【大紀元9月16日訊】李華和Larry一起到飯館吃飯。店裡人多，他們只好排隊等位。今天我們要學兩個常用語：to kick oneself和wiggle room。
LH: Larry, 真希望這家飯館能快點上菜，我快餓暈了！
L: Yeah, I’m pretty hungry too, and smelling all the delicious food here is only making it worse.
LH: 咱們待會兒也別看菜單了，就跟服務員說，什麼菜能上得最快，我們就點什麼。
L: Well, I guess we could do that … but if the food is really bad, you’re going to be kicking yourself later.
LH: 你說我要kick myself? 踢我自己？別開玩笑了，我連抬腿的勁兒都沒有了，怎麼還能踢自己。
L: Actually, if you really regret something stupid that you did earlier, you can say that you are kicking yourself.
LH: 哦， 原來to kick oneself不是自己踢自己，而是為自己做的蠢事感到後悔。你是說，要是我不看菜單瞎點，八成得後悔。
L: Right! Here is another example. I spent $1,000 on a new computer, but I was kicking myself a week later when it went on sale for half the price.
LH: 那可不，剛買台電腦，沒幾天就降價50%，這能不讓人後悔麼？早知道就多等幾天，可以省好多錢呢。好了，咱們還是趕快決定吃什麼吧，辣雞翅怎麼樣？
L: I really love spicy food, but it always makes my stomach hurt. If I eat it, I know I’m going to be kicking myself later.
LH: 那油炸奶酪？
L: Yeah, those are really tasty too, but they’re so fattening! I know I’m going to be kicking myself at the gym tomorrow.
LH: Larry, 你怎麼這麼多事！這家飯館挺貴的，應該不會難吃。
L: Yeah, I’m going to be kicking myself if we spend a lot of money on dinner but the food isn’t very good.
LH: 可是Larry，我真的餓死了。那張桌子空出來了，我們可以進去了!
L: Great! Let’s go and sit down.
******
LH: 啊，真是酒足飯飽，我吃得太多了，撐死了。咱們幹點什麼消化消消食兒吧。
L: Hmm … do you want to go see a movie? I think that the new Tom Cruise action movie starts playing at 9 PM.
LH: 好啊，可是現在已經八點一刻了，咱們趕得及麼？
L: Well, the theater is only 15 minutes away, so we have some wiggle room.
LH: Wiggle room? 那什麼意思？
L: When you say that you have some wiggle room, that means that you have some flexibility, or room to spare.
LH: 噢， wiggle room就是迴旋餘地。你是說電影院離得不遠，我們還有一些時間，應該可以趕上九點鐘的電影。
L: Right! Here is another example. My apartment lease ends next week, but I have some wiggle room because my landlord said I could stay an extra month if I need to.
LH: 我明白了。房東允許你再多住一個月，所以你就不必趕緊搬家，還有時間可以慢慢找房子。 對了，我聽說Tom Cruise的這部新片裡有好多電腦特技。
L: Yeah, I read that the movie cost more than the movie studio thought it would. By the end, there was no wiggle room in the budget.
LH: 啊？拍這個電影花錢太多，最後預算一分不剩都花啦？那這電影一定好看！不過說實話，我還是想看愛情片，我們下週去好不好。
L: Well … I probably can … but I will have to check my schedule.
LH: 你怎麼這麼麻煩，到底去不去？
L: Well, I just want to keep a little wiggle room in case an even better action movie comes out next week!
LH: 哼，你幹什麼都不把話說死，總要留點餘地。隨便，你不陪我就自己去。好啦，咱們走吧，你說給多少小費啊？15%還是20%?
L: You know, there is some wiggle room. Anything between 15 percent and 20 percent will be fine.
LH: 好吧。對了，你想不想去隔壁的甜品店吃點冰激凌？
L: Even though we have some extra time, we probably shouldn’t take the risk. We’re going to be kicking ourselves if eating ice cream makes us late to the movie.
LH: 我肯定不後悔，冰淇淋比電影誘人多了。走，陪我去吃!
今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是to kick oneself, 表示感到後悔。另一個是wiggle room, 意思是靈活性，迴旋餘地。 (//www.dajiyuan.com)
