你是否也一直誤解了Do you have the time的意思呢? 雙向翻譯|80期

Yesterday, I was talking to an ex-colleague of mine who, frankly, has something of a big mouth. I bumped into him at the beach, where he was walking his dog. 

Anyway, as I was saying, he's the kind of guy who's always bad mouthing his co-workers. 

So he came up to me and said, 『Hey, Jeff. Long time no see. What've you been up to?』 

『Ah, not much, 』 I said. 

『Well, guess who I saw yesterday? John Robeson, the guy from accounting at Firth Industries. You remember him, the guy with big ears and an ego to match.』 

『It takes one to know one,』 I thought, but I kept it to myself. 『Oh, really? How interesting,』 I replied.

『Yeah, well, I hate to talk behind someone's back, but ever since he and I had that falling out last year, I've never really cared for the guy.』 

『How come?』 I asked. 

『Well, he's a bit of a backstabber, always trying to outdo the other guy.』 

『I know what you mean,』 I said. 

I knew at this point it was time to make my exit, otherwise, this guy would go on about John Robeson for the next 10 minutes.

『What time do you have?』 I asked him. 

『It's a quarter after five.』 

『Geez, already? Man, I've got to hit the road. I'm supposed to meet my brother at the pier in a few minutes. But, hey, it was sure good to see you again. You take care!』 

With that, I made my exit. I've got better things to do than to listen to him gripe all day.

have something of a big mouth

Yesterday, I was talking to an ex-colleague of mine who, frankly, has something of a big mouth.

昨天，我跟一個前同事聊了下。老實說，他有點多嘴。

something of a, 用在肯定句中表示有幾分，在某種程度上;

The news came as something of a surprise. 這消息來得有點意外。

He is something of an expert on gardening. 他在園藝上算是個專家了。

big mouth, 指多嘴的人，守不住秘密的人。在中文裡我們常說的大嘴巴。

He is a big mouth. 他是個多嘴的人。

Shut your big mouth. 不要多嘴。

下文裡的bad mouth則是做動詞使用，指說人壞話，尤其指暗地裡說人家壞話。

Stop bad-mouthing him all the time. 不要說人壞話了。

I bumped into him at the beach, where he was walking his dog.

我在海灘邊撞見他，他在那裡遛狗。

bump into, 有兩個意思，一指意外遇見某人，二是撞上、碰到某事物。

I bumped into him on the way out. 我在外出的路上碰見他了。

I almost bumped into him. 我差點撞上他。

You remember him, the guy with big ears and an ego to match.』

你記得他吧，有雙很大的耳朵，還很自大。

ego是自我，自我意識的意思。說一個人has a big ego指這個人很自大。

He has the biggest ego of anyone i've ever met. 他是我見過的最自負的人。

文中說的the guy with big ears 指那個人有雙大耳朵，and an ego to match, to match 指與...相匹配，相稱；意思就他不僅耳朵大，ego也很大，很自負。

『It takes one to know one,』 I thought, but I kept it to myself. 『Oh, really? How interesting,』 I replied.

「你們彼此彼此吧」，我想，但沒有說出來。「哦？真的嗎？這麼巧啊」 我回應說。

it takes one to know one, 這句話的含義是你身上肯定有某種不好的特質，才會這麼敏銳的看到別人身上類似的缺點。

這句話常常用在反駁別人對你的批評，翻譯成中文就是「大家半斤八兩/你也好不到哪裡去」。

比如別人罵你：真是個傻逼。

你回：It takes one to know one!-傻逼才看誰都是傻逼。

A: You're a real jerk! 你是個混球！ 

B:  Yeah, well, it takes one to know one! 是啊，咱彼此彼此。

to keep it to oneself, 指保密，只讓你自己一個人知道，不要說出去。

你分享了秘密給別人但不想人家說出去，可以補一句：I'd appreciate you keeping it to yourself.

talk behind someone's back; 

have a falling out

『Yeah, well, I hate to talk behind someone's back, but ever since he and I had that falling out last year, I've never really cared for the guy.』

「是啊。那個，我向來討厭在背後說人家，但自從去年我和他吵了一次之後，我沒有理會過他了。」

to talk behind someone's back 跟前文的bad mouth意思類似，都指（背後）說別人壞話。

You shouldn't talk behind somebody's back or gossip. 你不應該在背後說人家的閒話。

have a falling out (with sb)，與某人鬧翻了；

Dan and I had a falling out. 我和Dan大吵了一架。

也可以簡單作fall out:

Have you two fallen out? 你們兩個吵架了嗎？

I『d fallen out with my parents. 我跟我父母鬧翻了。

『Well, he's a bit of a backstabber, always trying to outdo the other guy.』

「害，他是那種暗箭傷人的人，總是想要超過別人。」

backstabber，是個複合詞，back指後背，stab指用刀等利器去刺、戳，引申為從背後中傷別人的人，暗箭傷人的人人。像下面的這樣：

圖片來源：網絡

outdo,超越，勝過。常用搭配有out do sb, 超過別人：

He always tries to outdo his teammates. 他總想超越他的隊友。

not to be outdone, 不讓別人超過自己；

比如John和Ken都喜歡班上的女神小美, 一起出去玩的時候，兩個人努力表現自己：

John offered her a drink and not to be outdone, Ken found her a chair. 

John給Ella買了飲料，Ken不甘落後，給她搬來了一把椅子。

I knew at this point it was time to make my exit, otherwise, this guy would go on about John Robeson for the next 10 minutes.

在這個點上我知道我該走了，不然，他接下來的10分鐘會一直扯John Robeson的事情。

exit 在生活中非常常見，到處可以看到這個標誌，指出口。入口是entrance。

圖片來源：網絡

make my exit這個詞組源於舞臺演出，指演員退場；

The herioine made her exit to great applause. 女主演在熱烈的掌聲中退場了。

後引申為離開；

The actress made her exit secretly from an unseen exit.

女演員從一個看不見的出口秘密離開了。

『What time do you have?』 I asked him. 『It's a quarter after five.』

「現在幾點了？」我問他。「5點15分。」

What time do you have? 和 Do you have the time? 都不是問對方有沒有時間，而是詢問對方現在幾點了。

意思相當於what time it is? 但是比what time it is有禮貌一些。

Excuse me, do you have the time? It seems my watch has stopped. 不好意思，請問現在幾點了？我的手錶不走了。

『Geez, already? Man, I've got to hit the road.

「天啊，已經5點15啦？那，我該走了。

to hit the road, 指出發，離開，上路了。

We better hit the road before traffic gets even worse. 我們最好在交通變得更堵之前出發。

It's time to hit the road. I'll see you. 我該走了，下會見。

I've got better things to do than to listen to him gripe all day.

相比聽他一直發牢騷，我有更值得的事情去做。

gripe, = to complain, 抱怨、發牢騷的意思。

He's always griping about the people at work. 他老是抱怨他的同事。

這句話的前半句：I』ve got better things to do than xxx 是個很實用的句型哦；

當你發現排隊很浪費時間時：This is ridiculous. I have better things to do than stand in line for an hour!

雙向翻譯法 是義大利語言學家Luca Lampariello的語言學習秘訣，他通過這種方法學會了12門外語。雙向翻譯比單純的背誦能更有效地幫助你吸收和內化語言知識，讓你更快的掌握這門語言。

下面，請根據中文的提示，回譯成英文。最好錄下來，然後和原文對比。有差異、有錯的地方，就是你語法薄弱的點，再看native speaker是怎麼表達的。這個動作非常重要，因為能給你及時反饋，代替了老師的作用，而且還是免費的。

昨天，我跟一個前同事聊了下。老實說，他有點多嘴。我在海灘邊撞見他，他在那裡遛狗。總之，就像我說的，他是那種喜歡說人壞話的人。

他走向我說：「嗨，Jeff.很久不見了，最近在忙什麼呢？」「你知道我昨天看到誰了嗎？John Robeson，Firth公司財務部的那個傢伙。你記得他吧，有雙很大的耳朵，還很自大。」 「你們彼此彼此吧」，我想，但沒有說出來。「哦？真的嗎？這麼巧啊」我回應說。「是啊。那個，我向來討厭在背後說人家，但自從去年我和他吵了一次之後，我沒有理會過他了。」「怎麼啦？」我問。「害，他是那種暗箭傷人的人，總是想要超過別人。」在這個點上我知道我該走了，不然，他接下來的10分鐘會一直扯John Robeson的事情。「5點15分。」「天啊，已經5點15啦？那，我該走了。我馬上要到碼頭跟我哥碰面。但很開心看到你，你保重！」說完我就抽身走了。相比聽他一直發牢騷，我有更值得的事情去做。

（1）比起在這浪費時間，我有更好的事情去做。

（2）他是個白痴！你們彼此彼此額。

（3）不好意思，請問現在幾點了？我的手機沒電了。

（4）剛跟你說的事情，請你保守秘密。