DONNY在北京学汉语,他的中国朋友要是遇到了不知道用美语怎么说的词,就会来请教他。今天是吴琼要问的:拗口。
DONNY:吴琼,What's up?
WQ:我表姐要生宝宝了,发动全家给孩子起名儿呢,这不,我翻翻字典,找点灵感。
DONNY:Interesting! 我也来出主意!
WQ:孩子姓唐,你说叫什么好?
DONNY:唐?嗯……唐 - 老 - 鸭。
WQ:啊?!
DONNY:Haha! I'm sorry, Wu Qiong. I know this is a terrible name, but when you mentioned the word“唐”, the name rolled right off my tongue.
WQ:Rolled right off your tongue? 从舌头上滚下来?我明白了,就是顺口,脱口而出。你一听到“唐”字,顺口就说出了唐老鸭。 那……如果不顺口,也就是拗口,该怎么说呢?
DONNY:You can say it's a tongue twister.
WQ:哦,tongue twister,就是说起来拗口的东西! This name is a tongue twister 这个名字真难念。
DONNY:没错! Wu Qiong, you know the luxury car brand "Mercedes-Benz", do you?
WQ:Mercedes-Benz? 就是奔驰嘛!
DONNY:Right. The Chinese translation“奔驰”rolls right off the tongue. However, if we call the brand 梅赛德斯·本兹, to me , that's a tongue twister! It's like I'm tripping over my own tongue when I try to say it.
WQ:Trip over your own tongue? 我知道trip是绊倒的意思,所以trip over one's own tongue 就是打磕巴,吃螺丝吧?
DONNY:Absolutely!
WQ:DONNY, We need to find a good name for this baby. We don't want people to trip over their own tongues when they say the baby's name!
DONNY:Of course, but first let's see what you've learned today!
WQ: 第一,顺口叫“to roll right off the tongue”;
第二,拗口的东西则是“a tongue twister”;
第三,打磕巴,吃螺丝,叫“to trip over one's own tongue”。