Today's lesson is a little bit interesting.

今天要教的東西滿有趣的

I'll give you a little bit of a background first of all. English speakers, and this is a very cultural part of English...

我會先告訴你一些背景資料，說英文的人...這也是英文文化裡滿重要的一件事

And remember, culture plays a lot... Has a big role when it comes to language.

記住，文化影響很重要，文化對語言的影響佔了很大一部份

A lot of speakers, in English, don't want to say certain words.

許多說英文的人，會避免自己說出一些特定的字眼

For some reason, they think this word is dirty or heavy, or they just don't like this word, so we find soft expressions.

由於某些原因，他們覺得這些字很髒或是聽起來很沉重，所以我們有了這些軟性說法

We find other ways to say the same thing that everybody understands, everybody from the culture understands.

我們找出了一些其他人也聽得懂的說法，處在同個文化裡的人都會懂的

It may be a little bit difficult for non-native English speakers to understand these expressions, so today we're going to look at a few.

對英語學習者來說，這些說法可能會比較難懂，所以今天我們來看一些這樣的用法吧！

There are many, many such expressions.

英文有許多、許多這樣的說法

We're just going to look at a few for today.

我們今天只會來看一些

Firstly, these soft expressions are also called euphemisms. You don't need to know this word.

第一點，這些軟性的說法也被稱為委婉詞語，你可以不用特別記住這個詞

If you want to look up more expressions, type: "euphemisms" into your search box on the internet, and you'll see many more.

如果你想多看其他的委婉用法，可以在網路搜尋欄裡打「euphemisms」，你就會看到其他的用法

I'm just going to give you a few to give you an example of what a euphemism is.

我會舉些例子，讓你看看什麼是委婉用法

And when you watch Hollywood movies or TV shows, if you hear these expressions, now hopefully, you will understand what they mean.

當你看好萊塢的電影或是一些影集時，如果你聽到這些用法，希望你聽得懂它們代表什麼意思囉

So we're going to start with: "passed away" which is very common.

首先我們先看 'passed away"，這用法很常見

I think many of you probably know this expression. Or: "did not make it".

我想你們很多人應該都知道這用法，或是說 "did not make it"

So if you go to the hospital, your friend was in a car accident, and you bring him to the hospital or the ambulance brings him to the hospital,

假如你在醫院，因為你的朋友出車禍了，接著你或是救護車帶他去醫院

and he's in there for a while, and then you see the doctor.

然後在醫院過了一陣子後，你去見醫生

And you go to the doctor: "How's my friend?" And the doctor says: "Oh, I'm sorry. He didn't make it."

你問醫生：「我的朋友還好嗎？」醫生說：「噢，我很抱歉，他撐不下去了」

What does that mean? Or: "I'm sorry. He passed away." What does that mean?

那是什麼意思？或是說「我很遺憾，他走了」那又是什麼意思

It means he died.

意思是他死了

Now, why people don't like to say the word "died", well, it's a very heavy word.

好，為什麼人們不喜歡提到 "died" 這個字呢？是這樣的，這個字用起來十分沉重

Death, people don't like to talk about death, so they find other ways to say the same thing.

死亡，人們不喜歡談論死亡，所以他們找到了替代的說法

Okay?

懂嗎？

Now, all of these are not bad things, but you know, we just want to soften the language.

現在要說的這些用法並不是不好，但你知道，我們就是會想要委婉地表達

We want to be a bit more polite sometimes.

我們有時會想要表現得比較有禮一點

If you want, if you're in the washroom and you want...

如果你想，如果你在廁所但你想去...

Sorry, if you're in the restaurant and you want the washroom,

噢抱歉，如果你在餐廳而你想去洗手間，

but you don't want to say the word "washroom" or you don't want to say the word "toilet", you say...

但你不想說「洗手間」或是「廁所」，你可以說...

If you're a boy, you say, or a man, you say: "Where's the little boys' room?"

如果你是男生，或是個男人，你可以說 "Where's the little boys' room?

If you're a woman: "Where's the ladies' room?"

如果你是女人，你可以說 "Where's the ladies' room?"

Now, we understand all this to be toilet. But people think "toilet" is a dirty word.

現在我們都懂這些都是在指廁所，但人們覺得「廁所」這個字不乾淨

They don't like to say the word "toilet", so they say: "Little boys' room", or: "Ladies' room". Okay?

他們不喜歡說「廁所」這個詞，所以他們會說 "Little boys' room" 或是 "Ladies' room"，懂嗎？

Now, sometimes you'll see people in a wheelchair.

接著，有時你會看到坐輪椅的人

Maybe they had an accident, maybe they were born this way, but they can't walk.

他們可能出過車禍，或是一出生就是如此，他們無法行走

They're in a wheelchair. Or you see people who have a...

他們坐在輪椅上，或是你看到某些人有...

who were born with a disease, and they're not, you know, they're not fully functional like everyone else.

某些人一出生身體就帶著殘疾，他們並不，你知道的，有些普通人能做的他們做不到

We used to say: "handicapped".

我們之前會說他們為 "handicapped"

But people find this word to be a little bit offensive, and so it's not politically correct; it's not a nice thing to say.

但人們覺得這個字有點傷人，也不政治正確，這種說法不好就是了

So now, we say: "They are mentally challenged." Or: "They are physically challenged."

因此現在，我們會說 "They are mentally challenged." 或是 "They are physically challenged."

It used to be: "handicapped" or: "disabled".

這些字以前曾是 "handicapped" 或 "disabled" 的意思

But people don't want to say "disabled"

但現在人們不想再說 "disabled" 這個字了

because they think or they know that these people are very able, they can do many things; they're just limited.

因為他們覺得，或是他們其實認為這些殘疾者一樣能做很多事，他們只是受限了

Okay? They are challenged by their condition.

懂嗎？他們是被自己的狀況挑戰

So they are mentally challenged or they are physically challenged is a more polite way to say it.

因此他們是 "mentally challenged" 或 "physically challenged" 是比較委婉的說法

Okay, so now, we're going to look at the next expressions.

好的，現在我們要來看看下個說法

If you want to talk about a man or a woman,

如果你想要談論一個男人或女人的身材，

and the not polite way to talk about them is to say: "He or she is fat, big. "

比較沒有禮貌的說法是 "He or she is fat, big."

So, people don't like the word "fat".

人們不喜歡 'fat" 這個字

So, for a more polite way or a softer way to say "fat" for a woman is: "She is full-figured."

因此比較用來形容 "fat" 的女人較有禮或是婉轉的說法是 "She is full-figured."

Full-figured means she's complete. She's full in all the places, and that's what we say.

"Full-figured" 意思是她身材面面俱到，她各處都很豐滿，這就是我們的說法

A man, we're a little bit less nice to men.

男人的話，我們對男人就沒那麼好了

A man has "let himself go". Means he stopped taking care of himself, and became fat. Okay?

一個男人已經 "let himself go" 意思就是他不再照顧自己，因此變得肥胖，懂嗎？

Again, not a nice word, but not necessarily a very nice expression either, but it's softer.

一樣，這不是很好的用法，也不一定是個好的表達方式，但這委婉許多

It's not as direct, but everybody understands what this means.

這不直接，但每個人都懂這句話的意思

Now, if you have a friend or you have a family member and he says that...

現在，如果有個朋友或是你的家人說...

Or you introduce him as being "laid off" or "between jobs",

或是你要提到他被 "laid off" 或 "between jobs"

this is a more polite, a softer way to say he is unemployed.

這是種比較有禮的說法，比較委婉地表達他待業中的狀況

It means he doesn't have a job. He's looking for a job. He's being laid off.

意思是他沒有工作，他正在找工作，他被裁員了

"Laid off" is a nicer way to say "fired". He lost his job.

"Laid off" 是炒魷魚的婉轉說詞，他失去他的工作了

So, if somebody's between jobs, they are unemployed.

如果有人正在「工作之間」，代表他們待業中

People don't like to say they are unemployed; everybody has a certain judgment about that,

人們不喜歡說他們失業中，每個人對於這件事都有一定的看法

so they say they're between jobs or they're looking for something.

所以他們會說 "between jobs" 或是他們正在找尋某件事物

Same idea.

一樣的意思

Now we get into a little bit more fun expressions.

現在我們的用法會比較有趣一些

So, for example: oh, I have a new iPad. Only $100. Brand new.

舉例來說 ：「噢，我有台新的 iPad，我只花了 100 元」，全新的

And somebody says: -"Oh. How did you get it so cheap?" -"Oh", I said:

接著其他人說：「噢，你怎麼找得到這種價格呀？」「噢」，我繼續說：

"I got it off the back of a truck." or: "It fell off the back of a truck."

「我在一台卡車的後面找到的」或是「它從卡車後面掉下來的」

In British English, they would say: "lorry". "Lorry" means truck.

在英式用法，他們會說 "lorry"，"lorry" 是卡車的意思

If somebody tells you they got something off the back of the truck... Sorry, it's also the back of the truck.

如果有人跟你講他們從卡車後面找到東西...抱歉，也是卡車後面

It means it is stolen. So you didn't buy it from the store; you bought it on the street.

意思是它是贓貨，因為你不是從商店買的，你是在街頭買到的

Somebody had a truck, you paid them cash, they give you the product.

有人有台卡車，你付現金，他們拿貨給你

It was stolen somewhere. You don't care.

它是從某個地方偷來的，你也不在乎

You have a brand new product for less than half the price.

因為你用低於半價的價格就買到全新的商品了

So, "off the back of the truck", "fell off", it was stolen.

因此，"off the back of the truck" 及 "fell off"，代表它是贓品的意思

If something... Oh, sorry. Let me make sure we understand that these are here. Now, when...

如果某個東西，噢抱歉，讓我確定我要講的都在這...現在，當...

It used to be a long time ago that when you bought a car, you could buy a brand new car or you could buy a used car.

這通常是以前的用法，但當你買車時，你可以選擇買新車或是買台用過的車

But then, eventually, people started not to like the word "used".

但最後，人們開始不喜歡 "used" 這個字了

"Used" means somebody else used it, had it for its good time, and then got rid of it.

"Used" 的意思是其他人用過了，有用這台車度過美好時光過，接著才脫手賣掉

So marketing departments got smart, and they started using a different expression to mean used.

因此行銷商變聰明了，他們開始用不同的說法去代表 'used" 這個字

"Previously enjoyed". Somebody else enjoyed this thing, now you can enjoy it too.

"Previously enjoyed"，代表之前有人享受過這項產品，現在輪到你享受了

It's still used. It still has 100,000 kilometers on it, it still has a cigarette hole in the seat,

它一樣是被使用過，它還是有十萬公里的里程紀錄，座位上一樣有個被煙燙到留下的小洞

but it was previously enjoyed. Now it's your turn to enjoy it.

但這是被上個人使用過的商品，現在輪到你了

Okay, the next expression we have is, for example, if you see someone in your office, a co-worker,

好的，我們要介紹的下個用法，舉例來說，如果你看到有人在你的辦公室，也就是你的同事

she comes to work and her stomach is a little bit bigger.

她過來上班，然後你發現她的肚子變大了

Then the next week, it's a little bit bigger, a little bit bigger, but the rest of her is staying slim.

下週你再看一次，又變大了，一直變大，而她身體的其他地方還是瘦瘦的

So you say: "Oh, you know, I think she might have a bun in the oven."

於是你說：「噢，你知道嗎？我覺得她好像有個『麵包在烤箱裡』」

"A bun in the oven" means pregnant.

" A bun in the oven" 意思就是懷孕

Now, if you're in high school, for example, and one of your classmates,

那麼如果是在高中，舉例來說，你的某位同學

she's like 16 or 17, and same thing, her stomach's getting bigger,

她大約16、17歲，接著一樣的事發生，她的腹部漸漸隆起

then we say: "You know what? I think she's knocked up."

我們會說：「你知道嗎？我覺得她好像肚子被搞大了」

"Knocked up" also means pregnant, but this is more slang, and it's a little bit more of a negative idea.

"Knocked up" 的意思是懷孕，但這比較像是俚語用法，整體來說比較負面

Okay? So it's not necessarily softer. It's saying the same thing, pregnant, but it's a bit of a negative connotation to it.

懂嗎？所以這並不一定比較婉轉，這代表的是同一件事，懷孕，只是有著比較負面的涵義

So be careful about using that one.

要用這種說法時要多注意一點

But just so you know what it means.

讓你知道一下這用法的意思這樣

Now, again, like I said before, there are many, many, many such expressions in the English language. Look them up online.

現在一樣，像我之前我說過的，英文有許多許多不同的用法，在網路上多看看吧

And if you want, you can always come and ask me a question in the comments section at www.engvid.com.

如果你想要的話，你永遠都可以來 engvid 的網站下面留言問我問題

You can also come test your knowledge of these ones with the quiz.

你也可以用這些測驗考考自己

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel, and come see us again very soon. Bye.

別忘了訂閱我的頻道，也要快來看我們，掰掰！