淺談美國人的婚戀觀

我們在電影里看到的美國人，他們婚戀觀很開放，真正做到了“身高不是問題，年齡不是距離”，只要有火花（only if they have passion）。When passion kind of burns out, they will definitely break up.?

看看《老友記》第1季第22集這段對話，Monica跟一個(gè)小她幾歲的“大學(xué)生”談戀愛，朋友們都是什么反應(yīng)。

[Scene: They are having a chat at Central Perk.]

Monica: All right, I'll see you guys later. (raises)

Rachel: Off to see young Ethan?

Monica: Thank you.

Joey: How young is young Ethan? Young?

Monica: He's...our age.

Chandler: When we were?

Monica: Okay, he's a senior in college.

Ross: College?

Joey: Rob that cradle.

Monica: He’s smart, mature and grown-up.

Ross: Mature and grown-up. He’s a big boy.

Chandler: Whoa! And this manchild has no problem with how old you are?

Monica: No, of course not. It's not even an issue. Because I told him I was 22.

All: What? ?

Monica: Oh, I can't pass for 22? ?

Phoebe: Well, maybe 25, 26.

Monica: I am 26. ? ??

Phoebe: There you go.

這段對話比較簡單，但可以看出來，朋友們對Monica“姐弟戀”百般調(diào)侃。解析：

（1）off：adv. ?means away or from where something is

英文中的小詞（麻雀雖小五臟俱全）經(jīng)常蘊(yùn)含著巨大的能量，像“do”。

“Off to see sb?”要去見某人？

例：We’re off(=we are leaving).

? ? It happened while his wife was off on a business trip.

（2）He’s our age. 他和我們差不多大。

Chandler平時(shí)最喜歡打趣別人，Ethan前面加上了young，可見很小啦，他就問：

（He’s our age）when we were? 我們要倒退幾年才和他差不多大呢？

（3）he's a senior in college. 他是大四學(xué)生。

歸類學(xué)習(xí)：把大一~大四一起記一下

freshman n. ?a student in the first year of high school or college

sophomore n. ?a student in the second year of high school or college

junior n. ?a student in the third year of high school or college

senior n. ?a student in the last year of high school or college

（4）rob that cradle

cradle means “a small bed for a baby that you can rock(=move gently from side to side)”：嬰兒床

望文生義，想想這個(gè)詞什么意思呢？

“rob that cradle” means “to have a sexual relationship with someone who is a lot younger than you”：老牛吃嫩草

（5）Monica說年齡完全不是問題，這個(gè)小男友“smart, mature and grown-up”。

這里的grown-up=mature, adj. ?means behaving like an adult

它的動(dòng)詞形式：grow up，在口語中表示“said to tell someone to behave more like an adult, especially when they have been behaving in a childish way”

例：

比如我講了一個(gè)成人的正經(jīng)的話題，朋友們都在竊笑。我可以說：Would you guys grow up?

<相反>“孩子氣”怎么表達(dá)？

例：

If you guys wanna be children about this, that's fine.?

（6）26歲的Monica謊稱自己才22歲，嘖嘖嘖！還反問朋友們：I can't pass for 22?

If somebody or something passes for something else, people think they are that thing, although they are not really.

例：

Even though Shawn’s only 17, he’s so big and tall he could pass for 21.

It’s amazing what passes for entertainment on TV(=what bad quality things people will accept as entertainment).

最烏龍的就是，事情發(fā)展到最后，這個(gè)Young Ethan turns out to be a senior in HIGH SCHOOL! So Monica has no choice but to break up with him. 看來老外也覺得年齡是個(gè)問題??！至少在“姐弟戀”中，女方同樣承受著巨大的壓力。