我们讲的英语第218期:Put a sock in it 安静

Helen asks Rob to fix her toaster. But he finds something unusual in it! Find out what socks have to do with keeping quiet.
海伦请罗布帮她修烤面包机。但是罗布发现里面有件不寻常的东西！请试着弄清楚袜子和安静之间的关系。

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.
注：音频与文本并不完全吻合。

Rob: Welcome to The English We Speak with me Rob — and today I've come round to Helen's house because she said she needed some help... (Doorbell and door opens)
罗布：欢迎收听本期地道英语节目，今天我来到了海伦的家，因为她说她需要帮忙……（门铃响了，然后门开了）

Helen: Oh hi Rob. Thanks for coming round. (She shuts the door)
海伦：哦，你好，罗布。谢谢你过来。（她关上了门）

Rob: That's OK, no problem. Now, how can I help?
罗布：不客气。有什么需要我帮忙的？

Helen: I need you to fix my toaster please. You know me, I love my toast but since yesterday, every time I try to make some, black smoke keeps coming out of it.
海伦：我想请你帮我修我的烤面包机。你知道，我非常喜欢吃烤面包，可是从昨天开始，每次我试图做烤面包，机器里就会冒出黑烟。

Rob: Hmm, black smoke? That doesn't sound good. OK, let's have a look at it... Err, Helen?
罗布：嗯，黑烟吗？听起来不太好。好吧，我们来看看……额，海伦？

Helen: Yes?
海伦：怎么了？

Rob: There's a sock in it — that's very dangerous — no wonder you're getting black smoke when you try to make toast!
罗布：烤面包机里有只袜子——这太危险了——难怪你烤面包的时候会冒黑烟！

Helen: Rob, I put the sock in there.
海伦：罗布，是我把袜子放在里面的。

Rob: You put the sock in there — why did you do that?
罗布：你把袜子放在这里面，为什么要这么做？

Helen: Well, my friend came round for breakfast yesterday, and I was telling her all about my fantastic holiday... the great weather, the good food and the... handsome men...
海伦：昨天我朋友过来吃早餐，我跟她说了那个非常棒的假期，天气很好、食物非常可口，还有……帅气的男士们……

Rob: So?
罗布：所以呢？

Helen: Well, I was making us both toast when she said 'Helen, put a sock in it!'
海伦：我在烤面包的时候，她说“海伦，把一只袜子放进去！”

Rob: Ah! I don't think she actually meant put a sock in the toaster — when people say that, it means 'be quiet'!
罗布：啊！我想她的意思并不是让你把袜子放进烤面包机里——通常人们这么说的时候，意思是“安静！”

Helen: How rude! 'Put a sock in it' isn't a very polite thing to say Rob!
海伦：太无礼了！罗布，Put a sock in it并不是一句有礼貌的话！

Rob: It's not. It's an impolite way of saying 'stop talking'! It can also mean, keep the noise down. Your friend must have been annoyed by your non-stop chatter if she said that! Let's hear some more examples of this phrase in action...
罗布：的确不是。这是“别说了”这句话的不礼貌的说法。这句话也有小点声的意思。如果你朋友这么说，那她肯定是因为你一直不停地说感到很烦。我们来听些例句，看看这个短语如何应用……

Examples
例句

Put a sock in it! We're trying to do some work here!
安静！我们正在忙呢！

Oh, put a sock in it! I've already said I'm going to do the washing-up later.
哦，别说了！我都说一会儿我会洗了。

My Dad was telling me how I should work harder at school so I told him to 'put a sock in it!'
我爸爸让我在学校要更努力学习，所以我跟他说“别说了！”

Helen: So the phrase 'to put a sock in it' really means 'be quiet' or 'shut up'. But Rob, I don't talk that much, it's just I like to tell people about my holidays, my cooking, my boyfriends...
海伦：所以to put a sock in it这个短语的意思是“安静”或是“闭嘴”。可是罗布，我并没有说很多，我只是想跟他们描述一下我的假期，我做的美食，我的男友们……

Rob: Err, Helen...
罗布：额……海伦……

Helen: Yes?
海伦：什么事？

Rob: Can you put a sock in it please?! In fact, use this... dirty sock from your toaster!
罗布：你能堵住你的嘴吗？！就用这只你烤面包机里的脏袜子！

Helen: But where should I put it?
海伦：可是我要放在哪里呢？

Rob: Well, figuratively speaking, the phrase means put a sock in your mouth to stop you talking — so try that!
罗布：这是一种比喻说法，意思是用袜子堵住你的嘴，好让你安静，你可以试试！

Helen: Oh thanks. (Toaster pops up) Actually, now my toaster is working, I'm going to have socks on toast!
海伦：哦，谢了。（烤面包机弹出面包）现在我的烤面包机好了，我烤的面包都有袜子的味道了！

Rob: (Sniffing the sock) Well, by the smell of this sock, it's going to be cheese on toast.
罗布：（闻闻袜子）从这只袜子的味道来看，像是奶酪面包。

Helen: Bye!
海伦：再见！

Rob: Bye!
罗布：再见！