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#一頁書英文閱讀 Vanity Card #206

The Big Bang Theory 1-14

英語分兩種，口語類和書寫類，美國影集The Big Bang Theory很有意思，20分鐘的影片精彩的口語，最後2秒鐘製作人親手寫的一頁書Vanity Card，英文用詞相當高級，這代表什麼意思？

意思是，說畫比閱讀英語重要性高600倍；所以這一篇開始，把影集的內容詞彙和Vanity Card的次序顛倒

《活用詞彙》

Unmitigated [ʌn'mɪtɪɡetɪd]

絕對的、絕對不合格的

Mitigate，減輕、減緩，Unmitigated本意是痛苦或懲罰不會停止的，引申為絕對的或絕對不合格的，Sheldon買一份三明治，批評這三明治是絕對的不幸：This sandwich is an unmitigated disaster

 

Auction off something

拍賣

Leonard在網上發現有人要賣電影裡時光機器的道具(prop)：Some guy is auctioning off a miniature time machine prop from the original film.

 

Spur-of-the-moment

一時興起的

Leonard說他出價(bid)$800買這道具是出於一時興起，不是真的要買：It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.

 

Memorabilia [,mɛmərə'bɪlɪə]

值得收藏作為紀念的東西

Sheldon說，這台時光機器是經典科幻電影值得收藏的東西：This is a classic piece of sci-fi movie memorabilia.

 

Venn Diagram

文氏圖解

運用圈圈之間的交集關係來分析互相之間的關係；Sheldon認為，居然有人會賣掉這麼珍貴的時光機器，一定是這個人在Venn Diagram的交集下抉擇”不要時光機器”和”需要八百塊美金”：In a Venn diagram, that would be an individual located within the intersection of the sets "no longer want my time machine" and "need $800."

 

 

I've been meaning to ask you that...

我從以前就一直想要問你….

Leonard告訴Sheldon說，長久以來就一直想問你，為什麼不打電話找人來修理電梯？I’ve been meaning to ask you是非常常見的英文語法，一定要學起來！

 

On a regular basis

定期地、經常地

時光機器太大，需要用電梯搬運，但是電梯已經壞了兩年，Howard自告奮勇說，他經常遙控修護人造衛星，修電梯對他來說只是小Case：I remotely repair satellites on a regular basis.

 

Give birth to something

生出某東西

通常是生出孩子或新的技術，但是Sheldon講的更實際，他用力Push時光機器上樓，說自己如果繼續用力，就要把大腸(colon)給生出來了：I'm going to give birth to my colon，另外，Colon其實是大腸(Large Intestine)的主要結構，又稱結腸

 

Be subject to something

有…的傾向、受…的支配

Subject除了主題，另外有帝王子民和實驗受測物的意思；時光機器擋住樓梯間Stairwell，害Penny不能下樓，Sheldon幫她想一個餿主意，上屋頂然後跳到另一層樓，從另一層的Stairwell下來，但是建議，如果有暈眩的問題(vertigo)，跳的時候不要往下看：Don't look down if you're subject to vertigo.

 

Drop someone off at work

開車送某人上班

Leonard要Penny不要擔心趕不及上班，等他安裝好時光機器，明天就可以載她來上今天的班：I can drop you off at work yesterday.

 

For what it’s worth

不管怎麼樣、不管價值多少

Penny聽了這個冷笑話，更生氣，但是Sheldon告訴Leonard說，不管怎麼樣，我認為很好笑：For what it's worth, I thought it was humorous.

 

Seconded

同意、附議

宅男們討論時光機器要如何輪流使用，Raj提出兩個輪一次，Leonard同意，他用正式開會場合用的詞彙「附議」，Seconded，也就是同意

 

Bi-monthly

雙月的

Raj建議大家輪流雙月各自把時光機器搬到自己的家，Sheldon不同意說，且慢，Hold on，”Bi-monthly”是一個模擬兩可的詞語，Ambiguous term，因為可能是Every other month(兩個月一次)，也可能是Twice a month(一個月兩次)：Hold on, bi-monthly is an ambiguous term. It could be every other month or twice a month.

 

Cloaking Device

隱身的設備

Clocking是網路科技術語，在網路搜索引擎上散播不實消息，誤導網民，這是一種障眼法；Cloak是一種披風斗篷，魔術師穿上去可以隱身；Sheldon要Leonard去未來幫他找一套可以隱身的設備：Go into the future and obtain a cloaking device.

 

Skin the knee

擦傷膝蓋

Penny聽從Sheldon的建議，跳到另一棟樓，結果跌到(slipped)，擦傷膝蓋：I slipped and skinned my knee.

 

Fix someone up with someone

幫某人作媒

Penny遇到好心的鄰居，請她吃大餐，還要把兒子介紹給她：They tried to fix me up with their son.

 

Everglade ['evəɡleɪd]

沼澤地

即Swamp，而且是草長得很長的Swamp，Penny居然會用Everglade這個字，她罵時光機器，只有歌手Elton John會把它開進沼澤區：Elton John would drive through the everglades.

 

Rookie Mistake

初學者的錯誤

Leonard被Penny罵完之後，想搭時光機器回到昨天，阻止自己買這台時光機器，Sheldon說，你這是犯了初學者的典型錯誤：This is a classic rookie time-travel mistake.

 

Paradox

自相矛盾的理論

一套理論含有兩種互相矛盾的意思

 

Pick up on things

觀察並注意到某件事情

這句片語普遍用在對人事物的察言觀色，從細小事務推論出道理出來；Sheldon說自己不太會察言觀色，但是這次居然能觀察到Leonard不開心：I don't usually pick up on those things.

 

I’m on fire

我手氣正旺、我正在興頭上、我氣勢正旺

Sheldon不斷猜中Leonard的心思，讚嘆自己今晚實在太旺了：I'm on fire tonight.

 

Woo someone

追求某人

Woo這個字有點老，但很合適宅男使用；Sheldon安慰Leonard說，你沒本事(inability)追到Penny和時光機器無關，因為早在(long predates)買(acquisition)時光機器以前你就追不到：Your inability to successfully woo Penny long predates your acquisition of the time machine.

 

Stand on its own

顯而易見、不需要多加說明

這個詞源自片語Stand on one’s own feet，獨立自主，不需要靠別人幫忙；Sheldon說Leonard沒有本事追女孩子是顯而易見的事實：That failure clearly stands on its own.

 

Flawed

有缺陷的、有瑕疵的

天衣無縫的計畫叫Flawless Plan，反過來，有漏洞有瑕疵的計畫，Your plan is flawed.

 

Buy someone out

購買某人手上擁有的東西

Leonard不想再要時光機器，問其他人有沒有人要買它的Share

 

Drive it off the lot

把新車開出廠

這句話是賣車的專用語，當你把新車開出廠，價值就掉一半，所以大家只肯出一半的價錢買Leonard的Share：A time machine loses half its value the minute you drive it off the lot.

 

Call dibs on something

有權要某東西、這東西是我的了！

這是非常常見的美式口語，比方見到美女，你Call dibs，表示你有優先權去追；Leonard要把他珍藏的玩具全賣掉，Raj立刻Call dibs on一本漫畫書：I call dibs on the Golden Age Flash

 

Take it or leave it?

要不要拉倒

這是討價還價的常用語法，要就100塊，不要就拉倒

 

Mint Condition

極佳的狀況

Leonard有一套未拆封的星際大戰模型玩具，威脅大家，如果不讓他賣掉，他就要拆封：I have here the rare mint condition production error Star Trek the next generation Geordi La Forge without his visor in the original packaging. (我手上有一套罕見完整未拆封的生產錯誤版興基大戰次世代Geordi La Forge，頭盔上沒有罩子的)

 

Move on with one’s life

展開新的人生

安慰失戀或者失去親人的人，我們要Pay respect(致敬)，有兩個常用詞，Get over someone and move on，Get Over是忘懷某個人、某段感情，Move on是繼續走下去；Leonard決定要Get rid of所有的玩具，展開他新的人生：Move on with my life

 

Flesh-eating

吃生肉的，吃人肉的

當天晚上，Sheldon不斷作夢，而且是Dream in a dream，雙重夢境，兩個夢都夢見吃生肉的未來摩洛人要吃他

 

《一頁書主題詞彙》

Appreciation for & Appreciation of

首先要了解Appreciation代表那些意思：

1) 感謝(gratitude, thankfulness)

2) 認同(acknowledge, understanding)

3) 欣賞(love)

至於用application for還是application of，看情況，認同多半用of，感謝則一半一半，欣賞多半用for，也就是說of的場合比較嚴肅一點，for比較輕鬆一點

 

【劇情大綱】

The Nerdvana Annihilation

書呆涅槃大滅絕

* Nerdvana源自佛教的Nirvana [nɪrˈvænǝ]，涅槃，也就是大徹大悟之後的最高境界，Leonard因為Penny罵他長這麼大了還這麼幼稚，決定把畢生蒐集的玩具全部賣掉，Howard可緊張了，說你好不容易達到Nerdvana書呆子涅槃的境界，就這樣扔掉？

 

Leonard buys a time machine online from the 1960 film, The Time Machine, believing it to be a miniature, though it turns out to be the full-sized original.

李奧納得上網買一台時光機器，源自1960年電影「時光機器」，他以為是縮小版，結果居然是原比例正版的

 

Because the men's efforts to move the cumbersome object into the apartment cause Penny to lose much of her day's time, including a shift at work, she furiously lashes out at them for their childlike preoccupation with various genre memorabilia.

因為四個人拼命把這台笨重的東西搬上樓，造成潘妮浪費一天很多時間，包括害她丟了一輪的班，她非常憤怒地痛罵他們四個像小孩子一般為了各種不同的紀念品著迷

 

Leonard, upset at possibly losing the respect and attention he craves from Penny, decides to get rid of all his collectibles (which Howard refers to as "Nerdvana"), while his friends try to convince him not to, leading to a conflict among the other men over the collectibles of his that they want.

李奧納得因為可能失去他渴望從潘妮身上得到的尊敬和關心，心情悶悶不樂，於是決定要扔掉他全部都收藏品(霍華德稱之為書呆子涅槃)，他三個朋友都勸他不要這麼做，他們都想要這份收藏品，導致三個人之間起了衝突

 

Later, Sheldon turns the tables in Leonard's favor, accusing Penny of being a hypocrite by pointing out her own love of things such as Hello Kitty, Care Bears, Beanie Babies and My Little Pony.

稍後，薛爾頓扭轉局勢，轉向對李奧納得有利，他指責潘妮是個偽君子，並指出她也有喜歡的東西，比方Hello Kitty, 彩虹熊熊, 賓尼熊, 彩虹小馬

 

Penny, realizing his point, apologizes to Leonard, and encourages him not to give up the things he loves before her new boyfriend Mike shows up.

潘妮明白薛爾頓的意思之後，向李奧納得道歉，並鼓勵他不要放棄他鍾愛的東西，隨後潘妮新男友Mike出現

 

His hope of a relationship with Penny renewed, Leonard decides to keep his belongings.

他期待和潘妮發展的希望重新改寫，李奧納德決定保留他全部的東西

 

Sheldon ends up having a nightmare where he travels to the future and is attacked by Morlocks.

薛爾頓最後做一個惡夢，夢見他在未來的世界被摩洛吃人族攻擊

 

He then "wakes up" sat in the time machine and tells Leonard they need to get rid of it.

然後他「醒」過來，發現自己坐在時光機器上，他告訴李奧納德必須把這東西扔掉

 

Leonard agrees that the time machine is too big for the living room and has hired some guys to help move it; the Morlocks, who attack Sheldon again.

李奧納德同意，畢竟這時光機器太大很占客廳空間，而已他已經雇用了人來幫忙搬走，他雇用摩洛人，薛爾頓又被攻擊

 

【一頁書】

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #206

I think we can all agree that the cliché, "no pain, no gain," is a fundamental truth.

When we experience physical pain in the gym, we gain muscles and stamina.

When we endure hardship and sacrifice in order to succeed, we gain a feeling of satisfaction and achievement, not to mention financial rewards.

When we truly embrace emotional pain, we gain compassion for the suffering of others, an appreciation for the fleeting nature of things, as well as wisdom and spiritual humility.

Every act of birth is an act of pain.

Our very lives are sustained by the suffering and death of plants and animals, who in turn are sustained by other organisms having a very bad day.

That being said, I think we can also agree that this system sucks and needs to be seriously re-jiggered.

Now I'm not saying I have a better approach than this pain/gain thing that's been in place for millions of years -- but that doesn't mean we couldn't start tossing around some ideas.

For instance, why couldn't an infrastructure for life be developed around the theme, "no dream, no gain?"

Sounds like heaven, right?

Or is dreaming too easy?

Would life quickly become complacent and cease to gain?

But then, is gain really that critical?

Or is gain the whole point?

Is the fact that life exists at all proof that God or the universe hates complacency?

It certainly explains why aboriginal people are constantly being murdered for the sake of "progress."

It even explains why HBO went down the toilet.

 

【一頁書 中英對照】

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #206

 

I think we can all agree that the cliché(陳詞爛掉), "no pain, no gain," is a fundamental truth(基本真理).

我認為我們都會同意這句老掉牙的話，「一分耕耘一分收獲」，是根本的真理

 

When we experience physical pain(身體痛苦) in the gym(健身房), we gain muscles and stamina(體力).

我們在健身房歷經身體痛苦之後，我們得到肌肉和體力

 

When we endure(忍受) hardship(艱難) and sacrifice in order to succeed, we gain a feeling of satisfaction and achievement, not to mention(更別提) financial rewards(金錢獎勵).

為了成功，我們承受艱難和犧牲，我們得到滿足感和成就感，更不用說金錢上的獎勵

 

When we truly embrace(擁抱) emotional pain, we gain compassion(同情、憐憫) for the suffering of others, an appreciation for(欣賞、感謝) the fleeting(轉瞬飛逝的) nature(本質) of things, as well as wisdom and spiritual(精神上的) humility(謙卑).

當我們真正接受感情的傷害，我們得到同樣受此傷害的人的同情，這是對事物轉瞬即逝本質的一種感謝，同時也代表智慧和精神上的謙卑

* 這句是Chuck賣弄哲理的話，意思大約是這樣，當我們感情受傷害，如果忍在心裡，不哭么，會得到同病相憐的惺惺相惜(compassion & appreciation)，Chuck用appreciation for “轉瞬即過情傷”來解釋gain compassion，也就是說，你獲得同情，得感謝這件不靠譜的感情受傷，這事情商，代表一種智慧，也代表你有一顆謙卑的心靈

 

Every act of birth is an act of pain.

每一次生孩子都是痛苦的過程

 

Our very lives are sustained(維持、維生) by the suffering(蒙難) and death of plants and animals, who in turn(依序) are sustained by other organisms(生物體) having a very bad day(非常倒楣的一天).

我們這條命仰賴於動植物的蒙難和死亡才能活下去，而動植物也是靠其他生物體當天遇到大衰神才能活下去

 

That being said(話雖如此…), I think we can also agree that this system(身體或國家社會) sucks(爛) and needs to be seriously re-jiggered(重新調整).

話雖如此，我相信大家也會同意自己這身臭皮囊很糟糕，需要很認真的重新調理

 

Now I'm not saying I have a better approach than this pain/gain thing that's been in place(在正確位置、到位) for millions of years -- but that doesn't mean we couldn't start tossing around(反覆討論、反覆思考) some ideas.

我講的不是我能拿出更好的辦法，因為痛苦和收獲這種事已經存在到位幾百萬年了，但這不表示我們就不能反覆來討論這件事

 

For instance, why couldn't an infrastructure(基礎設施、基礎結構) for life be developed around the theme(主題), "no dream, no gain?"

比方說，憑什麼我們生命的基本結構不能用「一分夢想、一分收穫」來建造

 

Sounds like heaven, right?

聽起來如同天籟是吧？

 

Or is dreaming too easy?

還是說，作夢太容易？

 

Would life quickly become complacent(自滿的) and cease to gain(停止追求)?

我們的生命會因為很快的自滿而停止追求嗎？

 

But then, is gain really that critical?

說到這裡，獲得真的這麼重要嗎？

 

Or is gain the whole point(要點、全部的重點)?

或者對我們來說，一切都只是為了要獲得？

 

Is the fact that life exists at all(就是) proof that God or the universe hates complacency(自滿)?

是不是生命存在的實際意義是表示上帝或這宇宙不喜歡人類自滿？

 

It certainly explains why aboriginal people(原住民) are constantly being murdered for the sake of(…緣故) "progress."

所以這就一定能解釋為什麼因為要「進步」，造成原住民不斷被殺害

 

It even explains why HBO went down the toilet(被拋棄).

甚至能解釋為什麼HBO被大家拋棄(被馬桶沖掉)