English - The Real Deal

当广播里第4815162342次传来Carrie Underwood的那首Before He Cheats后，我终于忍不住去查了歌词。不查不知道，一查吓一跳。这首歌里包含着相当多的文化背景知识！我不熟悉的主要有两点：

1. Louisville slugger

这是美国职业棒球大联盟（Major League Baseball）的官方棒球棍。所以，歌里的I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights其实就等于I took a baseball bat to both headlights，是说她拿了棒球棍去砸花心男友的车前灯。

BTW，baseball bat中文到底叫什么啊？棒球拍/棍/棒？

2. bathroom polo

这个似乎很有争议，不少人认为她唱的是bathroom cologne。我仔细听了之后，确定是bathroom polo。不过，这里的polo和cologne其实是一回事。

When Underwood sings about her ex putting on “bathroom Polo,” she’s referring to vending machines found in the men’s rooms of certain US drinking establishments that dispense low-grade cologne. The guys who buy these fragrances often believe it will help them attract a mate in the bar, although many females are actually repelled by the scent.

另外，查了歌词后无意间发现一个英语母语者的常见错误：许多人把souped-up拼成suped-up（我查到的第一个版本写的就是suped-up 4-wheel drive）。这个误拼也算情有可原，毕竟souped-up的定义是enhanced or increased in appeal, power, performance, or intensity，也就是说souped-up car给人感觉很super，像是supered-up car。但实际上，souped-up和super/supered-up没有关系。

The car you’ve souped up may be super, but it’s not “suped up.”

末了，附上终极正确版歌词供大家参考。还有什么不懂的自己琢磨吧。

Right now he’s probably slow dancin’ with a bleached-blond tramp and she’s probably getting frisky
Right now, he’s probably buying her some fruity little drink ’cause she can’t shoot whiskey
Right now, he’s probably up behind her with a pool-stick showin’ her how to shoot a combo
And he don’t know…

I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped-up 4-wheel drive
Carved my name into his leather seats
I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights
Slashed a hole in all 4 tires
Maybe next time he’ll think before he cheats

Right now, she’s probably up singin’ some white-trash version of Shania karaoke
Right now, she’s probably sayin’ “I’m drunk” and he’s a thinkin’ that he’s gonna get lucky
Right now, he’s probably dabbin’ on 3 dollars worth of that bathroom polo
Oh and he don’t know ohhh

That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped-up 4-wheel drive
Carved my name into his leather seats
I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights
Slashed a hole in all 4 tires
Maybe next time he’ll think before he cheats

I mighta saved a little trouble for the next girl
‘Cause the next time that he cheats
Oh, you know it won’t be on me
Nooo not on me

‘Cause I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped-up 4-wheel drive
Carved my name into his leather seats
I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights
Slashed a hole in all 4 tires
Maybe next time he’ll think before he cheats
Oh maybe next time he’ll think… before he cheats
Oh before he cheats
Ohh

Bonus video: Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 3rd, 2008 at 1:09 pm and is filed under Culture, Spelling, Common Mistake. 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.