VOA流行美語 Unit 294:crash and burn; wipe the flo

Larry跟李華一起去參加派對。今天我們要學兩個常用語：crash and burn和wipe the floor with.

LL: This is a pretty cool party, don't you think? The music is really good, everyone here is really friendly and it gives me the chance to show off this great new Britney Spears shirt I bought.

LH: 你這件布蘭妮.斯皮爾斯的襯衫確實挺搶眼的。我好象很久沒來過這麼熱鬧的派對了。

LL: You know what I love to do at parties? I like to just look at all the people and see how they interact. See that short bald guy walking over to talk to that beautiful woman? I bet he's going to crash and burn.

LH: 什麼人？crash and burn? 撞車起火？ 你快去救他。我馬上去找滅火器。

LL: No, wait! I didn't mean that literally. When you say that someone is going to crash and burn, it means that they are going to fail, usually in a very spectacular or embarrassing way.

LH: 哎，你怎麼不早說，害我這麼緊張。我明白了，你是說那個小個子禿頂男人上前去跟那個漂亮美眉搭訕一定是自討沒趣，會很丟臉。那可不一定，Larry, 你這是以貌取人。

LL: That's true, but there's no way he would crash and burn if he had a great-looking shirt like me.

LH: 你快別臭美了。對了，明天你上課不是有一個很重要的期末展示要做嗎？今天是不是應該早點回去準備啊？

LL: Yeah, I do have a presentation tomorrow, so I have to go home early to prepare. If I forget what I'm supposed to say in front of the entire class tomorrow, I'm going to really crash and burn.

LH: 所以還是早點回去準備，纔不會crash and burn。不過，今天你還沒唱卡拉OK呢，要不要唱一首再走呢？

LL: Not tonight. I've been sick recently and I would probably lose my voice and start coughing. And I definitely don't want to get up on stage and crash and burn with all these people watching.

LH: 沒想到你今天居然這麼羞澀。那起碼咱們得跳一會兒舞再走，你也看看我最近學的一些最火爆的動作。

LL: Haven't you seen my shirt? I practice my dance moves to Britney Spears songs every night. If you think you're going to dance better than me, I'm afraid you're going to crash and burn.

LH: 你以爲穿着布蘭暱的襯衫就能在舞池裏稱王稱霸嗎？別說那麼多了，是騾子是馬，拉出來遛遛就知道了。Let' go!

******

LL: Wow Li Hua, I had no idea you were such a great dancer! You really wiped the floor with me.

LH: Wipe the floor with you? 用你擦地板？我可不敢，萬一把你的布蘭妮的新襯衫弄髒了，你肯定得跟我急。

LL: Actually, when you say that you wipe the floor with someone, it means that you did something much better than them, or beat them in a competition.

LH: 哦，原來你是承認自己甘拜下風啊。其實你跳得也不錯啊。我只是覺得，disco早就過時了。

LL: Trust me, disco dancing will never go out of style. You know, I'm really happy we came to this party. Today I was sad because my favorite professional baseball team, the Washington Nationals, lost to their biggest rivals.

LH: 華盛頓的棒球隊輸了？怎麼會，他們今年不是很厲害嗎？

LL: I thought we would wipe the floor with them, but we ended up crashing and burning.

LH: I am so sorry. 不過你要有信心，他們明天肯定贏！啊，時間不早了，我們該走了，你回去再準備一下你的期末展示，免得明天crash and burn.

LL: That's right, I want to give the best presentation and really wipe the floor with all the other students.

LH: 你知道嗎？最近我表妹菲菲考大學。沒想到，現在中國考大學競爭還這麼激烈。You have to get the best grades and really wipe the floor with the other students，這樣才能被名牌大學錄取，否則就會crash and burn.

LL: It can be that way in America too, which is why I should probably get back and start preparing for my presentation. I don't want the other students to wipe the floor with me when our grades are announced.

LH: Larry 你看，剛纔那個小個子禿頂男人逗得那個漂亮美眉笑彎了腰，It doesn't look like he crashed and burned after all. Haha....

今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是crash and burn, 意思是輸得很慘。另一個是wipe the floor with，意思是比別人強，打敗別人。