介绍:
Xiaohua: Hello and welcome to Roundtable's word of the week. This week we are going to teach you some phrases to express worries and relief.
Mark: But I'm a bit worried that we might not have enough.
Xiaohua: Really?
Mark: That's just my clumsy way of starting us off with one phrase: "I'm really worried about something."
Xiaohua: 学会表达适当的情绪是很重要的，那担忧或焦虑也是一种情绪。首先马克就给我们举了一个很好的例子, worried about, 很担心。
Mark: Yes, that's how you say that you're concerned or bothered about something. Those are two other words that can just be substituted for worried in that kind of sentence--bothered or concerned. And of course, when you are worried about something, it's a kind of fear isn't it, really? And, that is reflected in another one of these phrases: "I'm afraid that I’m going to fail the exam or something" or you can say, "I'm scared to death that I might fail the exam."
Xiaohua: 担心和害怕也只是程度上的不同而已。所以也可以说I’m afraid that something will happen. 或者更进一步说, I’m scared to death about something.
Mark: Yes, that's right. Another one is--they have some quite negative connotations, all of these do, I think, really, don't they?--and another one is, again, negative: "I can't help thinking" and then you can say “that something bad is about to happen.”
Xiaohua: 用否定句式来表达你的担忧也可以，说I can’t help thinking就是我忍不住会这样想啊，我很担心会发生这样的事情。
Mark: And, if you can't stop thinking about something, that means that you think about it not only during the day but at night. And, that brings us to our next phrase: "it's been keeping me awake" or "I've been up all night with worry."
Xiaohua: 所以当一件事情让你都担心得睡不着觉的时候就可以说“it’s been keeping me awake" So, how do you link this "keeping me awake" phrase with the thing that you’re worried about.
Mark: Yes, you can say, "I've been so worried about my work assessment tomorrow that it's been keeping me awake all night." Shall we do the opposite now, the relief when you've discovered that the thing that you were worried about isn't going to happen?
Xiaohua: Definitely.
Mark: Then, you can have some relief. One of the most popular ones is--I don't think really anyone ever says it actually, but you see it written a lot in comics--"phew." It's more of what's called an onomatopoeic word. This is a word that sounds like the thing it's describing because when you say "phew" you exhale a big breath. And, that is one of the things that people do when they are relieved about something.
Xiaohua: I see, so this phew is sort of like what in Chinese we say, "Ah."
Mark: Exactly. If you just add a little linguistic element to that exhaling of breath, then you have "phew."
Xiaohua: "Phew," that set my heart at ease.
Mark: Yeah, I know that it sounds as though it’s spelled F-E-W, meaning a small number of something, a few, but it's actually spelled P-H-E-W when you use it in this way.
Xiaohua: 说完了表达焦虑的词汇我们来看一看表达松了一口气的词汇。说到气，第一个想到的就是phew, P-H-E-W.
Mark: Yes, that's right. Another one that causes people some distress really because some religious people, who have a strong Christian belief, they don't like it when constantly on TV and in Hollywood movies people are always saying, "thank God." And, the reason that religious people don't like is they say it's taking God’s name in vain. In other words, you're saying it not in the hope of God intervening, but you're kind of acknowledging the fact that god hasn't intervened and isn't going to. But, nevertheless, you do hear it a lot--"thank God"-- but be careful who you use that one around because you might upset some of them I think. And, because of that, it's been modified from "thank God" to "thank goodness" with goodness being the essence of God in theory. So, again, there's another version of it which you hear a little bit in Britain among older people. They'll say, "Thank the Lord." They mean God, as well, but it's a more polite and less offensive way of saying that.
Xiaohua: 西方人经常会用thank god或者thank goodness的方法来表达他们松了一口气的情绪。中文也有同样对应的词汇，那就是谢天谢地。
Mark: There's another one when people are relieved, they've said, "that's a huge weight off my mind." It's as though there is a big weight, something really heavy on your head pressing down on your thoughts and making you worried, but then when the bad thing doesn't happen you say, "That’s a weight off my mind." In American English, they tend to say, "that's a load off my mind," and you'll hear these phrases a lot in songs as well, so that's what they mean when they say that.
Xiaohua: I see. That’s a huge weight 或者that’s a huge load off my mind就有点像一块石头落地的感觉。And, that's all we have for Roundtable's word of the week.
