365天英語口語大全之交際口語(MP3+中英文本) 第9期:擔心與憂慮

1.慣用口語句子：

I'm really in a flap about the interview.
一想到面試我就心慌。
flap n. 慌亂（狀態）

I'm on tenterhooks.
= I'm on Dins and needles.
我感覺如坐鍼氈。
tenterhook n. 張布鉤
on tenterhooks=on pins and needles“焦慮不安”

Worrying kept me awake.
我愁得睡不着覺。
awake a. 醒着的

I'm a bundle of nerves.
我心亂如麻。
a bundle of nerves“神經極度緊張的人”

I wonder what it could be.
我在想會是什麼事。
I guess something came up.
我猜肯定發生什麼事了。

I'm really anxious.
= I'm very worried.
我很擔憂。
anxious a. 憂慮的，擔心的

I can't take it anymore.
= I can't bear it anymore.
= I can't deal with this anymore.
= l can't take another problem.
我再也受不了了。

I'm anxious about what you did.
= What you did makes me anxious.
= I feel great anxiety about what you did.
你的所作所爲讓我很擔心。
anxiety n. 憂慮，焦慮，擔心（其形容詞爲anxious）

I can't calm down.
我靜不下心來。
I can't control myself.
我控制不住自己。
I can't relax.
我放鬆不下來，，
control v. 控制

I'm going nuts.
= I'm going crazy.
我快要瘋了。
nuts a. 發狂的，發瘋的

2.實用對話

Worry擔憂

Rose: Has Alan shown up yet?
羅絲：艾倫露面了嗎？
Jack: No, not yet. I guess something came up. He'll call soon enough to let us know what's going on. He's good that way.
傑克：沒有．還沒露面。我猜肯定發生什麼事了。他應該會打電話告訴我們的。要是那樣就好了。
Rose: I wonder what it could be.
羅絲：我在想會是什麼事。
Jack: I don't know. I hope it's nothing serious.
傑克：我也不知道。希望不是什麼嚴重的事情。
Rose: Last week his sister was admitted to the hospital.
羅絲：上星期他姐姐住院了。
Jack: What happened?
傑克：怎麼回事啊？
Rose: She was in a serious car accident. She was hurt pretty badly. They thought she was going to die.
羅絲：他姐姐出了車禍，傷得很嚴重。他們都覺得她快不行了。
Jack: How is she now?
傑克：那她現在怎麼樣？
Rose: She fell into a coma... The doctors aren't too hopeful. But I hope they're wrong.
羅絲：她已經昏迷了。醫生覺得沒有太大希望了。不過我希望他們的判斷是錯的。
Jack: Poor Alan. He's going nuts. His sister is all he has left; his parents died last year.
傑克：可憐的艾倫。他都快要發瘋了。他姐姐可是他惟一的親人了，他父母去年剛去世。
Rose: Yes, he has been through a lot in the last year. I hope his luck changes soon. Maybe his sister will pull through.
羅絲：是啊，他去年經歷得太多了。我希望他能時來運轉。也許他姐姐能挺過來呢。

3.詳細解說

1.“show up”的意思是“露面，出席”，例如：Uncle George didn't show up for our wedding because he forgot.（喬治叔叔沒有來參加我們的婚禮，因爲他忘了。）
2.“come up”的意思是“發生”，例如：I'll let him know if anything comes up.（如果發生什麼事，我會告訴他的。）
3.“fall into a coma”意爲“陷入昏迷狀態”。
4.單詞“poor”在對話中的意思是“可憐的”，例如：How's your poor father?（你可憐的父親怎麼樣了？）另外“poor”還可以表示“貧窮的”，例如：My family used to be poor.（我家過去很窮。）“pull through”的意思是“度過難關，恢復健康”。

4.文化洗禮

“worry”的由來

The dog is worrying the rat.
如果你看到這句英文，並嘗試着將它翻譯成中文：“那條狗正在煩那隻老鼠”時，恐怕就要貽笑大方了。這句話正確的翻譯應該是：那條狗正在撕咬那隻老鼠。你可能會一頭霧水，“worry一是煩擾的意思，怎麼會和“撕咬”( tear up)聯繫起來了呢？
事實上，“worry”一詞來源於古英語“wyrgan"，有“扼殺”之意，上面這句話中的“worry”即取此意，是指動物“撕咬”它的獵物。後來“wyrgan”又漸漸發展成中世紀英語的“worien”，意思也演變爲“strangle（抑制，束縛）”。
隨着歷史的變遷，“worry”這個詞“攻擊性”的意味大大削弱了。在中世紀英語中的“worien”保留了其前身“wyrgan扼殺”的意思，並衍生出一個新意思“用牙齒咬住喉嚨並且撕裂”或“咬住並來回甩動以殺死或傷害”。到16世紀，“worry”開始含有“以粗暴手段或襲擊方式來騷擾”、“口頭攻擊”的意思。到了17世紀，這個詞產生了“干擾、使焦慮和煩擾”的意思。19世紀時，這個詞義又向前發展了一點，也就是我們現在經常見到的“使感到焦慮或痛苦”和“感到煩惱或不安”。