今天Larry和Li Hua在商店里給朋友買(mǎi)生日禮物。Li Hua會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：to horse around和jump the gun.

    Li Hua： 哎喲，Larry， 你看那邊那兩個(gè)小男孩在打架呢。他們家大人怎么也不管吶？Larry： Oh， don't worry， they're just horsing around. They won't hurt each other.

    Li Hua： 你要我別擔(dān)心，說(shuō)他們只是在horsing around，HORSE這個(gè)詞在英文里不是“馬”嗎？Larry： Yes， in "horse around"， "horse" is used as a verb， "to horse around" means "to play or joke with someone". Those two kids were just playing， they were horsing around.

    Li Hua： 噢，horse在這里是用作動(dòng)詞，to horse around意思是“和別人開(kāi)玩笑、鬧著玩兒”。Larry， 你是說(shuō)那兩個(gè)男孩兒是在鬧著玩兒啊！

    Larry： Hey！ Why did you punch me in the arm？

    Li Hua： I'm just horsing around！ 嘿Larry， 這個(gè)horsing around還可以用在什么地方呢？

    Larry： Well， sometimes it means the same as "just kidding" or "just joking." Hey， Li Hua， you have something on your shirt……

    Li Hua： 什么？我衣服上沾了東西�。吭谀膬耗�？我怎么看不見(jiàn)呢？

    Larry： That's because I'm just horsing around. There isn't anything on your shirt. I just wanted to see if you would look.

    Li Hua： 噢，原來(lái)你又在跟我開(kāi)玩笑啊。這么說(shuō)，和別人開(kāi)玩笑或者是惡作劇，也可以算是horsing around. Hey， Larry， 你看你的鞋帶松了。

    Larry： Nice try， Li Hua， but I know you're just horsing around.

    Li Hua： 哎喲，我們別光顧開(kāi)玩笑了，趕快給我朋友挑挑生日禮物吧！

    Larry： Hey， how about this shirt？

    Li Hua： What？！ 這襯衫多難看呀！You must be horsing around.

    Larry： Hey， Li Hua. You know what happened to my friend George？

    Li Hua： 你的朋友George？他最近不是在找工作嗎？聽(tīng)說(shuō)他接受了一家大公司的面試。

    Larry： Yeah， and he was so sure that he would get the job that he quit his old job. Unfortunately， he really jumped the gun. He just found out yesterday that he didn't get the job after all. Li Hua： 噢，George以為那個(gè)公司肯定會(huì)要他，所以把以前的工作給辭了�？墒牵�他昨天才知道那個(gè)公司沒(méi)有聘他，哎，Larry， 那你說(shuō)George "jumped the gun"， 那是什么意思啊？

    Larry： To jump the gun is to do something too soon. For instance， if a runner starts running before the race starts， he's jumping the gun. Li Hua： 噢，to jump the gun就是過(guò)早采取行動(dòng)的意思！對(duì)了，像賽跑的時(shí)候，有些運(yùn)動(dòng)員信號(hào)槍還沒(méi)響就提前跑了。所以叫jump the gun，這個(gè)說(shuō)法挺形象的。George在不知道是不是有新工作以前就把舊工作給辭了，那可不是操之過(guò)急了嘛！

    Larry： Okay， Li Hua， now that you understand what "jump the gun" means， can you give me an example？

    Li Hua： 嗯，讓我想一想……我有一個(gè)朋友前不久要來(lái)美國(guó)，她還沒(méi)拿到簽證就先買(mǎi)了飛機(jī)票。這也可以說(shuō)是jumped the gun吧？

    Larry： Definitely， because if she doesn't get a visa， then she won't be able to use the plane ticket. Li Hua： 那可不是，要是簽證領(lǐng)不到，那飛機(jī)票就白買(mǎi)了。哎，Larry， 那你給我舉個(gè)例子吧。

    Larry： I have a good one： Once I brought a girlfriend home to meet my parents. My mom really jumped the gun and assumed that we were going to get married. Li Hua： 什么？你帶女朋友回家，你媽媽就誤以為你們要結(jié)婚吶？哎喲，她可真是jumped the gun了， 當(dāng)時(shí)一定挺尷尬的。

    Larry： You bet. It was embarrassing！

    今天李華從Larry那兒學(xué)到了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是horse around， 意思是“鬧著玩兒、開(kāi)玩笑”。另外一個(gè)是jump the gun， 就相當(dāng)于中文里所說(shuō)的“操之過(guò)急”。