【大紀元12月7日訊】

Larry的父母最近來大學看望他。Larry一直忙著招待他們，今天好不容易抽空在李華的住處休息一下。李華會學到兩個常用語：drive someone bonkers和tightwad。

LL: I can’t believe my family has been here only three days. They are really making me bonkers!

LH: Making you bonkers？Larry，這個聽起來可不像是甚麼好話。

LL: No, it isn’t. Bonkers means crazy. Even though I love my family, they have all these annoying habits that drive me bonkers.

LH: 噢， make you bonkers就是你都快瘋了。這我就不懂了，你很愛你的父母，這是毫無疑問的。可是他們有哪些習慣會讓你受不了呢？

LL: Well, there is my mom. She is a great housekeeper, but when she comes to my apartment, she rearranges everything. It drives me bonkers, because I can’t find anything!

LH: 這我完全理解。你媽是好意，看你屋裡太亂，幫你整理整理。可是東西找不到的時候可真著急， 火氣就上來了。我媽來看我的時候總是看電視，吵得我都沒法看書。That drove me bonkers。

LL: And I bet your mom is the kind of person that would go bonkers if it was always quiet. She probably likes the noise and activity.

LH: 你說得一點都沒錯。我媽是個很活躍的人，一靜下來她就受不了。

LL: Then there’s my little sister. She drives me bonkers because she is always complaining that there is nothing to do. She says she is bored.

LH: 你也別怪你小妹妹，沒事幹也是很難受的。我回中國探親的時候，每天不是吃飯就是聊天，真是很枯燥，有時真受不了。 Sometimes, it drove me bonkers, too.

LL: Speaking of talking and eating, my brother is making me bonkers because he talks endlessly and has eaten up everything in my house! I’ve got to go to the grocery store again.

LH: 噢，你弟弟也一起來啦？他那麼愛說話，跟我媽在一起倒不錯！(哈，哈…)不過，年輕人能吃，你當然得去超市給他去買吃的了！

LL: It is okay, Li Hua. Even though I complain about my family, I really do love them. For everything they do that drives me bonkers, there is something wonderful they do, too.

LH: 我知道，抱怨歸抱怨，但是家人總是親人。儘管他們有讓我們受不了的地方，但是他們對我們總是出於愛心，為我們作了許多事。

LL：Li Hua, do I drive you bonkers sometimes?

LH: 沒有啦！你是個好朋友. You never drive me bonkers.

***

LH: Larry, 你好像沒有抱怨過你的父親，看來你們家裏至少有一個人沒有drive you bonkers.

LL: Oh, no, my dad is driving me bonkers, too. He is such a tightwad!

LH: 甚麼？你父親是甚麼？

LL: He is a tightwad because he doesn’t like to spend money on anything. He is very stingy with his money.

LH: 噢，tightwad就是小氣，不肯花錢。其實節省也不是壞事。

LL: Yes, but let me give you an example. My dad knows my apartment is very small, but he is such a tightwad that he didn’t want to spend money on a hotel.

LH: 這個例子倒挺能說明問題。你這麼一小間屋子，你爸爸媽媽帶著弟弟一起來擠在你這兒是不太方便。

LL: That is right. It would have been much more comfortable for them to have a hotel room, but my dad is too much of a tightwad for that!

LH: 對，他們住在旅館裡，大家都舒服多了。這麼看，你爸爸是很小氣。不過，我父母也一樣，他們來美國探親時總捨不得到餐館去吃飯， 說在外面吃太貴。

LL: My dad is the same way about eating out, too. I hope that when I have kids I won’t be such a tightwad.

LH: 你爸爸也不肯出去吃飯哪！我看你呀，Larry，有了孩子後絕不會像你爸爸那樣。 其實，作父母的也不容易，要養家，要供孩子讀書，花銷很大啊。

LL: That’s true. If my dad wasn’t such a tightwad about the little things, maybe he wouldn’t have been able to send me to college.

LH: 那到是，要是你爸爸不這麼精打細算，你現在可能還上不了大學呢。你的弟弟妹妹也要上大學的，所以你父親節約是有道理的。

LL: You are right, Li Hua. I’ll forgive my dad for being a tightwad。But the rest of my family is still driving me bonkers!

今天李華學到了兩個常用語。一個是drive someone bonkers, 意思是令人生氣，受不了。另一個常用語是tightwad，意思是小氣鬼、吝嗇鬼。(//www.dajiyuan.com)