English - The Real Deal

我估计，最泛滥的英语单词非like莫属，至少在美国的年轻一族里。前几天坐车的时候，碰到两女一男，他们谈了整整一路，平均每句话里有两到三个like。我心里暗笑，真是一山还比一山高。我以前总觉得自己已经见过最喜欢说like的人了，跟这三人一比，小意思。

Like之所以泛滥，不是因为“喜欢”，而是有两种用途特别流行：

首先，它可以不表示实际意思，仅仅起停顿作用，类似于hmm，well，you know。（See like [6, adverb] 3 b）

– used interjectionally in informal speech often to emphasize a word or phrase (as in “He was, like, gorgeous”) or for an apologetic, vague, or unassertive effect (as in “I need to, like, borrow some money”)

换句话说，当你需要停顿，需要“这个、、、那个、、、嗯、、、啊、、、”的时候就可以用like。至于停顿的理由，可以是想强调后面要讲的内容，可以是暂时找不到合适的词来表达，也可以是某些事难以启齿，或者干脆就是有不良癖好，习惯把like当逗号来使用。最最经典的例子莫过于Jessica Simpson在Newlyweds里的名言：

Is there, like, maids for, like, celebrities? （明星有没有保姆啊?）

再随便举几个例子：

He’s, like, obsessed with the Chinese history. （他对中国历史很着迷。）
Can you, like, give me some hints? （你可不可以给我点提示啊？）
The concert was, like, totally awesome! （那场演唱会太棒了！）

我想指出的是，流行的并不一定是好的。事实上，like的这种用法通常是被高雅人士所不屑的。因为把like去掉完全不影响意思的表达，用得太多只是累赘，并且显得你语无伦次。如果你没有这样用like的习惯，千万别刻意去学。如果有，尽量克制点。

其次，它跟在be后面，基本可以代替“说”。（See like IDIOM: be like Informal, and pay close attention to OUR LIVING LANGUAGE:）

… the construction combining be and like has become a common way of introducing quotations in informal conversation, especially among younger people: “So I’m like, ‘Let’s get out of here!’”… It can also summarize a past attitude or reaction (instead of presenting direct speech).

我只能说，归纳得太正确了。比如我在车上碰到的那三个人，他们的话几乎都是这个模式：

He was like, “You can’t be serious.” I was like, “Of course I’m serious.” And he was like, “For real?” And I was like, “Hell yeah!” And he was like, “Aren’t your parents gonna be mad?” And I was like, “Whatever!” （这段话我就不翻译了，大家慢慢回味吧，呵呵。）

总体上来看，like的这两种用法都是在女生里更泛滥一些。还是那句话，流行的不一定是好的。大家心知肚明、笑笑就罢了，自己尽量不要以这样的方式说话。不必要的like就去掉，该说“说”的时候就说“说”，不然要say/says/said干嘛？

This entry was posted on Friday, January 7th, 2005 at 4:23 pm and is filed under Idiom, Interjection, Everyday Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.