The english we speak(BBC教学)第324期:Brass neck 厚颜无耻
If you have a neck made of brass how does it make you behave? Feifei discovers an expression about being confident that shouldn't be taken literally!
如果你的脖子是用黄铜做的，那你要怎么行动？菲菲发现了一个与自信有关的表达方式，这个表达可不能从字面上理解！Feifei: Hello I'm Feifei and this is The English We Speak.
菲菲：大家好，欢迎收听地道英语节目。Rob: Yes, it is. And hello I'm Rob.
罗布：欢迎收听节目。大家好，我是罗布。
Feifei: I don't know about you Rob, but I seem to have so much work to do at the moment.
菲菲：罗布，我不知道你什么情况，可是我现在好像有很多工作要做。Rob: Yeah, me too. We've got to meet that deadline by Friday.
罗布：我也是。周五就是最后截止期限了。Feifei: I guess we've all got lots to do — and that's why I was surprised that Phyllis has asked to take three days off work this week.
菲菲：我想我们都有很多事要做，所以我在听说菲利斯这周要请三天假时感到非常惊讶。Rob: Three days? Are you sure? Maybe she's unwell?
罗布：请三天假？你确定吗？她是不是身体不舒服？Feifei: No, she's fine — I heard her say to the boss in a very loud voice 'I've got a great deal on a flight to Italy so I need to take the rest of the week off.'
菲菲：不是，她很好，我听到她很大声地跟老板说，“我订了飞往意大利的航班，所以这周剩下的日子我要休假。”Rob: What cheek — she's got a brass neck.
罗布：真是厚脸皮，她真是厚颜无耻。Feifei: A brass neck? Phyllis has a brass neck! Really — when did she get that — maybe she needs a holiday to recover from the operation?
菲菲：黄铜脖子？菲利斯有个黄铜脖子！真的吗？她是什么时候有的黄铜脖子？也许她需要假期是因为她需要从手术中恢复过来？Rob: No no no Feifei. Her neck isn't actually made of brass — I just mean she is confident but also a bit rude — she can do or say things that most of us would be too embarrassed to do or say.
罗布：不是，不是这样的，菲菲。她的脖子不是黄铜做的，我的意思是她很自信，但是有点儿无礼，她能做或是说一些我们因为尴尬而不会去做或者说的事情。Feifei: Yes, she just doesn't care what she says does she? So if someone is described as having a brass neck, it means they are confident and say or do what they want but doesn't understand their behaviour might be unacceptable to others.
菲菲：对，她不在乎她说了什么，对吧？如果我们说有人有“黄铜脖子”，其实是说他们很自信，他们会说他们想说的话，做他们想做的事，但是并不知道他们的行为对于其他人来说可能无法接受。Rob: Yes, she certainly doesn't worry about what other people think of her. A bit like people in these examples...
罗布：对，她当然不在乎其他人怎么看她。有点像这些例子里的人……Examples
例句My ex-boyfriend's got a brass neck, coming round and asking me to do his washing!
我前男友真是厚脸皮，他过来让我帮他洗衣服！The customer has a brass neck asking for a refund when it was obvious he had already worn the shoes.
这个顾客真是厚脸皮，他显然已经穿过这双鞋了，却还来要求退款。She's got a brass neck telling the boss that he wasn't very good at his job — I would never say that!
她太厚脸皮了，她跟老板说他不太擅长自己的工作，我可永远不会那么说！Feifei: So having a brass neck means you are extremely confident about your own actions but you don't understand that your behaviour might be unacceptable to others. So it's not like us Rob?
菲菲：这个短语的意思是说你对自己的行为极其自信，但你并不知道自己的行为对别人来说可能无法接受。这可不是我们的作风，对吧罗布？Rob: Absolutely not. Although, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind writing the notes for the presentation we're doing? I've got to meet someone for lunch.
罗布：当然不是了。不过我想知道你是不是不介意为我们正在做的展示会做笔记？我约了人吃午饭。Feifei: Ermm...
菲菲：额……Rob: Come on Feifei, you love writing presentations... Oh why are you looking so brassed off?
罗布：来吧菲菲，你很喜欢写演示文稿的……哦，为什么你看上去那么愤怒呢？Feifei: Brassed off — you mean I'm looking annoyed and disappointed — maybe I'm looking brassed off because of your brass neck.
菲菲：愤怒，你是说我看上去恼怒又沮丧，也许我之所以看上去很愤怒是因为你太厚颜无耻了。Rob: I'll take that as 'no' then. Oh well, at least you understand this English expression now!
罗布：我就当你这是回答“不行”了。好吧，至少现在你理解这个英语表达的意思了！Both: Bye!
二人一起：再见！
译文属仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
重点讲解：
1. recover from 恢复健康；复原；
例句：It took a long time for him to recover from a bad cold.
他患重感冒，很长时间才康复。
2. be made of （由…）构成的；（由…）制成的；
例句：The lavatory windows are made of translucent glass.
厕所窗户是用半透明玻璃做的。
3. come around 拜访；探访；
例句：Mary comes around to see her parents once or twice a week.
玛丽每星期来看她的父母亲一两次。
4. be good at 擅长的；精通的；能干的；
例句：The boy is good at doing a sum in his head.
这男孩善于心算。
