YR: Jessica, Congratulations! And I'm mad at you!
Jessica: What? Why? What's going on?
YR: 我聽說你交了個特帥的男朋友!所以當(dāng)然恭喜你一下嘍!不過,咱倆是好朋友,你居然瞞著我,所以我生氣啦!
Jessica: What boyfriend? Where did you hear it?
YR: 大家都這么說啊。就是……啊……怎么說來著,street words say...
Jessica: Do you mean "word on the street"?
YR: 對!Word on the street is you've got a new boyfriend! 坊間傳言,你交了新男友哦!
Jessica: Gosh! This is pure rumor! Yiru, you must tell me who told you this. I need to dispel this rumor!
YR: 我也是道聽途說,這樣吧,你告訴我道聽途說用美語怎么說,我就告訴你傳謠言的人是誰!
Jessica: Deal! 道聽途說……Let me see...Okay, you can say "I heard something through the grapevine." Grapevine is spelt g-r-a-p-e-v-i-n-e.
YR: 哦,grapevine是葡萄藤的意思,I heard it through the grapevine 就是“通過葡萄藤聽來的消息”,也就是道聽途說嘍! 還有別的說法么?
Jessica: You can also say "a little bird told me." For example, if you don't want to tell others the source of your information, you can say "Let's just say I know because a little bird told me."
YR: 哈哈,真可愛,A little bird told me, 小鳥告訴我的!
Jessica: 好啦,現(xiàn)在你可以告訴我了吧?Who's spreading the rumor?
YR: Well, let's just say a little bird told me!
Jessica: Hey! That's cheating, Yiru! Besides, if you say "a little bird told me," usually it means both you and I actually know the source of the information, but neither of us wants to say it. 可我現(xiàn)在不知道啊!
YR: 原來,在用a little bird told me的時候,大家對消息來源其實都心知肚明,只是故意不說。好吧,那我告訴你吧,其實---I heard the rumor through the grapevine!
Jessica: Hey!
YR: 今天我們學(xué)的內(nèi)容包括:第一,坊間傳言可以說Word on the street is...;
第二,道聽途說可以說 I heard it through the grapevine;
第三,大家心照不宣地不挑名消息來源,可以說 A little bird told me.