Jessica 在北京学汉语,她的中国朋友要是遇到了不知道用美语怎么说的词,就会来请教她。今天是Jimmy要问的:爆冷门

Jimmy: Jessica, 昨天看学校的足球比赛了吗?爆了个大冷门儿,法学院居然输给了商学院,哎,这大冷门怎么说啊?

Jessica:冷门?

Jimmy:哦,对啊,就是铁定会输的队,最后居然打赢了。

Jessica: Oh, in English we call that an upset.

Jimmy: Upset? 那不是不高兴的意思吗?

Jessica: That’s true. 做形容词的时候,重音在后面,是 upset (emphasis on the second syllable), 指不高兴,但是做名词,重音在前面,upset (emphasis on the first syllable), it means an unexpected win. 

Jimmy: 哦,我明白了,中文里的爆冷门,在英文里就是 upset. 那原来大家都以为法学院会赢,这种赛前被看好的球队美语里叫什么?

Jessica: Easy. That team’s called the favorite. 

Jimmy: 这么说,The law school team was the favorite to win the game. 法学院足球队本来是被看好的热门球队。

Jessica: That’s right. You can also refer to the team that was expected to lose as the underdog.

Jimmy: Underdog. under后面加上dog, underdog 就是在比赛里实力比较差的一方。这么说,我们中文系的排球队,不论跟谁比赛,都是 underdog.

Jessica: Jimmy!Isn’t your girlfriend Rachel the team captain?

Jimmy: 唉,别提了…That’s why I always cheer for the underdog…

Jessica: hehe…..言归正传,What did you learn today?

Jimmy: 第一,爆冷门叫 upset,重音在前面; 第二,赛前被看好的一方叫 favorite,第三,赛前不被看好的一方叫 underdog.

Jessica: 不错,我也学了个词儿–upset 叫作“冷门”。