我们讲的英语第216期:To take a shot/stab in the dark 瞎猜

When can there be a stab in the dark without a knife? Rob explains to Feifei that a phrase used to describe what's happened to a missing work colleague, has nothing to do with murder.
在黑暗中如何不用刀捅伤别人？罗布向菲菲解释了一个短语，用来形容一名失踪同事所发生的事情，这个短语与谋杀一点关系也没有。

Rob: Welcome to The English We Speak with me Rob and …. oh… oh… Feifei… Feifei, where are you?
罗布：欢迎收听地道英语节目，我是罗布……哦，菲菲，菲菲，你在哪里？

Feifei: Hi… hi… over here… come quickly.
菲菲：嗨……嗨……我在这里……我马上就来。

Rob: Oh… oh… what seems to be the problem?
罗布：哦……有什么问题吗？

Feifei: I think there's been a murder!
菲菲：我觉得发生了谋杀案！

Rob: What?! Really — a murder, here? How can you be so sure?
罗布：什么？！谋杀案，这里吗？你怎么这么确定呢？

Feifei: Well, last night I was speaking to my friend and we were talking about Jenny from our office…
菲菲：昨晚我和朋友聊天时提到了我们办公室的珍妮……

Rob: Oh yes Jenny, I haven't seen her around for a while … so?
罗布：哦，珍妮，我有一阵没看见她了……怎么了？

Feifei: My friend said Jenny has probably met someone, got married and moved to Australia — but then she said something very strange, she said it was 'a stab in the dark'.
菲菲：我朋友说珍妮可能和某个人结婚了，然后搬去了澳大利亚——可是之后她又说了一些奇怪的话，她说是“在黑暗中捅刀子”。

Rob: 'A stab in the dark'? Ha — so you think she's been murdered?
罗布：瞎猜？哈哈，所以你就认为她被谋杀了？

Feifei: Well possibly — she hasn't been seen for a long time and then someone was stabbed — and in the dark — so she must have been murdered at night. Oh dear, I think we should call the police!
菲菲：可能吧，她很长一段时间没有露面了，要是有人在黑暗中被刺的话，那一定是她在晚上被谋杀了。天哪，我想我们应该报警！

Rob: No, don't call them yet. That phrase isn't as bad as you think. There's not been a murder. When you say you are 'taking a stab in the dark' it means you don't really know the truth and you are just guessing.
罗布：不用，不用报警。这个短语没有你想得那么坏。并没有谋杀发生。taking a stab in the dark的意思是你不太清楚事实，只是猜测。

Feifei: Really? Oh phew. That is good news.
菲菲：真的吗？哦，这真是好消息。

Rob: Ok. Let's hear the phrase in action…
罗布：好，下面我们来听听这个短语如何应用……

Examples
例句

It might be a stab in the dark but I think my football team is in a good place to win the league this season.
这可能是瞎猜的，不过我认为我们足球队这个赛季很可能会赢得联赛冠军。

I don't know how many people came to see the show, but I'll take a stab in the dark and say about 300.
我不知道会有多少人来看这场演出，不过我猜大概有300人。

John thought we could sell our old car for ￡500 — but really he was taking a stab in the dark!
约翰认为我们的旧车能卖到500英镑——可这只是他瞎猜的！

Feifei: So the phrase 'to take a stab in the dark' does not involve stabbing people! But Rob, if we're not sure what did happen to Jenny, it's still a bit of mystery.
菲菲：所以to take a stab in the dark这个短语并不是指有人被刺伤了。可是罗布，如果我们不确定珍妮发生了什么事，那这就仍是个谜。

Rob: Well maybe she didn't move to Australia… maybe she just got a new job… but I'm just taking a shot in the dark.
罗布：可能她没有搬到澳大利亚去……可能她只是换了新工作……不过这都是我瞎猜的。

Feifei: A shot in the dark! Now you're talking about her being shot in the dark?
菲菲：在黑暗中中枪！现在你是在说她在黑暗中遭遇了枪击吗？

Rob: No no no no — a shot — or a stab in the dark means the same thing — it means I'm guessing — I don't really know.
罗布：不，不，不，不是，这和刚才的那个短语是一个意思，都表示我只是猜测，我也不清楚。

Feifei: Well guess no longer — look, here she comes!
菲菲：好吧，别再瞎猜了，看啊，她来了！

Jenny: Hello you two.
珍妮：二位好啊。

Rob: Jenny!
罗布：珍妮！

Jenny: Why are you looking so worried — has someone died?!!
珍妮：你们为什么看上去这么担心？有人去世了吗？

Rob: Bye!
罗布：再见！

Feifei: Bye bye!
菲菲：再见！