The english we speak(BBC教學)第71期: chew the fat侃大山

Rob: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. Hi, Feifei. I saved this table for us. This is my favourite coffee shop.

羅伯：大家好，歡迎來到我們所說的英語。你好，菲菲。我留了這個桌子給我們。這是我最愛的咖啡店。

Feifei: Hi, Rob. Thanks for inviting me to have breakfast with you. It's nice to have the first meal of the day in the company of a colleague before going to the office.

菲菲：你好，羅伯。謝謝你邀請我和你一起吃早餐。在去辦公室之前和同事一起吃一天的第一頓飯的感覺很好。

Rob: Yes, indeed. Let's chew the fat.

羅伯：是的，的確是。讓我們來侃大山吧。

Feifei: Ah, you won't catch me this time! I know what you mean by 'chew the fat'!

菲菲：啊，你這次不會難住我了！我知道你說的“侃大山”是什麼意思！

Rob: Every language has some expressions that have a literal meaning and a figurative one. I'm glad you've heard this one before.

羅伯：每一門語言都有一些短語既有字面意思又有比喻義。

Feifei: In English, the expression 'chew the fat' means to talk in a friendly way, socially, without actually exchanging too much serious information. Maybe gossip a bit…

菲菲：在英語中，“侃大山”這個短語的意思是友好地聊天，社交式的，不說特別多嚴肅的話題。或許有點八卦...

Rob: Yes. It's a casual conversation, like the one we might have now, over breakfast.

羅伯：是的。這是個隨意的對話，就像我們正在進行的對話，早餐時。

Feifei: But first, let's hear some examples of how to use the expression 'chew the fat'.

菲菲：但是，首先，讓我們聽一些關於如何使用這個短語的例子。

I don't want arguments at the dinner table! Let's not talk about football or politics – let’s just chew the fat about other things.

我不想再晚餐的時候爭吵！我們不要再討論足球或政治了——我們聊一聊其他事吧。

Mary left the company two years ago but she's always around chewing the fat with her old colleagues.

瑪麗兩年前離開公司了但是她總是和舊同事侃大山。

Rob: So now you know what 'chew the fat' means. Let's enjoy some fat. I took the liberty of ordering some food for you - and it's on its way now.

羅伯：所以現在你知道“侃大山”的意思了。讓我們享受肥肉吧。我冒昧地給你點了一些食物，現在已經在做了。

Waitress: And here you have two plates of your typical English breakfast, as you ordered, sir.

菲菲：給您點的兩盤傳統英式早餐，先生。

Rob: Thank you. Mmmmm - that smells delicious! Come on, Feifei, tuck in while it's still hot.

羅伯：謝謝。嗯，這聞起來很好吃！來吧，菲菲，趁它還熱盡情地吃。

Feifei: Oh Rob. It looks nice but it's a lot of food. Fried egg, cooked mushrooms, half a tomato, a lot of bacon…

菲菲：哦羅伯。它看起來很好但是這好多吃的啊。煎雞蛋，炸蘑菇，半個西紅柿，好多培根...

Rob: Yes. It is our typical fry-up.

羅伯：是的。這是我們傳統的英式早餐。

Feifei: I like eggs and tomato but… there's a lot of fat here.

菲菲：我喜歡雞蛋和西紅柿但是...這有很多的脂肪。

Rob: Come on, just chew the fat! It's very cold outside and there's nothing like a hearty meal to start the day full of energy.

羅伯：別這樣，享用這肥肉吧！外面很冷而且沒有比一頓豐盛的早餐更讓人充滿能量了。

Feifei: Well, it is really cold and the meal smells nice. Maybe eating a bit of fat occasionally won't make me… well… fat.

菲菲：外面的確很冷，而且肉聞起來很好。或許偶爾吃一些肥肉不會讓我...變胖。

Rob: Come on, let's chew the fat. I've heard that John hired a new secretary. He's got one already so why does he need two?

羅伯：來吧，讓我們侃大山吧。我聽說約翰僱了一個新祕書。他已經有一個了那麼爲什麼他需要兩個？

Feifei: I know. And she doesn't have much to do anyway… Mmmmm… this bacon is really crispy. Let's chew the fat. Bye.

菲菲：我知道。而且她沒什麼可做的...嗯...這個培根很脆，讓我們咀嚼肥肉吧。再見。

Rob: Bye. Mmmmm. Glorious greasy food! Mmmmm…

羅伯：再見。嗯。極棒的油膩的食物！嗯...