Larry 跟李華在星巴克咖啡館見面。今天我們要學(xué)兩個常用語：for the birds
和way out in left field.

    LL： Hey， Li Hua ， it's good to see you. It's been awhile since
we last talked. How are you doing ？

    LH：還可以，不過這天氣真讓人受不了。都二月底了，還沒完沒了地下雪，
今年冬天實在是太漫長了。

    LL： Yeah ， this winter has been crazy. I don't think we've ever
gotten so much snow. And the last three winters before this one were so
mild. We hardly got any snow at all.

    LH：就是！我記得去年二月底有幾天六十多度，咱倆穿著T 恤衫在外面打網(wǎng)
球。太爽了。我剛聽天氣預(yù)報說，又要下雪。

    LL： Aigh ……this weather's really for the birds.

    LH： The weather is for the birds ？這是什么意思��？

    LL： Oh ， I just mean that it is undesirable ……"for the birds"
is an idiom we use to mean that something is undesirable， for the birds.

    LH：我還是不明白，為什么不喜歡的東西要說for the birds 呢？

    LL： Well ， it comes from the fact that birds usually eat seeds，
and seeds are considered worthless and undesirable.

    LH：所以，毫無價值的，不喜歡的東西就可以說是for the birds.那如果是
我不喜歡的天氣，我就可以說It's for the birds.

    LL： Exactly……but you could also say it for things other than the
weather. For example， say I don't like the chicken sandwich I made for
lunch ……I could say that the chicken sandwich is for the birds.

    LH：你看，外面的天陰冷陰冷的，I definitely think it's for the birds.

    LL： I hear you ， Lihua. Hey ， how about we go and grab some lunch？

    LH：好，我們?nèi)�麥�?dāng)勞。

    LL： No ， McDonalds is for the birds.

    LH：怎么可能！麥當(dāng)勞的薯條是最好吃的。Burger King is for the birds！

    ******

    Larry 和李華在麥當(dāng)勞吃東西。

    LH： Larry，你這兩天怎么樣？

    LL： I've been good. Just trying to forget about what happened at
work yesterday. It's been really frustrating.

    LH：發(fā)生什么事情了嗎？

    LL： Well ， it's my boss. He keeps on giving me assignments and telling
me to do things and then not giving me any time to complete the assignments.
I'm getting so tired of it. I need a break. Maybe I'll take tomorrow off.

    LH：一定是因為你太能干了。中文里說，能者多勞。正因為你效率高，做事
讓老板放心，所以他才愿意把工作交給你。如果你覺得壓力太大的話，應(yīng)該直接
跟他講。

    LL： How would I do that， Lihua. He's so busy. It's like he never
has time for me ， and he's always busy with other people.

    LH：那你不如跟他約個時間，好好坐下來談，而且越快越好。

    LL： I think you're right ， Li Hua. Thanks for your help. You give
such good advice. Sometimes other people's advice can be way out in left
field.

    LH： Way out in left field？這是什么意思？

    LL： Oh ， "way out in left field" is an American idiom. It's used
to describe an idea that's really strange or completely out of touch with
reality. Like I could say your idea of taking showers seven times a day
is "way out in left field."

    LH：哦，說一件事情way out in left field 意思就是太不靠譜，不著邊際。
那這種說法，way out in left field 可以用來形容人嗎？

    LL： Sure you can ， Li Hua. The expression "way out in left field"
isn't only limited to describing ideas， you can also use it to describe
people.

    LH：太有意思了。你能給我舉個例子嗎？

    LL： Say， for example， a journalist is always coming up with crazy
story ideas ， You could just say that that journalist is way out in left
field.

    LH：那你說Larry ，為什么要用way out in left field 來形容一個人或一
件事不靠譜呢？

    LL： Well ， "way out in left field" actually comes from baseball.
In baseball ， left field is away from the action ， so that's why it's
used to describe people ， plans， or ideas that seem distant and strange
or out of touch with reality.

    LH：那你下次再拉我去蹦極、跳傘、賽車什么的，我就告訴你，you are way
out in left field.

    天李華學(xué)了兩個常用語。一個是for the birds ，意思是毫無價值的，沒人
喜歡的。另一個是way out in left field ，意思是離譜的，不著邊際的。