VOA流行美語 Unit 101: eye candy / bazillion

VOA流行美語 Unit 101: eye candy / bazillion

今天Larry 和Li Hua下課以後在電影院門口商量看什麼電影。Li Hua會學到兩個常用語：eye candy 和 bazillion。

LH: Hmm, 我想看Troy. 聽說這部電影挺棒的！

LL: I don't know, Li Hua. That movie looks like it's nothing but eye candy.

LH: 你說那部電影是什麼？Eye candy? candy不是“糖果”嗎？。這是一部關於古希□的電影，和“糖果”有什麼關係呀？

LL: I said it's mostly eye candy. Eye candy describes something that looks really good, but does not serve a useful purpose.

LH: 噢，你說的是eye candy。Eye candy是比喻某個東西看上去雖好，可是並不實用。那不就有點兒像我們中文裏常說的“華而不實”嗎？

LL: That's right. In a movie, fancy special effects are just eye candy.

LH: 現在好多電影都是靠電腦製作的特技場面，看起來挺花哨，其實電影本身一點兒意思也沒有。可是Larry, 你知道嗎 - Troy 這部電影是Brad Pitt主演啊？

LL: Well, in this case the eye candy is Brad Pitt.

LH: 什麼？說 Brad Pitt 是eye candy, 這也太不公平了。他不僅長得帥，而且演技也是一流的。你怎麼能說他“華而不實”呢？

LL: Fine, fine, Brad Pitt is more than just eye candy. Still, I'd rather see something else... like that science fiction film I was telling you about. That's the kind of eye candy I want to see!

LH: 你要看那部科幻片啊？我看那纔是名符其實的eye candy 呢！

******

LL: You know, Li Hua, we've been standing here trying to choose a movie for fifteen minutes. Why don't we forget about seeing a movie today? There are a bazillion other things to do in this city.

LH: 就是啊，我們在這兒都站了15分鐘還決定不了看哪個電影。那要是不看電影我們幹什麼呢？你說有a bazillion事情可做。Bazillion - 這是個數字嗎？

LL: I said "there are a bazillion other things". "Bazillion" means a lot. It's supposed to sound like "a billion" or "a zillion" - a large number, anyway.

LH: 對，bazillion 聽起來就好像billion，或zillion。Billion是十億， zillion是“千千萬”， 所以 bazillion 也可以說是“許許多多，數不清的”意思。Larry, 你說我們有bazillion 的事可幹，那你說說我們可以幹什麼呢？

LL: Well, there's an outdoor rock concert this evening not far from my place and the museum is showing a new exhibit of ancient bronze work today.

LH: Hmm, 我不想聽什麼搖滾音樂會，博物館的古青銅器展覽可能會更有意思。Larry, 我還是有點糊塗，bazillion這個詞可以像使用具體數字一樣來使用它嗎？

LL: Yeah, pretty much. For instance, I'm not sure that today is a good day to visit the museum. There will be a bazillion people there on the opening day of that exhibit.

LH: 沒錯，開展第一天，人肯定很多。那我們改天再去吧。你不是說有a bazillion other things to do 嗎？

LL: There's a bazillion bars along this street. We could go hang out in one while we decide what to do next.

LH: 這條街上的酒吧是挺多的，可是現在才下午3點多，我不想去酒吧。

LL: Hmm... well, let me think... sometimes when you have a bazillion choices, it's hard to make a decision.

LH: 哎喲，得了得了，說什麼選擇多了反而不好決定。我說還是看電影吧。Troy 還有幾分鐘就要開始了，你肯定不想看嗎？

LL: Look, we've discussed this a bazillion times. That movie is nothing but eye candy for girls.

LH: 哎喲，你真是的，你不要看，那我自己去看啦！

今天李華從Larry那兒學到了兩個常用語，一個是eye candy。意思是“華而不實的東西”。李華學到的另一個常用語是bazillion, 就相當於中文裏面所說的“多得數都數不清”。