Jessica 在北京學漢語,她的中國朋友要是遇到了不知道用美語怎么說的詞,就會來請教她。今天是Jimmy要問的:普通人。
Jessica: Jimmy! I heard you got the scholarship from Cambridge University! 你真厲害啊!
Jimmy: 嘿嘿,沒什么大不了的。
Jessica: But that scholarship is very hard to get. After you graduate from Cambridge, 你就是“精英”啦!
Jimmy: 哪里! 我也就一普通人,ordinary person!
Jessica: Hmmm.... I wouldn't call a Cambridge graduate an average Joe.
Jimmy: An average Joe? 我知道 average, a-v-e-r-a-g-e, average 是普通,平均的意思,an average Joe 就是指普通人,平頭百姓么?
Jessica: That's right. I think it's because the name "Joe" is very common in English, just like 張三李四 in Chinese.
Jimmy: 對,我就和張三李四一樣,你把我往人堆里一放,就找不著啦!
Jessica: Haha! that's a very vivid expression. We have a similar phrase in English. You can say you're "just another face in the crowd".
Jimmy: Just another face in the crowd? 人群中的又一張臉?這個說法好,人海茫茫,你不過就是其中一個而已。對了,說了半天普通人,要是形容那些不同尋常的人,該怎么說呢?
Jessica: You can use "stand out from the crowd" to describe someone who is unusual.
Jimmy: stand out from the crowd, 比別人都站得高,他就明顯,這就是不尋常!
Jessica: That's right. Now let's see what you've learned today!
Jimmy: “普通人”在美語里叫 "an average Joe";還可以說 just another face in the crowd; 不同尋常則叫 stand out from the crowd!