VOA流行美語 Unit 56: MESS WITH / GIVE SB. A BREAK

大家現在肯定都已經很熟悉Michael和李華這兩個在紐約上大學的學生了。Michael是正在學中文的美國學生，李華是從中國來的留學生。今天他們上完課以后一起去打保齡球。李華會學到兩個常用語：to mess with somebody和give me a break.

L: 哎，得，現在我們的分數平了。Michael，你輸了可不要哭喲！

M: Oh, oh...Come on! Miss it, miss, miss!

L: Michael，你好賴皮，你這樣叫我"別打中，別打中"，是分散我注意力嘛，你要我怎么打啊！

M: Hehe, calm down, Li Hua. Don't take the game so seriously. I'm just messing with you.

L: 你說你跟我做什么？

M: I said I'm messing with you. To mess with someone means to bother the person, or disturb him, or to play a joke on him.

L: 噢，to mess with someone就是說去打擾某個人，或者是跟他開玩笑。那to mess with someone是不是也有想要騙某人的意思呢？

M: Not really. Sometimes "to mess with someone" can be serious. For instance, a dangerous person might say, "If you mess with me, I'll hurt you."

L: 對，有的流氓就會這么說，他說，"你要跟我搗亂，我就揍你。"可是，在一般情況下，to mess with someone是指跟一個人開玩笑，或者故意跟他搗亂，是不是？

M: That's right. When I was in high school, the whole class would mess with the teacher sometimes. Everyone would start humming at the same time. The teacher would be angry, but couldn't tell who was doing it.

L: 啊，你上中學時就這么頑皮啊。全班一起哼哼，連老師都搞不清楚是誰在做呢，就這樣跟老師開玩笑啊！我們在中國啊可不敢呢。我們都很怕老師的。哎，得了，該我了！

M: Whao! Don't move, there's a bee on your neck.

L: 啊，什么？你說我脖子上有只蜜蜂啊？快把它趕走啊！

M: Heheh, just kidding! There was no bee, I'm just messing with you.

L: 你很討厭吶，Michael, 把我嚇了一跳。Stop messing with me，我得打球了。

M: Ok. Miss! Miss!

******

L: Michael，我再也不跟你打保齡球了，我輸都是因為你跟我搗亂。雖然我們說了誰輸就請客，我今天不請你吃晚飯了。

M: What? I only coughed after you had let go of the ball. There is no way I made you miss. Give me a break!

L: 你說給你什么？我什么都不給喲！

M: I said "give me a break." When someone says "give me a break," that means he thinks what he just heard or saw is unreasonable, or they think someone is being too harsh on them.

L: 噢，Give me a break就是你認為你聽到的，或看到的是不合理的。那你的意思是說，我說你是因為搗亂我才輸了球，這么說是不合理的？

M: That's right.

L: 什么？ Give me a break! 我沒有說任何不講理的話。就是因為你跟我搗亂，所以我才沒有打中球。

M: What? Give me a break! I only messed with you before you bowled, I didn't say anything while you were throwing the ball.

L: 什么？我打球的時候你什么也沒說？Give me a break! 你明明就假裝咳嗽，說什么"別打中！別打中！"這樣就是分散我注意力嘛！

M: I just had something in my throat. Is it not OK for me to cough? Give me a break!

L: 得了，得了，我下回哪兒都不跟你去了。別跟我講話了！

M: Li Hua, give me a break! I'm just kidding...take it easy.

L: 哈哈！我也是在跟你開玩笑啦！可是，你可千萬要記住，絕對不要mess with me!

M: OK, that's fair enough!

這兩個年輕人聽起來好象要吵架，但是卻是在互相開玩笑。在他們的談話中，李華學到了兩個很有用的說法：to mess with someone和give me a break.