The english we speak(BBC教學)第218期:Put a sock in it 安靜

Helen asks Rob to fix her toaster. But he finds something unusual in it! Find out what socks have to do with keeping quiet.

海倫請羅布幫她修烤麪包機。但是羅布發現裏面有件不尋常的東西！請試着弄清楚襪子和安靜之間的關係。

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

注：音頻與文本並不完全吻合。

Rob: Welcome to The English We Speak with me Rob — and today I've come round to Helen's house because she said she needed some help... (Doorbell and door opens)

羅布：歡迎收聽本期地道英語節目，今天我來到了海倫的家，因爲她說她需要幫忙……（門鈴響了，然後門開了）

Helen: Oh hi Rob. Thanks for coming round. (She shuts the door)

海倫：哦，你好，羅布。謝謝你過來。（她關上了門）

Rob: That's OK, no problem. Now, how can I help?

羅布：不客氣。有什麼需要我幫忙的？

Helen: I need you to fix my toaster please. You know me, I love my toast but since yesterday, every time I try to make some, black smoke keeps coming out of it.

海倫：我想請你幫我修我的烤麪包機。你知道，我非常喜歡吃烤麪包，可是從昨天開始，每次我試圖做烤麪包，機器裏就會冒出黑煙。

Rob: Hmm, black smoke? That doesn't sound good. OK, let's have a look at it... Err, Helen?

羅布：嗯，黑煙嗎？聽起來不太好。好吧，我們來看看……額，海倫？

Helen: Yes?

海倫：怎麼了？

Rob: There's a sock in it — that's very dangerous — no wonder you're getting black smoke when you try to make toast!

羅布：烤麪包機裏有隻襪子——這太危險了——難怪你烤麪包的時候會冒黑煙！

Helen: Rob, I put the sock in there.

海倫：羅布，是我把襪子放在裏面的。

Rob: You put the sock in there — why did you do that?

羅布：你把襪子放在這裏面，爲什麼要這麼做？

Helen: Well, my friend came round for breakfast yesterday, and I was telling her all about my fantastic holiday... the great weather, the good food and the... handsome men...

海倫：昨天我朋友過來吃早餐，我跟她說了那個非常棒的假期，天氣很好、食物非常可口，還有……帥氣的男士們……

Rob: So?

羅布：所以呢？

Helen: Well, I was making us both toast when she said 'Helen, put a sock in it!'

海倫：我在烤麪包的時候，她說“海倫，把一隻襪子放進去！”

Rob: Ah! I don't think she actually meant put a sock in the toaster — when people say that, it means 'be quiet'!

羅布：啊！我想她的意思並不是讓你把襪子放進烤麪包機裏——通常人們這麼說的時候，意思是“安靜！”

Helen: How rude! 'Put a sock in it' isn't a very polite thing to say Rob!

海倫：太無禮了！羅布，Put a sock in it並不是一句有禮貌的話！

Rob: It's not. It's an impolite way of saying 'stop talking'! It can also mean, keep the noise down. Your friend must have been annoyed by your non-stop chatter if she said that! Let's hear some more examples of this phrase in action...

羅布：的確不是。這是“別說了”這句話的不禮貌的說法。這句話也有小點聲的意思。如果你朋友這麼說，那她肯定是因爲你一直不停地說感到很煩。我們來聽些例句，看看這個短語如何應用……

Examples

例句

Put a sock in it! We're trying to do some work here!

安靜！我們正在忙呢！

Oh, put a sock in it! I've already said I'm going to do the washing-up later.

哦，別說了！我都說一會兒我會洗了。

My Dad was telling me how I should work harder at school so I told him to 'put a sock in it!'

我爸爸讓我在學校要更努力學習，所以我跟他說“別說了！”

Helen: So the phrase 'to put a sock in it' really means 'be quiet' or 'shut up'. But Rob, I don't talk that much, it's just I like to tell people about my holidays, my cooking, my boyfriends...

海倫：所以to put a sock in it這個短語的意思是“安靜”或是“閉嘴”。可是羅布，我並沒有說很多，我只是想跟他們描述一下我的假期，我做的美食，我的男友們……

Rob: Err, Helen...

羅布：額……海倫……

Helen: Yes?

海倫：什麼事？

Rob: Can you put a sock in it please?! In fact, use this... dirty sock from your toaster!

羅布：你能堵住你的嘴嗎？！就用這隻你烤麪包機裏的髒襪子！

Helen: But where should I put it?

海倫：可是我要放在哪裏呢？

Rob: Well, figuratively speaking, the phrase means put a sock in your mouth to stop you talking — so try that!

羅布：這是一種比喻說法，意思是用襪子堵住你的嘴，好讓你安靜，你可以試試！

Helen: Oh thanks. (Toaster pops up) Actually, now my toaster is working, I'm going to have socks on toast!

海倫：哦，謝了。（烤麪包機彈出麪包）現在我的烤麪包機好了，我烤的麪包都有襪子的味道了！

Rob: (Sniffing the sock) Well, by the smell of this sock, it's going to be cheese on toast.

羅布：（聞聞襪子）從這隻襪子的味道來看，像是奶酪麪包。

Helen: Bye!

海倫：再見！

Rob: Bye!

羅布：再見！

譯文屬僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載

重點講解：
1. come round
拜訪；探訪；
eg. Beryl came round this morning to apologize.
貝麗爾今天上午來登門道歉了。
eg. Quite a lot of people came round to the house.
賓客盈門。
2. no wonder
（表示找出某事的原因）難怪，怪不得；
eg. No wonder you are licking your chops, there's pork for dinner.
怪不得你們在舐着嘴脣，原來晚餐有肉。
eg. No wonder people say that computers are taking over the world.
難怪有人說電子計算機正漸漸接管世界。
3. shut up
（使）住口；（使）閉嘴；
eg. I don't feel like shutting up; I think statements about injustice should be made.
我不想住口，我認爲應該發表關於不公正的聲明。
eg. A sharp put-down was the only way to shut her up.
對她冷嘲熱諷是讓她閉嘴的唯一方法。
4. pop up
突然出現；不意冒出；
eg. As we walked along, we saw a rabbit pop up from its burrow and scurry across the field.
我們正在向前走着，看到一隻兔子突然從洞裏跳出來，穿過田野。
eg. The hot toast popped up in the toaster.
熱土司砰的一聲從烤麪包機中跳起。