The english we speak(BBC教學)第252期:Part of the furniture 長期沒有變動

Helen bumped into one of Neil's old colleagues who's still doing the same job after a long time. Find out how Neil uses the word 'furniture' to talk about spending too long in one place.

海倫遇見了尼爾的一個老同事，在很長時間以後他還在做同樣的工作。收聽本期節目，瞭解尼爾爲什麼用“傢俱”這個詞來談論他在一個位置上待了很長時間的原因。

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

注：音頻與文本並不完全對應。

Helen: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Helen and joining me today is Neil.

海倫：大家好，歡迎收聽地道英語節目。我是海倫，今天和我一起主持節目的是尼爾。

Neil: Hello everyone.

尼爾：大家好。

Helen: Neil, guess who I met yesterday?

海倫：尼爾，你猜我昨天遇到誰了？

Neil: No idea. Anyone I know?

尼爾：我猜不到。是我認識的人嗎？

Helen: The name is Jonathan Kendall — he said you guys worked together a long time ago.

海倫：我昨天遇到了喬納森·肯德爾，他說你以前和他一起工作過很長時間。

Neil: Oh yes, we did. Gosh, it must have been nearly 15 years ago if my memory is right.

尼爾：哦，對，的確是。天哪，如果我沒記錯的話，那都是15年前的事了。

Helen: Wow, that is a long time ago.

海倫：哇，那是很長時間以前的事了。

Neil: So what's he doing now?

尼爾：他現在做什麼呢？

Helen: He works at Radio Melody. He's now the station manager.

海倫：他在Radio Melody電臺工作。他現在是電臺經理。

Neil: Is he still there? Wow, he really is part of the furniture.

尼爾：他還在那兒工作嗎？哇，他真的在那裏工作很長時間了。

Helen: What do you mean 'he's part of the furniture'? He is a person, not a sofa or a table.

海倫：你說他是“傢俱的一部分”是什麼意思？他是人，不是沙發或桌子。

Neil: Oh, I don't mean it literally. It's an expression we use to describe someone or something that's been in the same place for a very long time. You almost that think they'll be there forever. Let's listen to a few examples.

尼爾：哦，我不是字面上那個意思。這個表達方式用來形容一個人或一件事在同一個地方很長時間。你幾乎以爲他會永遠在那裏。我們來聽些例句。

Examples

例句

John has been the school caretaker for nearly twenty years. He's become part of the furniture.

約翰做學校管理員已經二十年的時間了。他已經成爲理所當然的存在。

We come here so often, it's almost as if we are part of the furniture.

我們經常來這裏，就好像我們是這裏的一部分一樣。

She's had a seat in parliament for over 50 years — she's part of the furniture in the House of Commons.

她擔任議會議員已經有50多年的時間，她是下議院理所當然的存在。

Helen: Right, I've got it. So how long have you been at the BBC?

海倫：好，我明白了。那你在BBC工作多長時間了？

Neil: I've lost count. Let me see, I left school at 18, did an apprenticeship for 2 years and then I joined the BBC in 1995.

尼爾：我記不清了。我想想，我18歲畢業，做了兩年學徒，然後1995年加入BBC。

Helen: That's twenty years. My goodness! So you are part of the furniture at the BBC!

海倫：那已經有20年了。天哪！你也是BBC理所當然的存在！

Neil: Yes, you are absolutely right. Where have all the years gone?

尼爾：對，你說得完全正確。時間都去哪裏了？

Helen: Will you be here for the next twenty years?

海倫：你還會在這裏再待20年嗎？

Neil: Who knows? Let's wait and see.

尼爾：誰知道呢。我們拭目以待吧。

譯文屬僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載

重點講解：
1. bump into 偶然遇見；意外碰到；
例句：Hebumped intohis boss in the store.
他在商店裏遇見了自己的上司。
2. part of the furniture 被認作當然的人（或事物）；習以爲常的人（或事物）；
例句：Our doorman has worked for the company for years and has becomepart of the furniture.
我們的門衛爲公司工作多年，因而已被認作當然是公司的人。
3. as if 好像；彷彿；
例句：She ranas ifthe Old Boy were after her.
她跑得飛快好像魔鬼在追她似的。
4. wait and see 等着瞧；等等看；
例句：If you don't believe it, pleasewait and see.
如若不信，請拭目以待。