时间:2019-03-12 作者:英语课 分类:英语口语


英语课

   在物价高涨的今天,很多人都觉得实际收入缩水了吧。于是花钱开始变得小心起来。花钱小心是很明智的,但是,要是一个人太过分了,把钱看作是生活中最重要的东西,那他和他周围的人就会产生矛盾。中文里有时把那些这种手头很紧的人称为吝啬鬼或小气鬼。美国人也有类似的常用语来形容这种人。今天我们就来给大家介绍两个。第一个是:penny-pincher。


  Penny-pincher是两个词合在一起而成的,但是两个词当中有一个hyphen,也就是连字符。Penny就是一分钱,pincher这个词是来自pinch,可以解释为:把东西捏在手里的“捏”,pinch后面加上-er就成了名词,是指人。顾名思义,penny-pincher就是那些连一分钱都要捏在手里不放的人。在中文里就是吝啬鬼或者守财奴了。但是,在某种情况下,penny-pincher也会有积极的意思。比如:
  You know, with the national debt getting so big, maybe we ought to elect some penny-pinchers to the Congress next time instead of these guys who are so good at spending the taxpayers 1' money.
  你知道,现在我们国家债务越来越多,也许我们下次应该选举那些花钱手头很紧的人去做议员,而不要选那种善于把老百姓缴纳的税钱大手大脚花掉的人。
  有的时候,手头紧,花钱很小心不仅不是坏事,而且还值得称赞。下面这个例子是说一家人如何省吃俭用过日子:
  Our family is really pinching pennies these days trying to save money -- our daughter’s going into medical school and the tuition is 24,000 a year.
  我们家这些日子真是省吃俭用,想法省点钱,因为我们的女儿要上医学院,每年的学费就要两万四千美元。
  事实上,美国有些医学院的学费现在已经超出三万美元一年。真正有能力供得起一个孩子念医学院的家庭也不多,许多学生都不得不靠借学生贷款来上学,毕业后连本带利一起慢慢的还。
  另外一个常用表示“吝啬”的词是cheapskate。Cheapskate实际上也是由两个词合成的。可是,cheapskate和penny-pincher不同的是,它的两个词当中没有一个连字符。Cheapskate是指一个人,每当他不得不花一点钱的时候,他总是尽量省钱,越便宜越好。这种人往往不受人欢迎,尤其会使他们的女朋友反感。比如:
  My brother Dick is a smart, good-looking guy. But none of my friends want to go out with him because he's such a cheapskate. His idea of showing a girl a goodtime is to take her to MacDonald's for a hamburger and then to the zoo because admission is free.
  我的弟弟迪克是一个很聪明,长得也很帅的人。但是,我的朋友当中没有一个人愿意和他一起出去玩,因为他是个吝啬鬼。他把女朋友带到麦当劳去吃汉堡包,然后到动物园去,因为不要门票。可是,他认为这样玩就很不错了。
  麦当劳快餐店在很多国家都有,作为新生事物,对当地的人来说,这也许是很新鲜的事。但是,在美国你走到那里都有麦当劳,而且是吃东西最便宜的地方,就像中国的街边小摊或者小吃店一样。因此,要请别人,特别是女朋友到那里去吃饭是很小气的,而且也很不礼貌。类似MacDonald's这样的快餐店在美国还有很多,像Berger King等等。在这种快餐店,一顿午饭大约五美元,要是到正式的饭店去吃午饭,最少也得花十多美元,还要加小费。
  美国孩子们,特别是那些十几岁的孩子,往往会说他们的家长很小气,因为他们认为爸爸妈妈不肯像他们要求的那样为他们花钱。可是,让我们来看看这位爸爸是怎么说的:
  I know my son thinks I'm a cheapskate because I won't buy him a motorcycle. But he doesn't realize I don't have much money left after I pay the rent and all the other bills. Any money left over I have to save to pay his way to college next year.
  我知道我的儿子认为我很小气,因为我不给他买摩托车。但是,他不知道,我付了房租和其他账单后就不剩多少钱了。剩下的那点钱我也得存起来为他明年上大学做准备。
  Penny-pincher和cheapskate都是指花钱很小心的人。但是,penny-pincher也可能是很简朴的人,有时具有一定的积极意义。Cheapskate似乎比penny-pincher更含有贬义。

纳税人,纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )
  • Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
  • She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。
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