歪歪扭扭
Skew-whiff
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Feifei.
大家好，欢迎来到BBC地道英语，我是菲菲。
And I’m Rob.
我是罗伯。
And I have to say Rob, you look fantastic! Big night, tonight, eh?
罗伯，必须说，你看起来棒极了！今天晚上有不寻常的事？
Well, I like to make an effort sometimes. It’s not every night you get invited to a movie premiere.
嗯，我偶尔也喜欢拾掇拾掇，毕竟不是每天晚上都有机会参加电影首映式的。
So handsome…
太帅了……
Do you like my bow tie?
你觉得我的领结怎么样？
Oh yes. Just one thing…
挺好的，不过有点……
What’s that?
怎么了？
It’s a bit… skew-whiff.
有点……歪歪扭扭的。
Oh, really?
是吗？
Yes. It’s not quite straight. Here.
是的，不是很正，这边。
Oh, thanks. That's better.
哦，谢谢，这样好多了。
Absolutely.
当然。
It’s a good word, skew-whiff. We use it to describe things that aren’t quite straight, or not quite as they should be.
skew-whiff真是个好词，我们通常用它来形容不正的、歪斜的东西。
Like your tie. And your… hang on… your hair.
就像你的领带，还有你的……等一下……你的头发。
No, no – don’t touch the hair. I spent ages getting it just right.
哦，别，别碰我的头发，这发型我可花了好长时间整的。
Sorry. We can also use skew-whiff to describe things that don’t go according to plan.
不好意思。我们还可以用skew-whiff来描述没有按原计划进行的事情。
Now Feifei, I’m just off to check myself in the mirror. Let’s play some examples while I’m gone.
菲菲，我现在要出去照一照镜子，趁机听一些例子吧。
There we go! One perfectly hung picture. What do you think?
好了！照片挂的真不错，你觉得呢？
Hmm, it’s a little bit skew-whiff. Let me hang it straight.
嗯，偏了一点，我来给他正一正吧。
This table is skew-whiff. One of the legs must be too short.
这张桌子歪了，肯定是一条腿短了。
Our journey went a bit skew-whiff after we missed the train this morning.
我们今天早上没赶上火车，接下来整个行程都赶不上了。
I wanted to spend the whole weekend working on my dissertation, but everything went a bit skew-whiff when my friend arrived in the afternoon.
我本来想整个周末都写论文的，不过下午我朋友来了，这个计划就不能实现了。
This is the English We Speak from BBC Learning English. We are talking about the word skew-whiff.
这里是BBC地道英语，我们正在讨论“skew-whiff”的用法。
OK, that’s my bow tie looking perfect now, thanks Feifei.
好了，我的领结这下就完美了，菲菲，谢谢你。
Great. There’s one more thing.
太好了，哦，还有一件事。
Oh yes? What’s that?
是吗？什么事？
Take some chewing gum. Your breath is fine, I think, but it’s always good to have, just in case.
嚼个口香糖。我想你没有口气，不过嚼口香糖还是有好处的，以防万一。
Yes, you wouldn’t want a whiff of bad breath at the premiere.
是的，大家肯定不想在电影首映式上闻到一股口臭的味道。
Indeed, the word ‘whiff’ on its own means 'a sudden smell of something'.
确实。Whiff这个词单用时指“突然闻到一股味道”.
No danger of that happening now. Enjoy the show!
现在不用担心了，玩的开心！
I will!
我会的！
Bye.
拜拜~