流行美语 374 take sb. under the wing...

Larry在咖啡馆里碰见了李华。他们会用到两个常用语：take someone under your wing和take someone for a ride.

(Sound of caf□door opening - chimes)

Larry: Hey, there you are, Lihua.

LH: (Sounding tired) Oh, hi Larry.

Larry: I haven't seen you since last weekend. What have you been up to? Don't tell me you're having midterms already.

LH: 我连看书的时间都没有! 尽忙着照顾我表妹了。她从中国来美国上高中，初来乍到，什么都不会，所以我这两天一直在帮她安顿。

Larry: I'm sure it's a very tough transition for both of you. But, it's so nice of you to take her under your wing.

LH: "Take her under my wing"? 这是什么意思？

Larry: To take someone under your wing means to give them a great deal of personal guidance and protection while they are learning something of which you have experience.

LH: 我明白了， to take someone under your wing，就是指导、保护和照料某人。我现在就是这样像母鸡带小鸡一样照顾着我表妹呢!

Larry: It takes time to learn how to cope with living in a totally new environment - it's only natural to need a little bit of help at first. As a matter of fact, I can remember a time not so long ago when I took a certain confused girl from China under my own wing...

LH: 你说你也曾这样帮助过一个女孩？ 你不是在说我吧？Larry, 虽然你给了我很多帮助，但这和我给我表妹的帮助是不同的。我要是不在她身边，她连出门买吃的都不敢!

Larry: But Lihua, you couldn't buy groceries on your own either when you first moved here. One time at the grocery store, your bill came to $7.50 and you pulled out a dollar bill, asking me if it was enough!

LH: Haha, 这个我记得。刚到美国时，每次需要跟美国人打交道我都会非常紧张，就算不说英语，还是觉得很恐怖。

Larry: Luckily, I was there to take you under my wing while you got used to living in the United States - just like how you're taking your cousin under your wing now!

LH: 哈，看来我们都是好心人! 最近我在帮我表妹找房子。她以前的房东欺负她是新来的，把房租提高了两倍!我表妹已经傻呼呼地交了一个月的钱!

Larry: Yeah, you have to be really careful. It sounds like that landlord was taking your cousin for a ride.

LH: Taking her for a ride? 开车带她出去？那个房东可没这么好心!

Larry: Um, I mean "taking her for a ride" as in, taking advantage of her situation - playing a trick on her for his own benefit.

LH: 哦! 原来to take someone for a ride还有欺负人，宰人的意思!

Larry: Yea, that's right. For example, when I went to New York City, my cab driver noticed that I had never been to New York before, and so he took a longer route to my hotel in order to run up my bill. This is a classic case of "taking someone for a ride."

LH: 啊？司机看你是第一次来纽约，就带着你绕远路，多收你的车费。这可真差劲，欺负人!

Larry: Unfortunately, some people will take advantage of other people like that.

LH: Larry, 咱们是愿意take others under our wings, 不遗余力地帮助别人，可这个房东和那个出租司机却会take people for a ride， 占别人便宜。所以这两个说法的意思正好相反嘛!

Larry: Yea, you could think of it like that. So, it's a great thing that you are taking your cousin under your wing! Otherwise, it would be easy for people to take her for a ride.

LH: 好吧，为了防止她受欺负，我就继续努力吧。

Larry: I'm sure your cousin is a smart girl. Before you know it, she'll be just as capable to live on her own in the United States as you are - and you won't have to worry about people trying to take her for a ride.

LH: (叹气) 不过，在她完全自立前，我可有的忙了，估计不能常和你见面了!

Larry: That's OK. Taking someone under your wing is a quite a full-time job!

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是to take someone under your wing，意思是“照顾和帮助某人”。另一个是to take someone for a ride，意思是“占人便宜，欺负人”。