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发信人: maynolia (小虾^跃出水面), 信区: English
标  题: 美语中的非正式用语(一)
发信站: 哈工大紫丁香 (2003年10月12日14:30:26 星期天), 站内信件

　　Ever go jogging in a business suit? What about going to a job interview in
pajamas? Dressing appropriately is a lot like using a foreign language in the
right way. It all depends on the situation. People in America use formal
English for making speeches and writing business letters. But they prefer
informal language when they talk to friends. Americans are fairly laid-back,
both in styles of dress and in language. So to understand their culture, it
pays to know something about informal language-in other words, English in
blue jeans and a T-shirt.

　　你曾经穿著办公的西装慢跑吗？或者穿著睡衣去应征工作？得体的穿著很像正确地使
用外国语言，都得视情境而变化。美国人使用正式的英文作演说和写商务信件；但是当他
们和朋友谈话的时候，则较喜欢使用非正式的语言。美国人不论是在穿著的风格或是语言
上，都是非常轻松自在的。所以要了解他们的文化，就得认识他们的非正式用语，换句话
说，就像穿著牛仔裤和T恤的英文。

　　English, like every language, is always changing. New slang terms are
created all the time. Often they're here today, gone tomorrow. For instance,
if you wanted to call something exciting in the 1960s, you would say it was
groovy or far out. Today you might describe it as cool or even bad. Each
sub-group of American society-from teenagers to soldiers to thieves to ethnic
groups-has its own slang. People who aren't a part of the "in-group" can't
understand the meaning, even though the words are "English." So it's not easy
for outsiders to use slang correctly.

　　英语就像每一种语言一样是一直在变。新的俚语不断地出现，常常今天还在使用的，
明天就被淘汰了。例如，在一九六O年代你若要形容一件很兴奋的事，你会说很「groovy」
美好的，或是「far out」走在时代尖端的。而今天会形容为「cool」很酷，甚至「bad」
好菜喔。从青少年、军人、小偷、到少数民族，美国社会中每一种附属团体都有自己的俚
语。即使它们确实是英语，但是不属于那个团体的人就不会明白它的意思。因此局外人要
正确地使用俚语实在不容易。

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                  Capture my heart instead of my sight!


※ 来源:·哈工大紫丁香 bbs.hit.edu.cn·[FROM: 219.217.226.26]

English 版 (精华区)