PETS-2语法讲解(147)
I don't think you could have done it better.
对话
Mary: I've just popped in to thank you very much for organizing last weekend’s trip to the seaside for the old folk.
Julia: That's very kind of you. They all seemed to enjoy it.
Mary: They certainly did. Everything went like clockwork, in fact I don't think you could have done it better.
Julia: I'm not sure about that, there were one or two things that could have been improved.
Mary: In a perfect world perhaps, but as far as I'm concerned it was a great success. So thank you again.
玛丽:我顺道过,要向你说声谢谢,谢谢你筹办上周末的长者海滨游。
朱莉雅:你太客气了。他们似乎都玩得很开心。
玛丽:没错。那天一切十分顺利,实在不可能安排得更好了。
朱莉雅:我可不敢这么肯定。有一两件事是可以安排得更好一点的。
玛丽:如果世事有所谓的完美,那你说得也许没错;但对我来说,这次的旅行非常成功。再次谢谢你啦。
玛丽告诉朱莉雅:I've popped in to thank you for organizing last weekend's trip for the old folk。Pop是拟声字,指‘噗’一声,例如:The cork popped as it came out of the bottle(软木塞‘噗’一声从瓶口拔了出来)。引申其义,pop in 是指突然探访人家,事前没有特别安排,逗留一般也不长久,例如:He popped in this morning(他今早忽然来访)。
Old folk的folk是指‘人们’,作集合名词(collective noun),但也有人用folks指‘人们’,例如:Some folk/folks find the new regulation rather annoying(有些人觉得新条例很麻烦)。留意无论folk还是folks都配复数形式动词。
有时,你会看到one's folks这个说法,用复数形式是指某人的亲属,例如:My old folks live in Taiwan(我年迈的父母住在台湾)。称呼一群人,也习惯用复数形式,例如:Let's go, folks(各位,我们走吧)。和people相比,解作‘人们’的folk多是指生活方式相同的人,或属于某一社团的人,例如:Country folk/folks tend to be more conservative(乡下人一般比较保守)。不过,严谨的写作通常会用people取代folks,例如Country people tend to be more conservative。
玛丽说:Everything went like clockwork。Clockwork是钟表等的发条装置,例如:The toy soldier walks by clockwork(那玩具兵是用发条装置步行)。Like clockwork是比喻,指‘顺利’、‘准确’或‘有规律’,His training schedule runs like clockwork即‘他的训练计划很有规律’。
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