我们讲的英语第77期:By the skin of your teeth勉强做成某事

Li: Hi, I'm Li, and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm here today with Jen.
李：大家好，我是李，欢迎来到我们说的英语节目。今天我们请到了珍。

Jennifer: Hi!
珍妮弗：大家好！

Li: You look a little… flustered? Are you ok?
李：你看上去有点儿……慌乱，你还好吧？

Jennifer: I woke up late and had to run to the train station. There's only one train an hour. I ran all the way there and made it by the skin of my teeth, just as the doors were closing. Phew! Is there any coffee…?
珍妮弗：我起晚了，只能赶紧跑去火车站。因为火车一小时只有一趟。我一路跑去火车站，勉强赶上了火车，火车门马上就要关了。呼！有没有咖啡……？

Li: Hang on… how did your teeth help you to run for the train?
李：稍等……你牙齿上的皮肤是怎么帮你赶上火车的？

Jennifer: Sorry?
珍妮弗：你说什么？

Li: You said "I made it by the skin of my teeth." I've got to see this! Show me your teeth! When did they grow skin?
李：你刚刚说“我用我牙齿上的皮肤赶上了火车。”我一定要看看这个！让我看看你的牙！它们是怎么长出皮肤的？

Jennifer: There's no skin on my teeth. That would be disgusting. Yuck.
珍妮弗：我牙齿上没有皮肤。那样会很恶心的。呸。

Li: So what did you mean?
李：那你是什么意思？

Jennifer: If you do something 'by the skin of your teeth' it means that you did it by a narrow margin – so you just managed to do it, or almost failed.
珍妮弗：如果你“用你牙齿上的皮肤”做某事，意思是你以微弱的优势做成了某事——你勉强完成了这件事，差点就要失败了。

Li: So, if you got to the train by the skin of your teeth, it means that you nearly missed it?
李：你说你勉强赶上了火车，意思是你差点就要错过火车了？

Jennifer: That's exactly right. Let's hear some more examples of the phrase in action:
珍妮弗：完全正确。下面我们再来看一些这个短语的例句：

My brother's so lucky – he never does any revision for exams but always manages to pass by the skin of his teeth!
我哥哥非常幸运——他考试从来没复习过，而每次考试都能将将及格！

Hi, I'm stuck in a traffic jam – I might still make it to the presentation, but it'll be by the skin of my teeth.
你好，我堵在路上了——我可能会赶上展示会，但也就勉强能赶上。

Li: So when you just manage to do something, you can say you did it by the skin of your teeth?
李：那当你说勉强做成某事的时候，就可以用这个短语了？

Jennifer: That's it.
珍妮弗：没错。

Li: That's a really funny phrase. I like it.
李：这真是个有趣的短语。我喜欢。

Jennifer: It's good to be able to get your teeth into English phrases like this.
珍妮弗：你能像这样专注于英语短语真好。

Li: My teeth? What about my teeth?
李：我的牙？我的牙怎么了？

Jennifer: It's just another phrase, silly. If you get your teeth into something, it means that you become really involved in it.
珍妮弗：笨蛋，这是另一个短语。把你的牙齿放进某件事中，意思是你真正投入到一件事中。

Li: Well in that case, I do love getting my teeth into a new phrase… Teeth… hang on… Oh no! I've just remembered, I have a dentist's appointment at twelve o'clock – it's ten to twelve now, I'll never make it!
李：那这样的话，我真的很热衷于学习新短语……牙齿……稍等……哦，不！我刚刚想起来，我12点约了牙医——现在已经11点50了，我肯定赶不及了！

Jennifer: You go, I'll finish the programme – if you run you might make it, but by the skin of your teeth!
珍妮弗：你去吧，我来结束今天的节目——如果你跑着去的话可能会赶上，不过肯定是勉强赶上！

Li: Thanks Jen – bye…
李：谢谢你，珍，再见……

Jennifer: Join us again for another edition of The English We Speak and visit our website, bbclearningenglish.com. Bye!
珍妮弗：这里是我们所说的英语节目，我们下期见，欢迎大家访问我们的网站bbclearningenglish.com。再见！