Lesson 45

【劲词天天学】

正在热映的美剧《Gossip Girl》已进入了第四季,强烈的人物和剧情冲突以及每位角色时尚的搭配都强烈吸引着美剧迷们的眼球。

《绯闻女孩》对青春偶像剧中的基本元素进行了全新的包装，剧中角色都被描述成"灰色"，摇摆在正邪两面之间，而不是单纯被描述成"黑色"或者"白色"。另外剧中的旁白也是一大亮点，简练精辟，绯闻女孩那神秘的口吻也叫人十分难忘。

今天，我们就来学一下【Gossip,绯闻，闲话，流言】这个词的用法：

【Gossip】 is usually about things like love and relationships，or private things that people don't talk openly about．
闲话经常谈论一些诸如爱情、人际关系以及人们不在公众场合谈论的隐私。
 

1. Gossip tends to circulate quickly.
流言总是传的很快。

2.Office romance is often the subject of gossip.
办公室恋情总是会引起闲言碎语。

3. Mrs Winthrop had no sooner left the room than they began to gossip about her.
温思罗太太一离开房间,他们就开始议论起她来。

4. Whenever there's any gossip in the neighbourhood, Mrs Green drinks it all in and spreads it as fast as she can.
无论什么时候,只要街坊四邻有什么闲话,格林太太总是全神贯注地听着,然后又尽可能快地张扬出去。

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Today Topic:Classroom Gossip 教室里的流言蜚语
Today Vocabulary:  unfair 不公平
Today Host: Arena  (韦博上海静安中心外教）

——Hey Tina, good to see you again. How have you been ?
嗨，Tina,见到你真高兴，最近你还好吗？

——I've been well, thanks. Although recently work has been a little busy and stressful（adj.有压力的）! How have you been?
谢谢，尽管最近有一点小忙，有些压力，不过总得来说我还好，你呢？

——: I've been great. I'm just about to head to my Chinese class. OMG, there is so much gossip flying around in that place. It's unbelievable!
我也还行，我要去上中文课了。天哪，现在真是谣言满天飞的时候，叫人难以置信！

——Really...??I love a bit of juicy gossip, fill me in....
真的吗？我喜欢听一些“有营养”的传言，说给我听听！

——Well...I shouldn't really say anything ,but rumor has it that Mark and Jane are an item now, can you believe it, I don't know how she managed to tame（v.驯服） such a playboy like him?
好吧，我也不知道该说不该说。有消息说，马克和简是一对了！你相信吗？我都不知道她怎么跟这个花花公子好的.

——He's with Jane...(exclaim!!!)That's so unfair. Why do nice girls always fall for bad boys, I just don't get it?
他和简？（惊呼），太不和谐、太不公平了吧！为什么好女孩都要跟坏男孩在一起？我怎么就不明白···

——Well, you know what they say,' treat then mean, keep them keen' it always works!!
好吧，你知道有句话是这么说的，“你对他们越不好，他们越想跟你在一起。”

——Yea, he's a bit of snob but don't worry there are plenty of fish in the sea for you dude...!
是的，他是个挺势利的人，你也别担心，天涯何处无芳草~

——Thanks for the confidence boost, but I really wanted to ask her out for dinner, you know wine & dine her !I think she has such stunning eyes...ah maaannnn!!!!
谢谢你给我信心，但是我之前真的挺想约她出来吃饭的，她的眼睛真的很迷人！啊~！

——We'll maybe you should take the news with a pinch of salt Tina, apparently Mark is loaded, he comes from an affluent family so maybe she will just wait till he splashes out on her then she will leave...maybe she's a GOLDDIGGER!!
好吧，这个消息你也不要全信。很明显马克是个富二代，很有家底，也许她只是看中了这一点，说不定她是个财迷！

——: Lol lol lol.....thanks Aaron. I feel better already.
哈哈，谢谢你，我心里舒服点了。

Let go through some words and phrases:
Gossip  流言蛮语；闲言碎语
Fill me in  讲给我听听
an item  恋爱中
Tame  驯化；驯服
Exclaim  惊叫，呼喊
There are plenty of fish in the sea 天涯何处无芳草
Confidence boost 加强信心
take something with a pinch of salt .  直译是‘和一撮盐吃下去’，意译则是‘姑且听着，不能尽信’。盐在这怎么会有‘疑惑’意思呢？原来淡而寡味、人们不爱吃的东西，加一点调味的盐，会比较容易下咽；同样，难以教人相信的事，用一些动听言词说出来，人家往往也会有戒心，不敢尽信。所以，take something with a pinch of salt这句话含有叫人疑惑的意味。
Loaded：非常富有

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闲聊&闲话有助于心理健康？

New research finds that gossiping can be good for you — as long as you have something nice to say.

新的研究发现，闲聊对人有益------只要你有可说的事。

Jennifer Cole, a social psychologist, and Hannah Scrivener reported results from two related studies, both of which demonstrate that it’s in one’s self-interest to say “So-and-so’s second husband is adorable” rather than “She married that lout（n.愚蠢的，奇怪的人）?”

社会心理学家詹妮弗·科尔和汉娜·斯克里温纳的报告里提到了两条相关的研究结果。这两条结果都证明了人的利己心理，比如人都喜欢听说“某某的第二任丈夫很可爱”，而不喜欢听说“她嫁给了那个怪人吗？”这样的话。

In the first study, intended to measure a person’s short-term emotional reaction to gossiping, 140 men and women, primarily（adv.主要的） undergraduates（n.大学生）, were asked to talk about a fictional（adj.虚构人物） person either positively or negatively.

第一项研究，目的是测量一下人对闲聊的短期情绪反应。其中参与研究的对象主要是大学生，男女共140人，要求他们从正面或者负面谈论一个虚拟人物。

The second study, which looked into the long-term effects of gossiping on well-being, had 160 participants（n.参与者）, mostly female undergrads, fill out questionnaires（调查问卷表） about their tendency to gossip, their self-esteem（n.自尊） and their perceived social support.

第二项研究，要求观察闲聊有关幸福方面的话题时，人在情绪上的长久反应。其中有160人参与了研究，大多数是女大学生。要求他们填写有关自己闲聊癖好，自尊心理和社会支持感受的问卷调查。

According to Dr. Cole, after speaking kindly of others, positive emotions were raised 3 percent, negative emotions were reduced 6 percent, and self-esteem rose 5 percent. These are not huge numbers, as Dr. Cole is the first to admit. But it’s nonetheless one of the few times researchers have attributed anything beneficial to the silly art of gossip.

据科尔博士介绍，在说了他人的好话之后，积极情绪上升了3%，消极情绪减低了6%，自尊心也增强了5%。正如科尔博士首肯的那样，这些都算不上什么大数据。但不管怎样，这也算为数不多的研究者，在闲聊是否对人有益方面，贡献出的绵薄之力。

But does tittle-tattle（n.闲聊，杂谈） really help attract more friends? “It could be that people who gossip a lot think they have social support, but they don’t actually,” Dr. Cole said, noting that previous research shows people tend to dislike and mistrust（adj.不信任的，猜疑的） gossips.

但闲聊真的能吸引来更多的朋友吗？“对那些闲聊较多的人来说，这是有可能的，因为他们有社会支持，但实际未必。”科尔博士这么说，之前研究里没有任何东西表明，人们有讨厌和缺少信任闲聊的倾向。

“We’re all gossipers,” said Judith Martin, a k a Miss Manners. “We bond that way, and people who talk about other people are interesting.” But, she added, “People who spread malicious （adj.恶毒的，有恶意的）gossip are despicable（adj.可鄙的，卑劣的）.”

“我们都是闲聊高手。” 朱蒂斯·马丁说，也可称其为礼仪小姐，“我们因闲聊而黏在一起，并且人们之间闲聊他人是很有趣的。”但同时，她又说，“如果散布他人谣言或中伤他人，则显得卑鄙无耻了。”

After criticizing other people, gossipers’ positive emotions were reduced by 16 percent and negative emotions increased 34 percent. It may be a function of empathy; we feel badly for the objects of our derision. Or it could be selfishness; we realize people won’t like us for nattering on meanly about others.

诋毁他人以后，嚼舌根者的积极情绪就会降低16个百分点，而消极情绪则上升34个百分点。这或许就是移情作用的功能；对他人的嘲笑，让我们感到糟糕极了，或那可能就是自私；我们都注意到，人们不乐意别人拿自己当闲扯对象。