我们讲的英语第137期:Teetotal 滴酒不沾

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. Hello.
海伦：我是海伦。大家好。

William: So, are you going to go out after work tonight, Helen?
威廉：海伦，今晚下班后你要出去玩吗？

Helen: You mean for Rob's birthday? What's the plan?
海伦：你是说为罗布庆祝生日吗？有什么计划吗？

William: Well, I think we're just going to head to the Fox and Flowerpot at 6.00pm.
威廉：嗯，我想我们晚上六点要去Fox and Flowerpot酒吧。

Helen: Going to the pub again? No, I think I'll give it a miss this time.
海伦：又要去酒吧？我想这次我就不参加了。

William: Oh no! Why? Have you got plans?
威廉：哦不！为什么呀？你有其他计划吗？

Helen: No, it's just...
海伦：没有，只是……

William: You don't like Rob, maybe?
威廉：也许是你不喜欢罗布？

Helen: No, no–that's not the reason. I just don't like going to the pub all the time. I don't really drink, you know, and I always feel a bit awkward.
海伦：不，当然不是，那并不是我不去的原因。我只是不喜欢总是去酒吧。我不喜欢喝酒，你知道，我经常会觉得有点尴尬。

William: Ah, I didn't know you were teetotal, Helen!
威廉：啊，海伦，我不知道你滴酒不沾！

Helen: Teetotal?
海伦：Teetotal？

William: Teetotal. This is an adjective that describes a person who doesn't drink alcohol.
威廉：这是一个形容词，用来描述不喝酒的人。

Helen: Right-so does this person just drink tea?!
海伦：好的，那这类人只喝茶吗？

William: Well maybe! But actually, the word teetotal doesn't have anything to do with tea. It's spelled T.E.E.T.O.T.A.L. Let's listen to this example of the word being used:
威廉：也许吧！不过实际上，这个词和茶没有任何关系。拼写是T.E.E.T.O.T.A.L。我们来听一下应用这个词的例子：

Man: Have you bought the drinks for the party yet?
男：你买好宴会要用的酒了吗？

Woman: Yep–I've got a case of wine and two boxes of beer. I've also got some soft drinks for Granny. She's teetotal nowadays.
女：买好了，我买了一箱红酒和两瓶啤酒。我还给奶奶买了些软饮料。她现在滴酒不沾。

Helen: Can you say, "I don't feel like drinking beer tonight... I'm going to have a teetotal evening"?
海伦：可以说“我今晚不想喝啤酒……我今晚打算滴酒不沾”吗

William: Well not really. We describe people as teetotal, and it means that they never drink alcohol. Now, teetotal is an adjective, but there is also a noun that we can use. See if you can hear it in this example:
威廉：不可以。我们形容一个人滴酒不沾，意思是他们从来不喝酒精类饮料。现在这个词是个形容词，不过也可以用作名词。就像你在下面这个例子中听到的一样：

Man: My father used to drink heavily, you know. Every night he'd have a bottle of Scotch. Maybe that's why I've always been a teetotaller.
男：你知道，我爸爸以前酗酒很严重。他每晚都要喝一瓶苏格兰威士忌。也许这就是我成为禁酒主义者的原因。

Helen: I heard the word teetotaller. And the speaker in that clip was describing why he was a teetotaller. Now William, where does this word come from?
海伦：我听到了teetotaller这个词。刚才那名说话者解释了他成为禁酒主义者的原因。可是威廉，这个词来源于哪里呢？

William: Well no-one is really sure, Helen. But it's worth saying that in the past it was used to describe someone who didn't drink and who also thought that drinking alcohol was a bad thing. I think nowadays it's a little bit softer.
威廉：其实没有人清楚，海伦。不过值得一提的是，过去这个词用来形容不喝酒的人，而且这些人认为喝酒是不好的事情。我想现在这个词比较柔和了。

Helen: Well, truth be told William, I'm not a teetotaller. I like a drink every now and then but I just can't drink pint after pint of beer like you English people!
海伦：嗯，威廉，说实话，我不是禁酒主义者。我喜欢偶尔喝点酒，不过我不能像你们英国人一样一杯接一杯地喝！

William: Well, good for you Helen! But why don't you come to the pub anyway? You can just have an orange juice or a lemonade. No-one will laugh at you.
威廉：海伦，你做得对！不过为什么你不能去酒吧？你可以喝橙汁或是柠檬汽水。没有人会笑话你的。

Helen: No, they won't laugh at me, but they will ask me to drive them home! No, please tell Rob happy birthday but I don't feel like it tonight. But thanks for telling us about this interesting word, William.
海伦：对，他们不会笑话我，但是他们会让我开车送他们回家！请替我转达罗布祝他生日快乐，不过我今晚不想喝酒。威廉，谢谢你告诉我们这个有趣的词。

William: Well, don't mention it, Helen. Right, I'm off to the pub now.
威廉：海伦，不客气。好，我现在要出发去酒吧了。

Helen: Don't drink too much!
海伦：别喝太多酒！

William: I won't! Bye!
威廉：不会的！再见！

Helen: Bye!
海伦：再见！