The english we speak(BBC教學)第137期:Teetotal 滴酒不沾
William: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. My name is William Kremer.
威廉：大家好，歡迎收聽地道英語節目。我是威廉·克萊默。Helen: And I'm Helen. Hello.
海倫：我是海倫。大家好。William: So, are you going to go out after work tonight, Helen?
威廉：海倫，今晚下班後你要出去玩嗎？
Helen: You mean for Rob's birthday? What's the plan?
海倫：你是說爲羅布慶祝生日嗎？有什麼計劃嗎？William: Well, I think we're just going to head to the Fox and Flowerpot at 6.00pm.
威廉：嗯，我想我們晚上六點要去Fox and Flowerpot酒吧。Helen: Going to the pub again? No, I think I'll give it a miss this time.
海倫：又要去酒吧？我想這次我就不參加了。William: Oh no! Why? Have you got plans?
威廉：哦不！爲什麼呀？你有其他計劃嗎？Helen: No, it's just...
海倫：沒有，只是……William: You don't like Rob, maybe?
威廉：也許是你不喜歡羅布？Helen: No, no–that's not the reason. I just don't like going to the pub all the time. I don't really drink, you know, and I always feel a bit awkward.
海倫：不，當然不是，那並不是我不去的原因。我只是不喜歡總是去酒吧。我不喜歡喝酒，你知道，我經常會覺得有點尷尬。William: Ah, I didn't know you were teetotal, Helen!
威廉：啊，海倫，我不知道你滴酒不沾！Helen: Teetotal?
海倫：Teetotal？William: Teetotal. This is an adjective that describes a person who doesn't drink alcohol.
威廉：這是一個形容詞，用來描述不喝酒的人。Helen: Right-so does this person just drink tea?!
海倫：好的，那這類人只喝茶嗎？William: Well maybe! But actually, the word teetotal doesn't have anything to do with tea. It's spelled T.E.E.T.O.T.A.L. Let's listen to this example of the word being used:
威廉：也許吧！不過實際上，這個詞和茶沒有任何關係。拼寫是T.E.E.T.O.T.A.L。我們來聽一下應用這個詞的例子：Man: Have you bought the drinks for the party yet?
男：你買好宴會要用的酒了嗎？Woman: Yep–I've got a case of wine and two boxes of beer. I've also got some soft drinks for Granny. She's teetotal nowadays.
女：買好了，我買了一箱紅酒和兩瓶啤酒。我還給奶奶買了些軟飲料。她現在滴酒不沾。Helen: Can you say, "I don't feel like drinking beer tonight... I'm going to have a teetotal evening"?
海倫：可以說“我今晚不想喝啤酒……我今晚打算滴酒不沾”嗎William: Well not really. We describe people as teetotal, and it means that they never drink alcohol. Now, teetotal is an adjective, but there is also a noun that we can use. See if you can hear it in this example:
威廉：不可以。我們形容一個人滴酒不沾，意思是他們從來不喝酒精類飲料。現在這個詞是個形容詞，不過也可以用作名詞。就像你在下面這個例子中聽到的一樣：Man: My father used to drink heavily, you know. Every night he'd have a bottle of Scotch. Maybe that's why I've always been a teetotaller.
男：你知道，我爸爸以前酗酒很嚴重。他每晚都要喝一瓶蘇格蘭威士忌。也許這就是我成爲禁酒主義者的原因。Helen: I heard the word teetotaller. And the speaker in that clip was describing why he was a teetotaller. Now William, where does this word come from?
海倫：我聽到了teetotaller這個詞。剛纔那名說話者解釋了他成爲禁酒主義者的原因。可是威廉，這個詞來源於哪裏呢？William: Well no-one is really sure, Helen. But it's worth saying that in the past it was used to describe someone who didn't drink and who also thought that drinking alcohol was a bad thing. I think nowadays it's a little bit softer.
威廉：其實沒有人清楚，海倫。不過值得一提的是，過去這個詞用來形容不喝酒的人，而且這些人認爲喝酒是不好的事情。我想現在這個詞比較柔和了。Helen: Well, truth be told William, I'm not a teetotaller. I like a drink every now and then but I just can't drink pint after pint of beer like you English people!
海倫：嗯，威廉，說實話，我不是禁酒主義者。我喜歡偶爾喝點酒，不過我不能像你們英國人一樣一杯接一杯地喝！William: Well, good for you Helen! But why don't you come to the pub anyway? You can just have an orange juice or a lemonade. No-one will laugh at you.
威廉：海倫，你做得對！不過爲什麼你不能去酒吧？你可以喝橙汁或是檸檬汽水。沒有人會笑話你的。Helen: No, they won't laugh at me, but they will ask me to drive them home! No, please tell Rob happy birthday but I don't feel like it tonight. But thanks for telling us about this interesting word, William.
海倫：對，他們不會笑話我，但是他們會讓我開車送他們回家！請替我轉達羅布祝他生日快樂，不過我今晚不想喝酒。威廉，謝謝你告訴我們這個有趣的詞。William: Well, don't mention it, Helen. Right, I'm off to the pub now.
威廉：海倫，不客氣。好，我現在要出發去酒吧了。Helen: Don't drink too much!
海倫：別喝太多酒！William: I won't! Bye!
威廉：不會的！再見！Helen: Bye!
海倫：再見！重點講解：
1. give sth. a miss
決定不做；決定不參加；
eg. Do you mind if I give it a miss?
如果我決定不去，你會介意嗎？
eg. I think I'll give badminton a miss tonight.
我今晚不想打羽毛球了。
2. truth be told
說實在的；坦白說；
eg. Truth be told, I am a little nervous.
說實話，我有些緊張。
eg. Truth be told, I've never been a big reader.
實話實說，我從來不是一個好讀書的人。
3. every now and then
時而；有時；
eg. But every now and then, something extraordinary occurs.
但不時地也會發生些異乎尋常的事。
eg. A good argument is essential, every now and then.
偶爾的良性爭執，是很有必要的。
4. laugh at
嘲笑；譏笑；
eg. Everyone coming our way slowed down to point and laugh at him.
每個路人都放慢腳步，指指點點地取笑他。
eg. Friends are the people who won't laugh at you or hurt you, and if they do hurt you they try hard to make it up to you.
朋友是那些不會嘲笑你或傷害你的人，如果他們傷害了我，他們會努力去補償你的。
5. don't mention it
別客氣；不用謝；
eg. 'Thank you very much.' — 'Don't mention it.'
“非常感謝！”——“別客氣。”
eg. Don't mention it. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
別客氣，你喜歡就好了。
