1. It\'s cool:cool 是青少年(teen-agers) 常用的字,(有時也用 debonaire)
其真正意思是指可以接受的好事;或是情況可以控制;或是保持冷靜、文雅、禮貌、外表不錯,能夠合乎年輕人的標準。(可指人或事物)也就是
something good or acceptable;situation is under control;being calm,
gentle, courteous or good-looking;meet teen\'s standard. 所以可以說:
That\'s cool;he is cool;this is cool. Skydiving (或surfing) is
cool.(跳傘或沖浪運動很不錯) 主詞可用任何人稱的單復數 (I, we, they 等),動詞可用 verb to be 的任何時態
(is, was, were, will be, have been等)。因此,也可以說:
She (He) was cool in the past. That\'s a cool T-shirt.(好看的運動衫) He
(she) is a cool person.(文雅禮貌的人) 但是如果說:Are you cool?又是指「你冷嗎?」(cool =
cold),可見 cool 當口頭禪或俚語時,多半不用在問句。假如說:
She looks as cool as a cucumber. 又是恭維語,是說她很 calm and charming; not
emotional. 但為何用黃瓜 (cucumber) 代表,則不得而知。 (注:許多華人把 cool 譯成「很酷」)
2. Are you trippin\'?:trippin\' 這個字,是由動詞 trip 演變而來。(動詞時態是:tripped,
tripping)年輕人用省略符號 (apostrophe ) 代替 g,表示是
slang,或口頭禪。這個字是現在分詞當形容詞用,是指行為異乎尋常,也許受到吸毒或喝酒的影響,而顯得神魂顛倒、奇形怪狀(to get
high on drug such as LSD),也就是說:要不是受到藥、酒的影響,你為什 顯得這樣古怪呢?(Are you
under any influence of drug or alcoholic? Why are you so crazy and
bizarre?) 所以可以說:
They are trippin\'. (= tripping) She (he) is trippin\'. Mr. A must be
trippin\'. 通常只用在年輕人身上,而且不是恭維語。
3. He is a nerd:nerd 是指一些年輕人,每天只懂讀書、考試,但對生活上的其他事情,都很生疏。 (A person
always buries his nose in books, but not good at social
situations.)由於美國十分重視多方面發展的教育 (well-rounded),所以許多老外認為 nerd
雖然學識不錯,但很乏味;有IQ,但缺乏EQ,只是社會上無足輕重的「書蟲」或「蠢貨」而已。(IQ = Intelligence
Quotient ; EQ = Emotional Quotient) nerd 可用復數,動詞也能用其他時態。因此可以說:
He used to be a nerd in high school. (過去他在高中時是位書呆子) Many Chinese
students are(或 have been)considered nerds. 至於 geek 這個字,雖然與 nerd
相似,年輕人也常用,但 geek 是指在某一方面有很高的 IQ。我們可以說:
He is a computer geek. (意思是:雖然他是書呆子,但電腦很棒) 另外,年輕人還用 jerk
這個字,通常是指沒有社交技巧,頭腦簡單或古怪,令人討厭的家伙(annoying person),如果你不喜歡一個人,就可以說:
I don\'t like him because he is a jerk.
也可以用復數: Many jerks are working in our company.
主詞也可以用其他人稱,動詞也可用其他時態: They are jerks; He was a jerk in the past; Mr.
A has been jerk for years. (注:有時年輕人也用 dork 這個字,但不如 jerk 流行)
4. Yo baby:Yo baby 是許多年輕的黑人男子對女子的招呼語,也有人用“Yo baby, yo baby
yo”,由於女子很漂亮,很吸引人,他想與她交談。(He thinks she is pretty and attractive, so
he wants to speak to her.),也就是找話題,想要「打開話匣」。(to use as a form of
opening line or pick-up line or to begin a greeting; try to know her
or date her) 如果說:
Yo baby, are you trippin\'? 意思是:漂亮的姑娘,你的樣子有點怪里怪氣,有什 心事嗎? “Yo baby