The english we speak(BBC教學)第340期:No great shakes 不怎麼樣

Rob's not impressed with a new cafe that's opened near the office. Feifei thinks he's just not happy with the quality of the milkshakes but as you'll hear, there's something else about the place he's not happy with. Learn a great new expression in The English We Speak.

羅布認爲辦公室附近新開的咖啡廳不怎麼樣。菲菲認爲他只是不滿意奶昔的質量，不過大家會聽到羅布說他其實是對其他的事情不滿意。本期地道英語節目將教大家一個很棒的新短語。

Rob: Hello, I'm Rob...

羅布：大家好，我是羅布。

Feifei: I'm Feifei and this is The English We Speak.

菲菲：我是菲菲，歡迎大家收聽地道英語節目。

Rob: Now Feifei, did you try out that new cafe on the way to work today?

羅布：菲菲，你今天在上班路上有沒有去那家新開的咖啡廳？

Feifei: Yes, I did – I was really impressed – the new cafe has a great range of food and friendly staff. So have you tried it Rob?

菲菲：我去了，那家新開的咖啡廳令我印象深刻，他們有很多種食物，而且員工也很友好。羅布，你去過那家咖啡廳嗎？

Rob: Yeah, I've been there twice now – but, well, it's no great shakes.

羅布：去過，我去過兩次，不過我覺得那裏不怎麼樣。

Feifei: No great shakes?! That's the best thing about it, they sell amazing banana milkshakes... mmmm

菲菲：沒有很好的奶昔？那家咖啡廳的奶昔是最棒的，他們賣的香蕉奶昔非常美味……嗯。

Rob: No, no, no. I wasn't talking about the shakes – I was referring to the cafe generally – there's nowhere to sit, the queues are long, and they didn't put enough froth on my skinny cappuccino – so it's no great shakes – in other words, it's not very good.

羅布：不是，我不是這個意思。我說的並不是奶昔，我指的是那家咖啡廳，那裏沒有地方坐，要排很長的隊，他們在我的低脂卡布奇諾咖啡裏放的泡沫也不夠，所以那家咖啡廳不怎麼樣，換句話說，那裏不太好。

Feifei: Oh so no great shakes is an expression that means it's not very good. So you're not impressed?

菲菲：哦，所以no great shakes這個表達方式的意思是“不太好”。所以你對那家餐廳沒什麼好感？

Rob: I'm afraid not. And no great shakes also means 'ordinary' which describes this cafe. Let's hear some more examples of this phrase in action...

羅布：恐怕是這樣的。這個短語也有“普通”的意思，可以用來描述這家咖啡廳。我們來聽些例句，看這個短語如何應用。

Examples

例句

My sister puts on a good dinner party but she's no great shakes when it comes to cooking!

我姐姐舉辦了一場很棒的晚宴，但要說到廚藝，她就不怎麼樣了！

That new singer has a great voice but he's no great shakes at playing the guitar.

那位剛出道歌手的嗓音很好聽，但是他吉他彈得不太好。

The film sequel is no great shakes compared with the first one – there was no story and the special effects were awful!

和第一部相比，這部電影的續集不怎麼樣，沒有什麼劇情，特效也很糟糕！

Feifei: So that's the expression no great shakes which means not very good or not very impressive. But Rob, maybe if you did try the banana milkshake it might change your opinion about the cafe? Look, I've got one here...

菲菲：所以這個表達方式的意思就是不太好或是令人印象不太深刻。不過羅布，也許你嘗試了他們家的香蕉奶昔以後，你會改變對那家咖啡廳的看法。看，我這裏有一杯……

Rob: Mmmm, thanks, yeah... It's not bad, actually. This is a great shake. OK, well, perhaps I'll give it a second chance...

羅布：嗯，謝謝，嗯，味道還不錯。這杯奶昔很好喝。好，也許我應該再給那家咖啡廳一次機會。

Feifei: Where are you going?

菲菲：你要去哪兒？

Rob: To buy a milkshake!

羅布：去買杯奶昔！

Feifei: You do know they cost four pounds?

菲菲：你知道一杯奶昔要4英鎊嗎？

Rob: What? Four pounds! Yes well, as I was saying, that cafe really is no great shakes.

羅布：什麼？4英鎊！好吧，正如我之前所說，那家咖啡廳真不怎麼樣。

Feifei: If you say so Rob. Bye.

菲菲：你說是就是吧，羅布。再見。

Rob: Bye.

羅布：再見。

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重點講解：
1. try out 試驗；測驗；
例句：London Transport hopes to try out the system in September.
倫敦交通系統有望在 9 月份對該系統進行試運營。
2. no great shakes 技術不高的；不出色的；無效的；
例句：I'm no great shakes as a detective.
作爲一名偵探我並不出色。
3. in other words 換言之；換句話說；也就是說；
例句：In other words, this kind of question is often a lead-in to a suggestion or invitation.
換言之，這種問題通常是建議或邀請的開場白。
4. when it comes to 談到；涉及；
例句：However, when it comes to somebody that they know, they have a different feeling.
然而，涉及他們認識的人，他們的感覺就不同了。
5. compared with 與…相比；和…比起來；
例句：The room was light and lofty compared with our Tudor ones.
跟我們都鐸風格的房間比起來，這個房間顯得素雅而大氣。