The english we speak(BBC教學)第11期:Fishing for compliments拐彎抹角謀求恭維
Feifei: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, I'm Feifei and with me today is Rob.
Rob: Shhh Feifei, I think I've nearly caught one.
羅伯：噓，菲菲，我覺得我快要釣上一隻了。Feifei: Caught what?
菲菲：釣上什麼？
Rob: A fish! That's why we're fishing – to catch a fish.
羅伯：一條魚！這是我們釣魚的原因—抓到一條魚。Feifei: Ah yes.
菲菲：哦，是的。Rob: I did say I would teach you.the art of fishing – how to cast off and how to reel in a massive fish.
羅伯：我確實說過我會教你釣魚的藝術—怎樣拋線和怎樣釣上一條大魚。Feifei: Is Rob really good at fishing?
菲菲：你真的很擅長釣魚嗎？Rob: Yes, I've been doing it for years… I once caught a massive shark… it was THIS big… but I'm not that good at it. I just do it for fun really, I'm not competitive or anything like that!
羅伯：是的，我釣魚很多年了，我還曾經捉到一隻巨大的鯊魚...它有這麼大...但是我也沒有那麼厲害啦。我只是爲了好玩而已，我們有那麼好強或類似的心理。Feifei: Of course you're not! The only thing Rob is fishing for today is compliments. Rob, are you hoping to catch some compliments today?
菲菲：你當然沒有了！羅伯今天釣魚的唯一目的就是恭維。羅伯，你是不是希望今天能收穫一些讚美？Rob: How big are they exactly?
羅伯：它們究竟有多大呢？Feifei: No. Compliments! When people say you are 'fishing for compliments' it means you try to make people say good things about you. You pretend to be modest about something and hope they disagree and give you praise. So Rob, you want me to say something good about your fishing?
菲菲：不，是讚美！當人們說你在“釣讚美”，那意味着你在試着讓別人誇讚你。你假裝謙虛並希望他們不同意你以表揚你。所以，羅伯，你是不是希望我誇一誇你的釣魚技術？Rob: No… not really… well, just one compliment maybe?
羅伯：不，不太是，好吧，也許只要誇讚一句？Feifei: Hmmm, I'll have a think while we listen to some examples of this phrase:Jean was fishing for compliments about her outfit when she pretended she only took five minutes to get ready!John kept saying he couldn't run very fast but he still won the race; I think he was just fishing for compliments.
菲菲：嗯，我先想一想，想聽聽今天關於這個短語的例句吧：瓊在期盼着人們對她打扮的讚美，雖然她假裝只花了五分鐘準備！約翰一直說他跑不快卻贏了比賽，我覺得他只是在釣讚美。Fred: Oh I can only speak a few words of French. I'm no good at languages.
佛瑞德：噢，我只會說法語的幾個單詞而已。我在語言方面並不是很擅長。Jane: Oh stop fishing for compliments Fred – we know you can speak five languages!
簡：哦，不要再釣讚美了佛瑞德，我們都知道你可以說五種語言！Feifei: So fishing for compliments is about trying to get someone to say something good about you. Well Rob, I am impressed with your fishing skills – look, you've actually caught something!
菲菲：所以釣讚美就是說試着索取某人的讚揚。羅伯，你的釣魚技術讓我印象深刻，看啊，你真的釣上了！Rob: Oh yes – quick let's pull it in.
羅伯：哦是的，快我們把它拉上來。Feifei: Oh Rob, it's just an old shoe. Perhaps you were right, you're not very good at fishing – but that's ok, I'm not much good either, all I've managed to catch today is this 50 kilogram salmon – what do you think?
菲菲：哦，羅伯，這只是一箇舊鞋。或許你的對的，你並不是很擅長釣魚。但是沒關係，我也不是太好，我今天只是捉到了一隻50千克的鮭魚。你覺得呢？
Rob: (genuinely impressed) Wow – for a first time, that is amazing. I think that deserves a compliment…
羅伯：哇，對第一次的人來說，真的很棒了。我覺得這值得讚美...Feifei: Go on then Rob…
菲菲：繼續啊羅伯...Rob: I was going to say the eyes on that fish look just like yours!
羅伯：我本來想說這條魚的眼睛和你的很像！Feifei: Hmm, that wasn't the compliment I was fishing for. In you go…(SPLASH) ... fish for your own compliments.
菲菲：嗯，這不是我想要的讚美。去釣...（水飛濺）...你想要的讚美吧。Both: Bye.
一起：再見！
