watering hole夜總會(huì),shot烈酒,ritual習(xí)慣
【笑話原文】
An Alcohol Tester
I stopped at my favorite watering hole after a hard day’s work to relax. I noticed a man next to me order a shot and a beer. The man drank the shot, chased it with the beer and then looked into his shirt pocket. This continued several times before my curiosity got the best of me.
I leaned over to the guy and said, “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but notice your little ritual. Why in the world do you look into your shirt pocket every time you drink your shot and beer?”
The man replied, “There’s a picture of my wife in there, and when she starts looking good, I’m heading home! ”
【中文譯文】
酒精測(cè)試儀
忙了一天,我在我最喜歡的夜總會(huì)里輕松一下。我注意到旁邊的男子要了一瓶烈酒和一瓶啤酒。他喝了一口烈酒,緊接著又喝了一口啤酒,然后往他的襯衣口袋里看了一下。他這樣反復(fù)好幾次以后,我實(shí)在忍不住,湊到他面前問他:“不好意思打擾一下。我實(shí)在忍不住注意你的習(xí)慣。你究竟為什么每次喝一口烈酒,緊接著喝一口啤酒,然后又往襯衣口袋里看一下?”那個(gè)男子回答說:“那里有我老婆的一張照片。當(dāng)她開始變得好看的時(shí)候,我就該回家了。”
【詞匯講解】
1.watering hole 夜總會(huì)。這是比較口語化的表達(dá),夜總會(huì)也可以說是night club. watering hole 也可以指水坑、海濱勝地或者像夜總會(huì)這樣的公眾聚談場(chǎng)所,比如 a watering hole for artists 藝術(shù)家聚會(huì)場(chǎng)所
2.shot烈酒。down one’s glass in one shot把杯中酒一飲而盡。shot還可以指“一針見血的評(píng)語”:That remark was a shot at me.那話是針對(duì)我說的。也可以指影片、照片:There’s a shot of us all together.我們有一張大家在一起的合影。
3.curiosity好奇心。Out of curiosity, he walked into the house.出于好奇,他走進(jìn)了那所房子。還可以指“奇物、古玩”:That old chair is quite a curiosity.那張舊椅子是稀奇之物。“奇特性”:The curiosity of the room was that it had no windows.這個(gè)房間的奇特之處就在于它沒有窗戶。
4. get the best of 得勝。在文中的意思就是“在我的好奇心得勝前,旁邊男人的古怪行為一直在繼續(xù)”,換言之,“古怪的行為讓我充滿了好奇心”。 The facts he cited helped him to get the best of the argument.他所列舉的事實(shí)幫他在辯論中取勝了。Heart disease can get the best of us.心臟病可能會(huì)壓倒我們。
5.ritual習(xí)慣。make a ritual of one’s household duties把家務(wù)作為自己每天的例行公事。也可以用來表示比較正式的程序、禮儀等等:the ritual of the law法律程序;Our society has many rituals of greeting, farewell, and celebration.我們的社會(huì)有許多關(guān)于招呼、告別和慶祝的程式。
6.head使朝著特定方向行進(jìn)。也有“位于…頂部”的意思:She will head the cast.她將擔(dān)任主角。His address headed the letter.他的地址在信的上端。