The english we speak(BBC教學)第183期:Blah blah blah 無休止地絮叨

(Mildred talking on the phone)

（米爾德麗德正在打電話）

Finn: Yeah, yes... yes, Mildred, yeah I know.

芬恩：是啊，是啊，是的，米爾德麗德，我知道。

(Mildred on the phone)

（米爾德麗德在打電話）

Finn: Yeah, I know... I know, I know.

芬恩：是的，我知道……我知道，我知道。

(Mildred on the phone)

（米爾德麗德在打電話）

Finn: Yeah, right. Thanks, Mildred. Bye!

芬恩：是，好的。謝謝你，米爾德麗德。再見！

Feifei: Hi Finn, what did Mildred want?

菲菲：你好，芬恩，米爾德麗德想要什麼？

Finn: I don't know, Feifei.

芬恩：我也不知道，菲菲。

Feifei: But you kept saying you knew.

菲菲：可是你一直在說你知道。

Finn: I know. Mildred had this ongoing dispute with her neighbour and she went on and on and on about it. It's always "my nasty neighbour blah blah blah blah blah..."

芬恩：我知道。米爾德麗德一直和鄰居有爭吵，所以她不斷地說那件事。她一直在說“我那討厭的鄰居等等等等……”

Feifei: Yes, I have to agree it's always the same thing.

菲菲：嗯，我必須同意那都是同一件事。

Finn: And in English we use the phrase "blah blah blah" when we want to represent a boring conversation.

芬恩：在英語中我們用blah blah blah這個短語來形容一場無聊的對話。

Feifei: Where does it come from?

菲菲：這個短語來自哪裏？

Finn: Well, according to an article I read the other day, in ancient Greece, the term "bar bar bar" was used to indicate "meaningless noises".

芬恩：嗯，我那天看到了一篇文章，據那篇文章所說這個短語起源於古希臘，他們用bar bar bar這個短語來表示“無意義的噪音”。

Feifei: Oh yes! It has the same root as the word "barbarian".

菲菲：哦，是啊！那和“野蠻”這個詞是同一個詞根。

Finn: That's right. And that explanation came from Geoff Nunberg, a linguist at the University of California.

芬恩：沒錯。這是加利福尼亞大學的語言學家做出的解釋。

Feifei: "Bar bar bar" might have evolved to what we have today...

菲菲：我們今天所說的短語很可能由Bar bar bar演變而來。

Finn: blah blah. And Americans might say: "yada yada yada", but it conveys the same idea of a repetitive, boring conversation.

芬恩：Blah blah blah表示廢話，美國人可能會說yada yada yada，但是其實表達的是同一個意思，都是指無聊的對話。

Feifei: Yada yada yada…

菲菲：Yada yada yada……

Finn: Yes. And from "blah blah blah" we have the related verb "to blabber", which is used informally to mean to talk a lot in an annoying way, and it can be used for people who tend to reveal secrets because they talk too much.

芬恩：對。從blah blah blah這個短語我們形成了一個相關的動詞喋喋不休，這是種非正式用語，意思是以令人感到厭煩的方式說了很多話，也可以用來形容因爲說太多話而泄露祕密的人。

Feifei: Shall we listen to some examples?

菲菲：我們來聽一些例句好嗎？

Finn: Yes. "Blah blah blah" is today's expression in The English We Speak.

芬恩：好啊。Blah blah blah就是今天地道英語節目要學的短語。

A: Can I borrow your car tonight?

A：今晚我可以借用一下你的車嗎？

B: No. I need to go to the supermarket and then I’ve got to pick up a package… and, well, the car is not working properly, and, you know, today is a busy day for me…

B：不行。我要去超市，然後我還要去拿包裹……嗯，這輛車現在有些小問題，而且你也知道，我今天非常忙……

A: Johnny, I am sick and tired of you "need to do" this and you've "got to do" that and … blah blah blah. Don't give me any more excuses. You don't want to lend me your car, do you?

A：約翰尼，我對你說“要做這個”、“要做那個”還有其他的廢話已經感到厭煩了。別再給我找藉口了。你就是不想借我你的車，是不是？

Don't tell Amanda you're leaving school early to go to the cinema. She's always blabbing about other people's lives.

別告訴阿曼達你提前離開學校去看電影了。她經常泄露別人的祕密。

Feifei: Oh. I certainly don't go around blabbing.

菲菲：哦，我一定不到底去亂說。

Finn: That's good to know.

芬恩：很高興知道這些。

(The phone rings)

（電話響了）

Finn: Hello... Let me pass the phone to someone who is keen to talk to you. Just a moment, please. Feifei, it's for you.

芬恩：你好……我把電話給想和你聊天的人吧。請稍等一會兒。菲菲，找你的。

Feifei: Thanks, Finn. Hello.

菲菲：謝謝你，芬恩。你好。

(Mildred is on the phone)

（米爾德麗德在打電話）

Feifei: Oh, hello, Mildred!

菲菲：哦，你好，米爾德麗德！

(Mildred on the phone)

（米爾德麗德在打電話）

Feifei: Yes, yes, that was Finn, my best friend!

菲菲：是啊，是啊，剛剛那是芬恩，我最好的朋友！

Finn: This is the beginning of a long conversation... Blah blah blah... Bye.

芬恩：這是一個長對話的開始……然後就是一堆廢話……再見。

Feifei: Bye.

菲菲：再見。

(Mildred on the phone)

（米爾德麗德在打電話）

Feifei: Oh, sorry, Mildred, that was not to you, but to... No, no, never mind...

菲菲：哦，抱歉，米爾德麗德，剛剛那不是跟你說的，而是和……不，不是，別在意……

(Mildred on the phone)

（米爾德麗德在打電話）

Feifei: I know, I know... yes, I know...

菲菲：我知道，我知道……是啊，我知道……

重點講解：
1. on and on
不停地；繼續不斷地；
eg. Lobell drove on and on through the dense and blowing snow.
洛貝爾冒着紛飛的大雪不停地往前開。
eg. He worked on and on all night.
他連續不斷地幹了個通宵。
2. be sick and tired of
厭倦的；厭煩的；厭惡的；
eg. I am sick and tired of hearing all these people moaning...
我厭倦了聽這些人大發牢騷。
eg. I was sick and tired of the unending secrecy.
我對這種諱莫如深的神祕氣氛感到十分厭煩。
3. blab about
泄露（祕密）；
eg. Her mistake was to blab about their affair.
她錯在說出了他們的婚外情。
eg. If your friend tells you something in confidence, don't blab about it to everyone else.
如果你的朋友祕密地告訴你某件事情，不要將它泄露給任何人。
4. never mind
沒關係；不要緊；沒什麼；
eg. Well, never mind, John, it's not a matter of life and death.
好了，約翰，別太在意了。這又不是什麼生死攸關的大事。
eg. Never mind, I won't tell on you.
別擔心，我不會告發你。