美國之音之流行美語lesson 326 for the birds...

LL: Oh, I just mean that it is undesirable..."for the birds" is an idiom we use to mean that something is undesirable, for the birds.

LH: 我還是不明白，為什么不喜歡的東西要說or the birds呢？

LL: Well, it comes from the fact that birds usually eat seeds, and seeds are considered worthless and undesirable.

LH: 所以，毫無價值的，不喜歡的東西就可以說是for the birds。那如果是我不喜歡的天氣，我就可以說It's for the birds.

LL: Exactly...but you could also say it for things other than the weather. For example, say I don't like the chicken sandwich I made for lunch...I could say that the chicken sandwich is for the birds.

LH: 你看，外面的天陰冷陰冷的，I definitely think it's for the birds.

LL: I hear you, Lihua. Hey, how about we go and grab some lunch?

LH: 好，我們?nèi)湲?dāng)勞。

LL: No, McDonalds is for the birds.

LH: 怎么可能！麥當(dāng)勞的薯條是最好吃的。Burger King is for the birds!

******

Larry和李華在麥當(dāng)勞吃東西。

LH: Larry, 你這兩天怎么樣？

LL: I've been good. Just trying to forget about what happened at work yesterday. It's been really frustrating.

LH: 發(fā)生什么事情了嗎？

LL: Well, it's my boss. He keeps on giving me assignments and telling me to do things and then not giving me any time to complete the assignments. I'm getting so tired of it. I need a break. Maybe I'll take tomorrow off.

LH: 一定是因為你太能干了。中文里說，能者多勞。正因為你效率高，做事讓老板放心，所以他才愿意把工作交給你。如果你覺得壓力太大的話，應(yīng)該直接跟他講。

LL: How would I do that, Lihua. He's so busy. It's like he never has time for me, and he's always busy with other people.

LH: 那你不如跟他約個時間，好好坐下來談，而且越快越好。

LL: I think you're right, Li Hua. Thanks for your help. You give such good advice. Sometimes other people's advice can be way out in left field.

LH: Way out in left field? 這是什么意思？

LL: Oh, "way out in left field" is an American idiom. It's used to describe an idea that's really strange or completely out of touch with reality. Like I could say your idea of taking showers seven times a day is "way out in left field."

LH: 哦，說一件事情way out in left field意思就是太不靠譜，不著邊際。那這種說法，way out in left field可以用來形容人嗎？

LL: Sure you can, Li Hua. The expression "way out in left field" isn't only limited to describing ideas, you can also use it to describe people.

LH: 太有意思了。你能給我舉個例子嗎？

LL: Say, for example, a journalist is always coming up with crazy story ideas, You could just say that that journalist is way out in left field.

LH: 那你說Larry, 為什么要用way out in left field來形容一個人或一件事不靠譜呢？

LL: Well, "way out in left field" actually comes from baseball. In baseball, left field is away from the action, so that's why it's used to describe people, plans, or ideas that seem distant and strange or out of touch with reality.

LH: 那你下次再拉我去蹦極、跳傘、賽車什么的，我就告訴你，you are way out in left field.

天李華學(xué)了兩個常用語。一個是for the birds, 意思是毫無價值的，沒人喜歡的。另一個是way out in left field，意思是離譜的，不著邊際的。