪嗎？
Mark: To say the least! Often, students choose words, not names.
馬克：至少可以這么說。常常，學(xué)生們挑選詞語，而不是名字。
Jingjing: You mean like Daisy, or Rose?
京晶：你的意思是，比如雛菊，玫瑰？
Mark: Well, those two are commonly used as names. So, I guess they're OK.
馬克：這兩個(gè)通常是用做名字的。所以我覺得還可以了。
Jingjing: Who's to say what is a name and what isn't?
京晶：那誰能說得清楚什么能取成名字什么不能呢？
Mark: Hmm, I'd like to keep my mind open to new names, but when I hear "names" like Pervert and Super Eggie, umm...
馬克：嗯，我是愿意對(duì)新名字保持開放心態(tài)的，但是當(dāng)我聽到諸如“墮落者”“超級(jí)雞蛋”是，就有點(diǎn)那啥………
Jingjing: Someone actually goes by Pervert?
京晶：還有人真叫“墮落者”？
Mark: Maybe not any more. And the other one, Super Eggie, must have been a translation from Jordan.
馬克：也許現(xiàn)在不這么叫了。另一個(gè)“超級(jí)雞蛋”，一定是來自喬丹的翻譯。
Jingjing: I guess it could have been, but that's kind of a stretch.
京晶：我猜可能是吧。這名兒有點(diǎn)牽強(qiáng)啊！
Mark: It was imaginative. Another odd one I heard was just a preposition: Before.
馬克：到是很有想象力。我還聽過一個(gè)奇怪的。就一介詞：前面的。
Jingjing: Ha ha. Was that a guy or a gal?
京晶：哈哈真逗，男孩女孩啊？
Mark: It was a guy. But to be fair, I knew a guy from Camaroon whose name since birth was Begin.
馬克：男孩啊。但是公平地說，我認(rèn)識(shí)一個(gè)來自喀麥隆的男孩自打出生起就叫做“開始”。
Jingjing: What a funny world! What if they found girlfriends with the names After and End?
京晶：這世界也真是有趣（醉了）！如果他們找的女朋友叫“后來”和“結(jié)束”呢？

New words: 習(xí)語短語

schlep 攜帶，搬運(yùn)
carry something, especially something heavy or uncomfortable
tally 計(jì)數(shù)
add up, calculate (i.e. use an Excel spreadsheet to list grades and add up final scores)
To say the least! 至少可以這么說，退一步講
(expressed in agreement) What you've said is true, and could be said in a stronger way.
Who's to say... 誰說的
(expressing disagreement) What you've said might not be true. It can't be proven.
goes by ___ 名叫……
is named ___, is called ___ His legal name is Robert, but he goes by Bob. (NOTE: for pronunciation of this verb phrase: GOES by, not to be confused with the phrasal verb for time passing, The days went BY quickly on my vacation.)
kind of a stretch 有點(diǎn)夸張
(expressing disagreement) That might not be true. It's unlikely. It might not be connected in the way you described.

Dialogue 2

Mark: Jingjing, why don't you use an English name?
馬克：京晶，你為什么不用一個(gè)英文名呢？
Jingjing: I haven't really found one that suits me.
京晶：我還沒找到一個(gè)適合我的。
Mark: That makes sense. I haven't used my Spanish name since Spanish class.
馬克：有道理。自從我的西班牙語課程后我都沒再用過我的西班牙語名。
Jingjing: What was it?
京晶：那是個(gè)什么名字？
Mark: Dionisio Suerte. Suerte means "luck", and Dionisio sounds like the name of the Greek god Dionysus.
馬克：Dionisio Suerte. Suerte是幸運(yùn)的意思，Dionisio聽著像希臘神（酒神）狄俄尼索斯的名字。
Jingjing: Oh, that's the god of the harvest.
京晶：哦，那是豐收之神。
Mark: Right. It's a pity most meanings of English names are unknown.
馬克：是的。可惜大多數(shù)英文名的意思是未知的。
Jingjing: Yeah, I know family names tend to be meaningful, like Smith, Miller, and Cooper; those names came from the jobs their ancestors did.
京晶：是的，我知道姓氏通常是有意思的，比如史密斯（鐵匠），米勒（磨坊主），庫珀（箍桶匠），這些名字來自于人們的祖先所從事的職業(yè)。
Mark: Right. But given names—well, a few of them have obvious meanings, like Crystal and Brandy.
馬克：對(duì)，但是名字部分—當(dāng)然，有一些還是有明顯的含義，比如水晶和白蘭地。
Jingjing: What about some of the more sophisticated names.
京晶：那么那些更加復(fù)雜一些的名字呢？
Mark: I always liked the name Sarafina.
馬克：我一直喜歡薩拉菲娜這個(gè)名字。
Jingjing: What does that mean?
京晶：是什么意思呢？
Mark: You got me. I just think it sounds elegant.
馬克：你問到我了。我只覺得它聽上去非常高雅。
Jingjing: Sophia is nice too. Doesn't it mean intelligence and sophistication?
京晶：索菲亞也很好啊。難道不是聰穎和老練的意思嗎？
Mark: It's associated with that. When choosing a name, watch out for slang meanings, and look up some of the famous people with the name.
馬克：也跟這樣的意思有關(guān)吧。挑選一個(gè)名字的時(shí)候，要小心留意有沒有俚語的含義，同時(shí)查一下取這個(gè)名字的一些名人。

New words: 習(xí)語短語

family name 姓氏
surname, last name
ancestors 祖先
members of ones family who lived a hundred years ago
given name 名
first name
obvious 明顯的
clear, easy to guess
sophisticated 復(fù)雜的，精致的，老于世故的
educated, having good taste
elegant 優(yōu)雅的，高雅的
graceful, luxurious
slang 俚語
very informal words, sometimes loaned from other languages (e.g. "schlep" is Yiddish) As for names, Mark means a person who is easily cheated and would be chosen by con artists, Joe means a typical guy.