李華到Larry家借書，正好趕上Larry的朋友Dave打電話來 。她今天要學兩個常用語, fed up和off the hook。

LL: That was just Dave on the phone, Li Hua. He is really fed up right now.

LH: Dave給你打電話，就是告訴你他吃多了嗎？

LL: No, Li Hua. To be fed up is to run out of patience in a difficult situation and to become angry.

LH: 噢，fed up不是指吃多了，而是說受夠了。

LL: That's right. Dave has been having a bad day, and he has good reason to be fed up.

LH：他遇到什么倒霉事了嗎？

LL: Well, Dave's car broke down on his way to work today, and he called a tow truck to come and get him. He's fed up, because he has been waiting for over an hour for the tow truck to arrive.

LH: 拖車一個多小時還沒到。換成我，也會fed up.

LL: And Dave is also fed up with his car. This is the third time in the last month that his car has broken down.

LH: 一個月壞三次。那可真得換車了，難怪他說自己受夠了。他給你打電話就是抱怨這些嗎？

LL: He was hoping that if the tow truck didn't come in the next few minutes I might be able to give him a ride to work. He doesn't want his boss to get too fed up with him.

LH: 噢，原來是求你送他去上班。一而再，再而三地因為車子拋錨而上班遲到，確實會引起老板的懷疑。

LL: I don't think Dave's boss is completely fed up with him YET, but Dave doesn't want to take any chances.

LH: 那當然了。他好不容易才找到這份工作，因為這個被炒魷魚，太不值得了。

LL: Yeah. Personally, I'm a little fed up with Dave right now, too.

LH: Dave有什么讓你受不了的呢？

LL: Well, every time Dave's car breaks down, he calls me to ask for a ride. I'm getting a little fed up with having to rearrange my schedule to keep helping Dave out.

LH: 確實有點兒煩。不過，他是你的朋友，大家應該互相幫助嘛！

LL: You are right, Li Hua. I shouldn't get fed up with Dave. (Phone rings) It's Dave on the phone.

******

LH: Dave打電話說什么？

LL: He told me the tow truck finally arrived. It looks like I'm off the hook!

LH: Off the hook? 這種說法跟釣魚有關吧？

LL: Yes, it does, Li Hua. You know when you go fishing for fun, how you put a hook on the end of your line?

LH: 當然了，我還記得上次跟你老爸一起去釣魚，魚線最后面有一個鉤子，在上面掛上魚餌。

LL: And when a worm is off the hook, it is free. Just like I am now. I am off the hook, because I don't need to drive Dave to work after all.

LH: 所以，off the hook就是脫身的意思。你不用再開車送Dave去上班了，所以你說自己是off the hook.

LL: That's right. Say, speaking of obligations, don't you have a Chinese class you should be teaching right now?

LH: Oh, No. I am off the hook today, Larry. 今天學校放假，所以我不用去教中文課了！

LL: I forgot that today is a holiday. Unfortunately, I am NOT off the hook today. I need to go into work this afternoon to finish up a project I am working on.

LH: 那你就是on the hook嘍？

LL: Well, we don't really say someone is "on the hook" in English when we mean they have something they need to do.

LH: 所以說不用再去做一件事情是off the hook, 但是反過來，必須去做一件事情，則不能說on the hook.

LL: You've got it, Li Hua. Say, how about going to a movie tonight? Do you still have to write your paper for Professor Jones, or are you off the hook?

LH: 唉，I'm not off the hook. 我今天晚上必須得寫完那篇論文。我可不希望讓瓊斯教授 fed up with me.

今天李華學到了兩個常用語。一個是fed up, 意思是不耐煩，受夠了。另一個是off the hook, 是脫身，擺脫責任的意思。