VOA流行美語 Unit 78: HAVE COW / PACK RAT

今天Michael到李華的宿舍串門，李華會學到兩個常用語：have a cow和pack rat。

M: Hey, Li Hua, what are you doing?

L: 哎喲，我在找我的眼鏡，急死人了，找不到眼鏡我怎么上課啊？

M: Calm down. Li Hua, don't have a cow. I'm sure you'll find them.

L: 你說什么？Don't have a cow? Cow, 這不是"母牛"的意思嗎？哎，我這兒是學生宿舍，怎么能養母牛呢？

M: No, I said "don't have a cow", it means don't get too excited about something. I'm sure you'll find your glasses if you are patient enough.

L: 噢，我懂了，你是讓我耐心點兒。你叫我Don't have a cow, 意思就是別著急、別慌，可是，Don't have a cow字面的意思明明是"別有母牛"。這跟"別驚慌"一點關系也沒有，好奇怪喲！

M: Yeah, it is a little strange, but we still say it.

L: 好吧，就聽你的， I won't have a cow, 再想想看，我可能把眼鏡放在什么地方了。

M: Well, where did you see them last?

L: 我記得昨晚睡覺前把眼鏡放在床邊桌子上了。

M: Have you looked under the bed?

L: 有啊，我在床底下找過了，讓我再看看。哎呀，你還真說對了，就在床底下呢！

M: See, I told you not to have a cow and I was right.

L: 可是，Michael, 你肯定平時也有驚慌失措的時候。比方說，要是我對你說，我把你的電腦弄壞了，你肯定會have a cow。

M: Yes, I would have a cow because I can't afford to buy a new one. Hey, Li Hua, You didn't really break my computer, did you?

L: Don't have a cow! 我是在跟你開玩笑啦！

******

M: Li Hua, you really have a lot of stuff. Is that the movie ticket from last week? You even saved that?

L: 噢，這是上星期的電影票。你說我這兒東西多啊，那是因為我喜歡把各樣東西留起來。你看，除了電影票，我還有報紙雜志什么的。誰知道呢，說不定什么時候會有用呢！

M: You're really a pack rat. Look at all this stuff! No wonder you couldn't find your glasses.

L: 哎喲，Michael, 雖然我找不到眼鏡可能是因為我這兒東西太多，可你也不該罵人啊？干嗎說我是rat? Rat 那不是"老鼠"嗎？

M: No, I didn't call you a rat. I said you are a pack rat. A pack rat is someone who saves everything and has lots of stuff.

L: 噢，原來，pack rat是指"什么東西都不肯扔的人"。我什么東西都不愿意扔 -- I guess I am a pack rat.

M: My mom is a pack rat, too. We have so much stuff in our house. She even saved every drawing I ever made when I was a kid.

L: 原來你媽媽也是個pack rat. 你說連你小時候畫的畫她都舍不得扔？我倒希望我媽也是個pack rat, 把我小時候畫的畫啦或者玩過的玩具也留到今天。

M: So you can have them here and add to your "collection"? You're really a pack rat, but Li Hua, have you ever thought how difficult it would be for you to move to a new place?

L: 說的也是，我什么都留著，東西越積越多，要是哪天想搬家，那可就成問題羅。

M: Well, my folks have been in their house for more than 20 years, probably because my mom is such a pack rat, they have too much stuff to even move.

L: 什么？你爸媽在一個地方住了20多年，可能就是因為你媽是pack rat，弄得家里東西太多了？Maybe I shouldn't be a pack rat anymore!

今天李華學到了兩個常用語，一個是to have a cow, 意思是"驚慌失措"；另一個是pack rat, 意思是"什么東西都不肯扔的人"。