The english we speak(BBC教學)第216期:To take a shot/stab in the dark 瞎猜
When can there be a stab in the dark without a knife? Rob explains to Feifei that a phrase used to describe what's happened to a missing work colleague, has nothing to do with murder.
在黑暗中如何不用刀捅傷別人？羅布向菲菲解釋了一個短語，用來形容一名失蹤同事所發生的事情，這個短語與謀殺一點關係也沒有。Rob: Welcome to The English We Speak with me Rob and …. oh… oh… Feifei… Feifei, where are you?
羅布：歡迎收聽地道英語節目，我是羅布……哦，菲菲，菲菲，你在哪裏？Feifei: Hi… hi… over here… come quickly.
菲菲：嗨……嗨……我在這裏……我馬上就來。
Rob: Oh… oh… what seems to be the problem?
羅布：哦……有什麼問題嗎？Feifei: I think there's been a murder!
菲菲：我覺得發生了謀殺案！Rob: What?! Really — a murder, here? How can you be so sure?
羅布：什麼？！謀殺案，這裏嗎？你怎麼這麼確定呢？Feifei: Well, last night I was speaking to my friend and we were talking about Jenny from our office…
菲菲：昨晚我和朋友聊天時提到了我們辦公室的珍妮……Rob: Oh yes Jenny, I haven't seen her around for a while … so?
羅布：哦，珍妮，我有一陣沒看見她了……怎麼了？Feifei: My friend said Jenny has probably met someone, got married and moved to Australia — but then she said something very strange, she said it was 'a stab in the dark'.
菲菲：我朋友說珍妮可能和某個人結婚了，然後搬去了澳大利亞——可是之後她又說了一些奇怪的話，她說是“在黑暗中捅刀子”。Rob: 'A stab in the dark'? Ha — so you think she's been murdered?
羅布：瞎猜？哈哈，所以你就認爲她被謀殺了？Feifei: Well possibly — she hasn't been seen for a long time and then someone was stabbed — and in the dark — so she must have been murdered at night. Oh dear, I think we should call the police!
菲菲：可能吧，她很長一段時間沒有露面了，要是有人在黑暗中被刺的話，那一定是她在晚上被謀殺了。天哪，我想我們應該報警！Rob: No, don't call them yet. That phrase isn't as bad as you think. There's not been a murder. When you say you are 'taking a stab in the dark' it means you don't really know the truth and you are just guessing.
羅布：不用，不用報警。這個短語沒有你想得那麼壞。並沒有謀殺發生。taking a stab in the dark的意思是你不太清楚事實，只是猜測。Feifei: Really? Oh phew. That is good news.
菲菲：真的嗎？哦，這真是好消息。Rob: Ok. Let's hear the phrase in action…
羅布：好，下面我們來聽聽這個短語如何應用……Examples
例句It might be a stab in the dark but I think my football team is in a good place to win the league this season.
這可能是瞎猜的，不過我認爲我們足球隊這個賽季很可能會贏得聯賽冠軍。I don't know how many people came to see the show, but I'll take a stab in the dark and say about 300.
我不知道會有多少人來看這場演出，不過我猜大概有300人。John thought we could sell our old car for ￡500 — but really he was taking a stab in the dark!
約翰認爲我們的舊車能賣到500英鎊——可這只是他瞎猜的！Feifei: So the phrase 'to take a stab in the dark' does not involve stabbing people! But Rob, if we're not sure what did happen to Jenny, it's still a bit of mystery.
菲菲：所以to take a stab in the dark這個短語並不是指有人被刺傷了。可是羅布，如果我們不確定珍妮發生了什麼事，那這就仍是個謎。Rob: Well maybe she didn't move to Australia… maybe she just got a new job… but I'm just taking a shot in the dark.
羅布：可能她沒有搬到澳大利亞去……可能她只是換了新工作……不過這都是我瞎猜的。Feifei: A shot in the dark! Now you're talking about her being shot in the dark?
菲菲：在黑暗中中槍！現在你是在說她在黑暗中遭遇了槍擊嗎？Rob: No no no no — a shot — or a stab in the dark means the same thing — it means I'm guessing — I don't really know.
羅布：不，不，不，不是，這和剛纔的那個短語是一個意思，都表示我只是猜測，我也不清楚。Feifei: Well guess no longer — look, here she comes!
菲菲：好吧，別再瞎猜了，看啊，她來了！Jenny: Hello you two.
珍妮：二位好啊。Rob: Jenny!
羅布：珍妮！Jenny: Why are you looking so worried — has someone died?!!
珍妮：你們爲什麼看上去這麼擔心？有人去世了嗎？Rob: Bye!
羅布：再見！Feifei: Bye bye!
菲菲：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. a shot/stab in the dark
瞎猜；盲幹；
eg. Every single one of those inspired guesses had been shots in the dark.
所有那些憑直覺的猜測都是無根據的瞎猜。
eg. Does he know about the party or just take a shot in the dark?
他知道派對的事，或者只是在瞎猜而已？
2. happen to sb.
（尤指不愉快的事）發生（在…身上）；（某人）遭到；遇到；
eg. You can't sleep out; anything might happen to you.
你不能離家外宿，你有可能出事的。
eg. She fall to brood about what have happen to her.
她開始沉思默想自己的遭遇。
3. no longer
不再；已不；
eg. The construction industry is no longer as depressed as it was.
建築業不再像以往那樣蕭條了。
eg. The footbridge over the river is no longer in use.
河上的人行橋已不再使用了。
