我们讲的英语第135期:To blow your own trumpet 自我炫耀

William: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. My name is William Kremer.
威廉：大家好，欢迎收听地道英语节目。我是威廉·克莱默。

Helen: And I'm Helen.
海伦：我是海伦。

William: I've got something for you, Helen.
威廉：海伦，我有东西要给你听。

Burst of loud classical music (Beethoven's '5th Symphony')
突然传来古典音乐的声音（贝多芬的《第五交响曲》）

Helen: It's nice to have a bit of music William, but why...
海伦：威廉，来点音乐是不错，可是为什么……

Burst of different classical music (Mendelssohn's 'Dance of the Clowns')
突然换成另一首古典音乐（门德尔松的《贝加莫舞曲》）

William: What do you think... nice music, huh?
威廉：你觉得怎么样，音乐很不错，对吧？

Helen: Well, it's certainly dramatic! So are we having a special musical edition today, William?
海伦：嗯，当然是激动人心了！所以我们今天是要进行音乐特辑吗，威廉？

William: Well, yes we are Helen. The BBC Proms start this Friday, remember?
威廉：嗯，是的，海伦。英国广播公司逍遥音乐节从周五开始，你还记得吧？

Helen: Ah, of course. The BBC Proms is a huge classical music festival that the BBC sponsors. It's over 100 years old.
海伦：当然记得。英国广播公司逍遥音乐节是英国广播公司赞助的大型古典音乐节。这个音乐节已经有100多年的历史了。

William: Yes and every day for the next two months hundreds of music fans will queue to get their hands on a ￡5 ticket.
威廉：对，未来两个月的每一天都会有数百名音乐爱好者排队购买门票，门票价格是每张5英镑。

Helen: Wow. Are you going to go?
海伦：哇。你打算去吗？

William: No, I hate queuing! But anyway, I thought we could have a music-themed programme. And our phrase this week relates to one instrument in particular...
威廉：不，我讨厌排队！不过不管怎样，我想我们可以做期音乐主题节目。而本周我们要讲的词组就和一个乐器有关……

Trumpet music solo
小号独奏

Helen: The trumpet?
海伦：是小号吗？

William: Yes, do you know what it means to say someone 'blows his own trumpet'?
威廉：对，你知道blows his own trumpet是什么意思吗？

Helen: Yes. It means that someone is talking too much about his achievements, right?
海伦：知道。意思是某人过分地炫耀自己的成就，对吧？

William: Exactly. Let's listen to an example.
威廉：没错。我们来听一个例子。

Woman: Who's going to be there tonight?
女：今晚都谁参加？

Man: I think Angela and Mark and that guy Martin...
男：我想安吉拉、马克还有马丁……

Woman: Oh no, not Martin! He's such a bore. He's always blowing his own trumpet. Last time I saw him he went on and on about how he had been promoted twice in six weeks.
女：哦，不，马丁不行！他太烦人了，他总是自我吹嘘。我上次见到他的时候，他一直在不停地说他在六周内被提升两次的事情。

Helen: So this is quite a negative phrase then?
海伦：那这是一个贬义词组？

William: Yes, sometimes. But interestingly, it isn't always used in a negative way. Listen to this example. A woman is talking to her niece.
威廉：对，有时是。不过有意思地是，这个词组并不总是用于贬义。来听这个例子。一个女人正在和她的侄女谈话。

Woman: I didn't know you'd come top in the class again! Why didn't you tell me? You really must start blowing your own trumpet a bit more!
女：我不知道你又考了全班第一！你为什么没告诉我？你真的需要多炫耀一下自己！

Helen: So in that clip, the woman was telling her niece she ought to blow her own trumpet more?
海伦：在这个例子中，这名女性告诉她侄女应该多炫耀一下自己？

William: Yes. And English people sometimes use this phrase because they are embarrassed to talk about their achievements. Listen to this clip:
威廉：对。英国人在不好意思谈论自己的成就时也会用这个词组。来听这个例子：

Man: How's it going at your work nowadays?
男：你最近工作怎么样？

Woman: Well, at the risk of blowing my own trumpet, it's going very well. In fact, I've just won an award!
女：嗯，可能听上去像是自我炫耀，不过进展非常顺利。实际上，我刚刚得了奖！

Helen: She said "At the risk of blowing my own trumpet".
海伦：她说“可能听上去像是自我炫耀”。

William: Yeah, so that's like saying "Excuse me while I talk about my achievements"!
威廉：对，意思就是“不好意思，我要谈谈我的成就”！

Helen: Well, I wonder whether we should blow our own trumpet a bit more. I mean here we are with a really popular website, bbclearningenglish.com...
海伦：嗯，我想知道我们是否应该多炫耀一下自己。我的意思是，我们在一个非常受欢迎的网站工作，那就是bbclearningenglish.com……

William: ...yeah, making lots of little programmes that are entertaining, fascinating, useful...
威廉：……对，我们制作了大量有趣、引人入胜又有用的小节目……

Helen: …and best of all, it's all free! Brilliant, huh?
海伦：最棒的是，所有节目都是免费的！非常精彩，不是吗？

William: Yeah, that's brilliant! But maybe we should stop blowing our own trumpet now! Shall we have some more of that nice music again to finish off?
威廉：对，非常精彩！不过也许我们现在该停止自我吹嘘了！我们再来点精彩的音乐来结束节目怎么样？

Helen: Oh yes! Bye!
海伦：好的！再见！

William: Bye!
威廉：再见！