VOA流行美语 Unit 130: tattletale / pushover

Larry和李华今天在公园玩飞盘时看到一个人随地丢垃圾。今天李华会学到两个常用语：tattletale和pushover.

LH: Larry, 你看，那个人随地丢垃圾。我们是不是该去告诉站在那边的警察？

LL: I don't know, Li Hua. I don't really like to be a tattletale. Maybe we should just go and pick up the garbage ourselves.

LH: 我们为什么要帮他捡他的垃圾？他应该知道这样是很没有公德心的。你说你不想当个tattletale。那是什么意思？是不是说我们向警察报告是不对的？

LL: A tattletale is someone who runs to tell the person in charge whenever someone else does something wrong. Usually, children call each other tattletales.

LH: 噢，tattletale原来就是爱告状的人。要是一个小孩说粗话，他姐姐听到了就跑去告诉妈妈。这个小姐姐就算是tattletale喽？

LL: Exactly. In general, no one likes a tattletale because it seems as though that person is just trying to get attention.

LH: 对，没有人喜欢爱告状的人。他们就是想显得自己比别人好而已。举个例子来说，如果我考试做弊，你去告诉教授。这样你就是个tattletale，对吗？

LL: Right. You certainly wouldn't be right for cheating on the test, but I wouldn't be a very good friend, either.

LH: 我当然不会在考试的时候做弊。嗨，那个扔垃圾的家伙已经走了。

LL: Yeah, let's go and put the garbage in the trashcan. It's not right to leave that on the ground.

LH: 对，把垃圾扔在地上实在不好。我们去把垃圾拣起来扔在垃圾桶里吧。Larry，你真是个有公德心的人。不过，我很好奇，你小时候有没有告过谁的状呀？

LL: No, but my little sister was an awful tattletale. Every time I did anything she didn't like, she would run and tell our mother.

LH：真有意思，你的小妹妹老爱到你妈那儿去告你的状。你肯定很顽皮。

LL：Not really. She's just a tattletale.

******

LH: 嘿, Larry, 我倒想听听，你妹妹经常到你妈妈那里告你的状，你都怎么反应啊？

LL: I would act really sorry and my mom would forgive me immediately. My mom is a pushover, so she rarely punished me.

LH: 你好耍赖噢！故意装出很抱歉的样子，让你妈妈很快原谅你。哎，对了，什么是pushover?

LL: A pushover is someone who is easy to convince. It also refers to someone who gives in easily.

LH: 噢，知道了，pushover就是指很容易相信别人，经常让步的人。就像你，假装认错，你妈就不会处罚你，事情就过去了。对不对？

LL: Right. Some people are pushovers because they are really nice and just want to make everyone happy.

LH: 对，这种人，pushovers，一般心地善良，总想让大家都高兴。我看的出来你就是这种人。

LL: Me? A pushover? You've got to be kidding!

LH: 我才不是开玩笑呢！我记得有一次，我们一起去看电影，你想看的电影和我想看的完全不一样，结果我们还是看了我想看的那部电影！

LL: Hey, that's just being a good friend. I don't know if you should call me a pushover for that.

LH: (Laugh) 好啦！Larry, 我说你是pushover完全没有恶意噢！Pushover是不是有负面的意思？

LL: Not necessarily. People are usually pushovers when they're with people whom they care about.

LH：没错，让步一般都是为自己喜欢的人让步的。

今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是tattletale, 就是喜欢告状的人。另外一个常用语是pushover，意思是很轻信，或容易让步的人。