李华到Larry家借书，正好赶上Larry的朋友Dave打电话来 。她今天要学两个常用语, fed up和off the hook。
LL: That was just Dave on the phone, Li Hua. He is really fed up right now.
LH: Dave给你打电话，就是告诉你他吃多了吗？
LL: No, Li Hua. To be fed up is to run out of patience in a difficult situation and to become angry.
LH: 噢，fed up不是指吃多了，而是说受够了。
LL: That’s right. Dave has been having a bad day, and he has good reason to be fed up.
LH：他遇到什么倒霉事了吗？
LL: Well, Dave’s car broke down on his way to work today, and he called a tow truck to come and get him. He’s fed up, because he has been waiting for over an hour for the tow truck to arrive.
LH: 拖车一个多小时还没到。换成我，也会fed up.
LL: And Dave is also fed up with his car. This is the third time in the last month that his car has broken down.
LH: 一个月坏三次。那可真得换车了，难怪他说自己受够了。他给你打电话就是抱怨这些吗？
LL: He was hoping that if the tow truck didn’t come in the next few minutes I might be able to give him a ride to work. He doesn’t want his boss to get too fed up with him.
LH: 噢，原来是求你送他去上班。一而再，再而三地因为车子抛锚而上班迟到，确实会引起老板的怀疑。
LL: I don’t think Dave’s boss is completely fed up with him YET, but Dave doesn’t want to take any chances.
LH: 那当然了。他好不容易才找到这份工作，因为这个被炒鱿鱼，太不值得了。
LL: Yeah. Personally, I’m a little fed up with Dave right now, too.
LH: Dave有什么让你受不了的呢？
LL: Well, every time Dave’s car breaks down, he calls me to ask for a ride. I’m getting a little fed up with having to rearrange my schedule to keep helping Dave out.
LH: 确实有点儿烦。不过，他是你的朋友，大家应该互相帮助嘛！
LL: You are right, Li Hua. I shouldn’t get fed up with Dave. (Phone rings) It’s Dave on the phone.
******
LH: Dave打电话说什么？
LL: He told me the tow truck finally arrived. It looks like I’m off the hook!
LH: Off the hook? 这种说法跟钓鱼有关吧？
LL: Yes, it does, Li Hua. You know when you go fishing for fun, how you put a hook on the end of your line?
LH: 当然了，我还记得上次跟你老爸一起去钓鱼，鱼线最后面有一个钩子，在上面挂上鱼饵。
LL: And when a worm is off the hook, it is free. Just like I am now. I am off the hook, because I don’t need to drive Dave to work after all.
LH: 所以，off the hook就是脱身的意思。你不用再开车送Dave去上班了，所以你说自己是off the hook.
LL: That’s right. Say, speaking of obligations, don’t you have a Chinese class you should be teaching right now?
LH: Oh, No. I am off the hook today, Larry. 今天学校放假，所以我不用去教中文课了！
LL: I forgot that today is a holiday. Unfortunately, I am NOT off the hook today. I need to go into work this afternoon to finish up a project I am working on.
LH: 那你就是on the hook喽？
LL: Well, we don’t really say someone is “on the hook” in English when we mean they have something they need to do.
LH: 所以说不用再去做一件事情是off the hook, 但是反过来，必须去做一件事情，则不能说on the hook.
LL: You’ve got it, Li Hua. Say, how about going to a movie tonight? Do you still have to write your paper for Professor Jones, or are you off the hook?
LH: 唉，I’m not off the hook. 我今天晚上必须得写完那篇论文。我可不希望让琼斯教授 fed up with me.
今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是fed up, 意思是不耐烦，受够了。另一个是off the hook, 是脱身，摆脱责任的意思。