流行美语 (Popular American) 294

（单词翻译）

Larry跟李华一起去参加派对。今天我们要学两个常用语：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: 你这件布兰妮.斯皮尔斯的衬衫确实挺抢眼的。我好象很久没来过这么热闹的派对了。

LL: You know what I love to do at parties? I like to just look at all the people and see how they interact¹. See that short bald guy walking over to talk to that beautiful woman? I bet² he's going to crash and burn.

LH: 什么人？crash and burn? 撞车起火？ 你快去救他。我马上去找灭火器。

LL: No, wait! I didn't mean that literally³. When you say that someone is going to crash and burn, it means that they are going to fail, usually in a very spectacular⁴ or embarrassing⁵ way.

LH: 哎，你怎么不早说，害我这么紧张。我明白了，你是说那个小个子秃顶男人上前去跟那个漂亮美眉搭讪一定是自讨没趣，会很丢脸。那可不一定，Larry, 你这是以貌取人。

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

LH: 你快别臭美了。对了，明天你上课不是有一个很重要的期末展示要做吗？今天是不是应该早点回去准备啊？

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: 所以还是早点回去准备，才不会crash and burn。不过，今天你还没唱卡拉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 definitely⁶ don't want to get up on stage and crash and burn with all these people watching.

LH: 没想到你今天居然这么羞涩。那起码咱们得跳一会儿舞再走，你也看看我最近学的一些最火爆的动作。

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: 你以为穿着布兰昵的衬衫就能在舞池里称王称霸吗？别说那么多了，是骡子是马，拉出来遛遛就知道了。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，万一把你的布兰妮的新衬衫弄脏了，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，原来你是承认自己甘拜下风啊。其实你跳得也不错啊。我只是觉得，disco早就过时了。

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 rivals⁷.

LH: 华盛顿的棒球队输了？怎么会，他们今年不是很厉害吗？

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

LH: I am so sorry. 不过你要有信心，他们明天肯定赢！啊，时间不早了，我们该走了，你回去再准备一下你的期末展示，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: 你知道吗？最近我表妹菲菲考大学。没想到，现在中国考大学竞争还这么激烈。You have to get the best grades and really wipe the floor with the other students，这样才能被名牌大学录取，否则就会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，刚才那个小个子秃顶男人逗得那个漂亮美眉笑弯了腰，It doesn't look like he crashed and burned after all. Haha....

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是crash and burn, 意思是输得很惨。另一个是wipe the floor with，意思是比别人强，打败别人。