【大纪元9月16日讯】李华和Larry一起到饭馆吃饭。店里人多，他们只好排队等位。今天我们要学两个常用语：to kick oneself和wiggle room。
LH: Larry, 真希望这家饭馆能快点上菜，我快饿晕了！
L: Yeah, I’m pretty hungry too, and smelling all the delicious food here is only making it worse.
LH: 咱们待会儿也别看菜单了，就跟服务员说，什么菜能上得最快，我们就点什么。
L: Well, I guess we could do that … but if the food is really bad, you’re going to be kicking yourself later.
LH: 你说我要kick myself? 踢我自己？别开玩笑了，我连抬腿的劲儿都没有了，怎么还能踢自己。
L: Actually, if you really regret something stupid that you did earlier, you can say that you are kicking yourself.
LH: 哦， 原来to kick oneself不是自己踢自己，而是为自己做的蠢事感到后悔。你是说，要是我不看菜单瞎点，八成得后悔。
L: Right! Here is another example. I spent $1,000 on a new computer, but I was kicking myself a week later when it went on sale for half the price.
LH: 那可不，刚买台电脑，没几天就降价50%，这能不让人后悔么？早知道就多等几天，可以省好多钱呢。好了，咱们还是赶快决定吃什么吧，辣鸡翅怎么样？
L: I really love spicy food, but it always makes my stomach hurt. If I eat it, I know I’m going to be kicking myself later.
LH: 那油炸奶酪？
L: Yeah, those are really tasty too, but they’re so fattening! I know I’m going to be kicking myself at the gym tomorrow.
LH: Larry, 你怎么这么多事！这家饭馆挺贵的，应该不会难吃。
L: Yeah, I’m going to be kicking myself if we spend a lot of money on dinner but the food isn’t very good.
LH: 可是Larry，我真的饿死了。那张桌子空出来了，我们可以进去了!
L: Great! Let’s go and sit down.
******
LH: 啊，真是酒足饭饱，我吃得太多了，撑死了。咱们干点什么消化消消食儿吧。
L: Hmm … do you want to go see a movie? I think that the new Tom Cruise action movie starts playing at 9 PM.
LH: 好啊，可是现在已经八点一刻了，咱们赶得及么？
L: Well, the theater is only 15 minutes away, so we have some wiggle room.
LH: Wiggle room? 那什么意思？
L: When you say that you have some wiggle room, that means that you have some flexibility, or room to spare.
LH: 噢， wiggle room就是回旋余地。你是说电影院离得不远，我们还有一些时间，应该可以赶上九点钟的电影。
L: Right! Here is another example. My apartment lease ends next week, but I have some wiggle room because my landlord said I could stay an extra month if I need to.
LH: 我明白了。房东允许你再多住一个月，所以你就不必赶紧搬家，还有时间可以慢慢找房子。 对了，我听说Tom Cruise的这部新片里有好多电脑特技。
L: Yeah, I read that the movie cost more than the movie studio thought it would. By the end, there was no wiggle room in the budget.
LH: 啊？拍这个电影花钱太多，最后预算一分不剩都花啦？那这电影一定好看！不过说实话，我还是想看爱情片，我们下周去好不好。
L: Well … I probably can … but I will have to check my schedule.
LH: 你怎么这么麻烦，到底去不去？
L: Well, I just want to keep a little wiggle room in case an even better action movie comes out next week!
LH: 哼，你干什么都不把话说死，总要留点余地。随便，你不陪我就自己去。好啦，咱们走吧，你说给多少小费啊？15%还是20%?
L: You know, there is some wiggle room. Anything between 15 percent and 20 percent will be fine.
LH: 好吧。对了，你想不想去隔壁的甜品店吃点冰激凌？
L: Even though we have some extra time, we probably shouldn’t take the risk. We’re going to be kicking ourselves if eating ice cream makes us late to the movie.
LH: 我肯定不后悔，冰淇淋比电影诱人多了。走，陪我去吃!
今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是to kick oneself, 表示感到后悔。另一个是wiggle room, 意思是灵活性，回旋余地。 (http://www.dajiyuan.com)
