VOA流行美語 Unit 117: flip-flop/wishy-washy

今天Larry和李華在校園里閑逛，校園里到處都貼滿了選舉傳單。今天李華會學(xué)到兩個常用語：flip flop和wishy-washy.

LL: Hey, Li Hua who do you support for class president?

LH: 我覺得Gary Lawrence當(dāng)學(xué)生會主席應(yīng)該是不錯的。他看起來挺老實，也很勤奮。

LL: Gary Lawrence? But he flip-flops all of the time. One minute he's in favor of increasing campus security and the next minute he's accusing the university of policing its students

LH: Flip-flop? 那是什么意思啊？你說他一會兒要加強校園安全，一會兒又批評學(xué)校過于監(jiān)管學(xué)生。嗯...flip-flop， 你是說他翻來覆去的意思吧？

LL: Something like that. Flip-flop is a term that is often used in politics. It means that a particular person suddenly changes his/her position on an issue.

LH: 噢，flip-flop經(jīng)常用在政治方面。但是改變想法也沒什么錯啊。每個人都會有改變主意的時候嘛！

LL: That's true, but when someone flip-flops a lot it makes him seem weak and indecisive. People will not think he is a good, strong leader.

LH: 那是沒錯。如果一個人經(jīng)常flip flop，別人就會覺得他不夠果斷，不能做個好領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。

LL: If Gary flip-flops a lot, how could he be a good student leader!

LH: 對，如果我們因為Gary支持加強校園安，投了他一票。結(jié)果他當(dāng)選后，又改變立場，那不就糟了？

LL: Exactly. I would feel as though I had voted for the wrong person.

LH: 沒錯，那可真是選錯人了。哎，對了，Larry，如果我說我贊同死刑，但后來又改變立場，反對死刑。這樣算不算是flip-flop?

LL: That would definitely be flip-flopping.

LH: 可是一些政治人物經(jīng)常這樣改變立場的啊！

LL: That's true, but they also lose support when they do things like that. It's very negative to be accused of flip-flopping in U.S. politics.

LH: 還好我不是什么政治人物，這樣我就可以隨便改變立場咯！

******

LL: Li Hua, what about Laura Wilson? Do you support her for class president even though she flip-flops all of the time? I think she is so wishy-washy.

LH: 嗯，Laura Wilson是還好啦。可是她不也經(jīng)常改變立場嗎？你還說她wishy-washy。那又是什么意思啊？

LL: Wishy-washy is similar to flip-flop but it's an adjective instead of a verb. To be wishy-washy is to be weak and indecisive.

LH: 原來wishy-washy的意思和flip flop差不多，只不過它是個形容詞。照這么說，Larry, 我是不是能說一個經(jīng)常改變主意的人很wishy-washy?

LL: Yes. I can also call you wishy-washy if you can't decide which candidate to support.

LH: 嘿！我才不是wishy-washy呢！我只是要仔細地想一想，到底把票投給誰最好！

LL: I know, I'm just teasing you. Can you give me another example of wishy-washy?

LH: 你要我舉個例子啊？哎，有了，我們的朋友Lisa，她一直下不了決定是不是該和她男朋友分手。她呀！ 就是標準的wishy-washy.

LL: Yes, you could call her wishy-washy because she can't make a decision and act on it.

LH: 說到做決定，我還沒有決定是不是該為下學(xué)期的一個會議寫報告。要寫的話，負擔(dān)很重，不過會得到學(xué)術(shù)界的重視。我到現(xiàn)在還決定不了。

LL: Quit being wishy-washy and make a decision. If it's worth it, then it's worth it. If not, then forget about it.

LH: 你說得到容易，值得就值得，不值得就算。我并不想wishy-washy，就是不想做錯誤的決定。

LL: Sometimes, you have to take the risk.

今天李華從Larry 那兒學(xué)到兩個常用語。第一個是flip flop. 意思是一個人經(jīng)常改變立場，特別是指一些政治人物。第二個常用語是wishy-washy，這是形容一個人很軟弱，不果斷。