VOA流行美語 Unit 36: CHIP IN / SNAIL MAIL

Michael和李華好幾天沒見了，今天剛好在校園里碰到，兩個人就聊起來了。李華會學到兩個常用語：to chip in和snail mail。

L: 嗨，Michael，Bob明天開生日party， 你去嗎？

M: Yes, I'm going with a few friends. We decided to chip in and buy him a leather jacket. He's been talking about buying a jacket for a long time.

L: 你要和幾個朋友一起去參加 party，還要給他買一件皮夾克。可是皮夾克很貴，你們是不是準備大家湊錢給他買？你剛才說chip in是不是就是這個意思呀？

M: That's right. To chip in, means to each contribute money to buy something.

L: 那就是我們中國人說的湊錢買東西。

M: Usually you say "chip in" if each person in a group of people gives some money to buy someone a present.

L: 要是每個人都出一些錢給誰買個禮物，人們一般就會說to chip in。

M: To give you another example, my mother said her colleagues always chip in to buy gifts to celebrate someone's birthday or when someone has a new baby.

L: 你媽媽的同事往往會湊錢買禮物給過生日的同事，或者給剛生孩子的同事。這跟上面你說的幾個朋友湊錢給Bob買皮夾克差不多。To chip in還可以用在其它什么場合嗎？

M: You can also use "to chip in" if you are going out with a group of people for dinner or a drink.

L: 噢，幾個朋友一起出去吃飯，喝酒，每個人出一些錢來付帳也可以說是chip in。

M: Yes, the guys and I usually each chip in a few dollars when we go out for pizza on Friday nights。Last week, I paid 10 dollars, Bob chipped in $4, John gave !. There is one guy who never chips in. He's cheap. It really makes me mad.

L: 等等，上星期五你們幾個人出去吃比薩餅，你付了十美元，Bob出了四美元，John出了兩美元。還有一個小氣鬼，從來不出錢。他真好意思！Why don't you ditch him, 甩了他不得了！

M: Oh, we've been friends for many years, and it's only a few bucks!

L: 喲，既然朋友多年，也就幾塊錢的事，你不愿意甩了他，那你就別生氣啊！Michael, 你手里拿的是什么？好象是信吧！現在還有人寫信呀？

M: I got two letters today from a couple of old friends! I hardly ever get snail mail anymore.

L: 你收到兩個老朋友給你的來信。你說什么？Snail mail, snail不就是蝸牛嗎？mail 就是信。 信和蝸牛又有什么關系呀？

M: "Snail" is an animal known for its slow movement. "Snail mail" means real letters that you get in your mailbox.

L: 噢，我知道了。蝸牛走的很慢，所以snail mail就是指通過郵局寄的信。以前怎么沒有聽說snail mail這個說法呢？

M: Well, ever since e-mail became popular, people have used "snail mail" to talk about paper mail, because it is slower than e-mail.

L: 對，郵局寄的信和電子郵件相比真是要慢多了。叫它"蝸牛信"倒也挺形象的。

M: Yes, everyone is so busy nowadays, no one seems to have time to write snail mail anymore.

L: 你說得一點不錯。大家都很忙，沒有多少人還會坐在那兒寫信。郵局里送來的郵件不是賬單，就是廣告。這些也能叫做snail mail 嗎？

M: No, only a letter written to you by a friend or family member can really be called "snail mail".

L: 噢，人們只有把親友寫的信叫做snail mail。說起寫信，我真是應該給我爸爸媽媽寫信了。

M: I'm just too lazy to write snail mail. I think I'll go write some e-mails.

L: 你的親友都在美國，都有電腦。我的父母在中國，他們還沒有電腦，所以，I have to write snail mails to them。我得走了，下回再聊吧！

M: Okay, bye!

李華今天學到兩個常用語，一個是：to chip in， 意思是湊錢買什么東西，或者是湊錢付大家一起吃飯的錢。另一個是：snail mai，這是指通過郵局寄的信。今天的[流行美語]就學習到這里，我們下次節目再會。