Larry和李華正在去學校的書店。 李華今天會學到兩個常用語hip and square。

LL: Wow, Li Hua, that is a really hip book bag!

LH: Hip? Hip不是人的臀部嗎。這跟我的書包有什么關系呢？

LL: "Hip" is a slang word that means something is really cool and neat. I think your back pack is cool, so I said it was hip.

LH: 我明白了， hip在這里是個俚語。意思是很棒， 很時髦。 你喜歡我的背包？這還是我在中國上大學的時候買的呢。這么舊的包有什么好的呢？

LL: I think it is hip because it has Chinese characters on it. Things with Chinese characters on them are really cool - Really hip.

LH: 有中文字的東西都好啊？這種背包在中國到處都是。我們并不覺得這種背包特別時髦。

LL: Well, most Americans can't read the Chinese, but they still think having something, like a t-shirt or jewelry, with Chinese characters on it is really hip.

LH: 那到是很有意思，美國人不懂中文，可是卻喜歡有中文字的東西。我是看到有不少美國人的體恤衫上有中文字。中文字那么時髦， 說不定還能吸引一些人來我的班上學中文呢。

LL: I am sure it will. Have you ever noticed some of the students have tattoos with Chinese characters?

LH: 是啊，有的美國人紋身，刺的是中文字 。可惜有的時候他們恐怕不知道這些字的意思。

LL: What do you mean?

LH: 我有一次在校園里看到一位很時髦的男生，他的胳膊上寫著“只能干洗。”

LL: Ha, ha! That is really funny. And decidedly un-hip.

LH: 是啊，“只能干洗”不僅不酷而且很可笑。 Larry, 我們快到書店了。聽說時髦的學生都喜歡坐在書店的咖啡廳里邊喝咖啡邊看書。你要不要也喝一杯咖啡呀？

LL: I don't know, Li Hua. . . Are we hip enough to drink coffee with all the cool students on campus?

LH: 你夠不夠時髦我不知道，反正我有資格，別忘了我有一個時髦的背包。

LL: Well, maybe some of your hip-ness will rub off on me!

LH：行呀，你就沾點我的光吧！

******

LL: Wow, sitting here with all of these hip college students is making me feel a little square.

LH: Larry, 你看上去既不是方的，也不是圓的。不過如果一定要給你定型的話，我覺得你更圓一些。

LL: I'm not talking about my physical shape, Li Hua. You know how "hip" means something cool? Something that is "square" is not cool at all.

LH: 噢，原來square跟我剛才學到的hip意思正相反。Square就是不時髦，很土得意思。

LL: That's right. And right now I am feeling square.

LH: 你為什么感覺自己跟不上潮流很土呢？

LL: Well, I've been out of school for a while, and I've been working. Every one here seems so young and carefree. It seems part of growing up is to become square.

LH: 不錯，你已經畢業(yè)，開始在公司做事了，學校里的人年齡也比較小。可是我不同意你的看法，成長并不等于越來越保守呀！

LL: Look - I'm wearing a dress shirt with a tie, khaki pants and glasses. This is the uniform of a square.

LH: 這我還沒有聽說！襯衫加領帶，一條卡基其布褲子，再帶上一付眼鏡，這就成了趕不上潮流的典型制服？

LL: Right.

LH: 可是Larry, 我覺得你的眼鏡很好看，很時髦。你看上去很有學問。

LL: Thanks, Li Hua. But squares often look smart and read and study all the time.

LH: 噢，不時髦的人看起來都很聰明，經常讀書學習。那我這個研究生每天都看書，一定就是不時髦嘍。I am a true square!

LL: Well, I guess that means we two squares can hang out together then!

今天李華學到了兩個常用語。一個是hip, 意思是很棒、很酷、很時髦。還有一個是square， 意思是保守，不時髦。