流行美语 (Popular American) 255

（单词翻译）

Larry和李华刚刚忙完手头的工作。他们一起去吃冰激凌。李华今天要学两个常用语：my treat和ginormous.

LL: Well, Li Hua, you just finished a big paper, and I just finished an important project at work. Let's go for ice cream and celebrate. It'll be my treat.

LH: 冰激凌是your treat? 可我也要吃啊，应该是our treat才对吧。

LL: Well, the ice cream will certainly be for both of us - and it will be a treat for both of us, but when I said it was "my treat" I meant that I would pay for the ice cream.

LH: 哦，原来是你要请客啊！

LL: That's right, to TREAT someone means to pay for someone's food or entertainment as a form of a gift.

LH: 那太好了。谢谢你请我去吃冰激凌。

LL: It is my pleasure, Li Hua.

LH: 为了表示感谢，这个周末我请你去中国餐馆吃饭。My treat.

LL: That's very considerate, Li Hua. But you don't really have to treat me to dinner just because I treated you to ice cream.

LH: 我可不是因为你请我吃冰激凌才请你去吃饭的，我请你吃饭是因为咱俩是好朋友嘛！

LL: In that case, I'll be happy to go for Chinese food this weekend - especially if it is your treat.

LH: 我有个问题，Larry, 在美国，如果有人提出请你吃饭，你还用争着付钱吗？

LL: Generally, you can try to protest¹ a little, but the most polite thing to do is to let the other person treat you and allow his or her to feel generous.

LH: 在中国的时候，我有个叔叔，人特别大方，经常请朋友和家里人出去吃饭。

LL: It is wonderful to have generous relatives. When I was growing up, my grandmother would always treat us to the circus - or sometimes a movie.

LH: 看马戏？哎(叹气) -- 小时候真好！我爸爸也经常带我去看木偶剧。

LL: Yeah. My Dad would always treat us to ice cream at a shop just like this one. Say, why don't you go ahead and order your ice cream, Li Hua.

LH: 我要一个巧克力、香草和草莓的冰激凌蛋筒。

******

LL: That is the most ginormous ice cream cone² I have ever seen, Li Hua.

LH: Ginormous? 你是想说enormous³吧？

LL: Well, actually, Li Hua. You are right. I do mean that your ice cream cone is enormous. But ginormous is a slang⁴ word formed from two other words: gigantic⁵ and enormous.

LH: 哦，gigantic前面的音和enormous后面的音连在一起，就变成了ginormous, 也就是特别、特别、特别大的意思喽？

LL: Yes. Something that is ginormous is both gigantic and enormous. It is something that is really, really, really big.

LH: 我饿极了，现在正需要一个ginormous的冰激凌，因为我有一个ginormous的胃口。

LL: You just want to be careful that you don't eat too many sweets, Li Hua. You don't want to end up with a ginormous cavity⁶!

LH: 吃甜的长个大虫牙我倒不担心，我担心的是我的腰围。

LL: Hey, here comes my hot fudge sundae. Wow! It is ginormous, too. Maybe we should have split⁷ one ice cream between the two of us.

LH: 吃完这两个特大号的冰激凌，恐怕我们就得赶紧节食了。

LL: You aren't kidding. I think this ice cream must contain a ginormous amount of fat and calories.

LH: 嗨，管它呢，先吃了再说。

LL: That sound's good...Oh, watch out, Li Hua! Your ice cream cone is melting and starting to tip! If it falls on the floor, it'll make a ginormous mess.

LH: 还好你提醒我，总算没掉下来。不过我还是得赶快去拿一大叠餐巾纸来，先准备着。

LL: That's a good idea. I could use a napkin, too. I think I have a ginormous chocolate moustache from my sundae.

LH: 巧克力胡子？Ha, ha...你的巧克力冰激凌确实沾了一嘴。快给你，餐巾纸。

今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是 my treat, 是我请客的意思。另一个是ginormous,是巨大无比的意思。