English Names
取个好听得体的英文名

Dialogue 1

Jingjing: Say, Mark, this is the first time I've seen you bring your computer.
京晶：那个，马克，我还是第一次见你带电脑呢。
Mark: Yeah, I don't usually schlep it around with me. But today, I have to tally students' grades.
马克：是，我不经常随身带。但今天，我得给学生们评分。
Jingjing: Oh. Do you have the class lists all set?
京晶：学生名单都准备好了吗？
Mark: Yeah, pretty much. Some of the students use English names. But that's just in class.
马克：嗯，差不多准备好了。有些同学用的英文名，只在课堂上。
Jingjing: I've heard some funny English names. Do you think some of the names people choose are weird?
京晶：我听说过一些特别好玩的英文名。你觉得有些人们挑选的名字特别奇怪吗？
Mark: To say the least! Often, students choose words, not names.
马克：至少可以这么说。常常，学生们挑选词语，而不是名字。
Jingjing: You mean like Daisy, or Rose?
京晶：你的意思是，比如雏菊，玫瑰？
Mark: Well, those two are commonly used as names. So, I guess they're OK.
马克：这两个通常是用做名字的。所以我觉得还可以了。
Jingjing: Who's to say what is a name and what isn't?
京晶：那谁能说得清楚什么能取成名字什么不能呢？
Mark: Hmm, I'd like to keep my mind open to new names, but when I hear "names" like Pervert and Super Eggie, umm...
马克：嗯，我是愿意对新名字保持开放心态的，但是当我听到诸如“堕落者”“超级鸡蛋”是，就有点那啥………
Jingjing: Someone actually goes by Pervert?
京晶：还有人真叫“堕落者”？
Mark: Maybe not any more. And the other one, Super Eggie, must have been a translation from Jordan.
马克：也许现在不这么叫了。另一个“超级鸡蛋”，一定是来自乔丹的翻译。
Jingjing: I guess it could have been, but that's kind of a stretch.
京晶：我猜可能是吧。这名儿有点牵强啊！
Mark: It was imaginative. Another odd one I heard was just a preposition: Before.
马克：到是很有想象力。我还听过一个奇怪的。就一介词：前面的。
Jingjing: Ha ha. Was that a guy or a gal?
京晶：哈哈真逗，男孩女孩啊？
Mark: It was a guy. But to be fair, I knew a guy from Camaroon whose name since birth was Begin.
马克：男孩啊。但是公平地说，我认识一个来自喀麦隆的男孩自打出生起就叫做“开始”。
Jingjing: What a funny world! What if they found girlfriends with the names After and End?
京晶：这世界也真是有趣（醉了）！如果他们找的女朋友叫“后来”和“结束”呢？

New words: 习语短语

schlep 携带，搬运
carry something, especially something heavy or uncomfortable
tally 计数
add up, calculate (i.e. use an Excel spreadsheet to list grades and add up final scores)
To say the least! 至少可以这么说，退一步讲
(expressed in agreement) What you've said is true, and could be said in a stronger way.
Who's to say... 谁说的
(expressing disagreement) What you've said might not be true. It can't be proven.
goes by ___ 名叫……
is named ___, is called ___ His legal name is Robert, but he goes by Bob. (NOTE: for pronunciation of this verb phrase: GOES by, not to be confused with the phrasal verb for time passing, The days went BY quickly on my vacation.)
kind of a stretch 有点夸张
(expressing disagreement) That might not be true. It's unlikely. It might not be connected in the way you described.

Dialogue 2

Mark: Jingjing, why don't you use an English name?
马克：京晶，你为什么不用一个英文名呢？
Jingjing: I haven't really found one that suits me.
京晶：我还没找到一个适合我的。
Mark: That makes sense. I haven't used my Spanish name since Spanish class.
马克：有道理。自从我的西班牙语课程后我都没再用过我的西班牙语名。
Jingjing: What was it?
京晶：那是个什么名字？
Mark: Dionisio Suerte. Suerte means "luck", and Dionisio sounds like the name of the Greek god Dionysus.
马克：Dionisio Suerte. Suerte是幸运的意思，Dionisio听着像希腊神（酒神）狄俄尼索斯的名字。
Jingjing: Oh, that's the god of the harvest.
京晶：哦，那是丰收之神。
Mark: Right. It's a pity most meanings of English names are unknown.
马克：是的。可惜大多数英文名的意思是未知的。
Jingjing: Yeah, I know family names tend to be meaningful, like Smith, Miller, and Cooper; those names came from the jobs their ancestors did.
京晶：是的，我知道姓氏通常是有意思的，比如史密斯（铁匠），米勒（磨坊主），库珀（箍桶匠），这些名字来自于人们的祖先所从事的职业。
Mark: Right. But given names—well, a few of them have obvious meanings, like Crystal and Brandy.
马克：对，但是名字部分—当然，有一些还是有明显的含义，比如水晶和白兰地。
Jingjing: What about some of the more sophisticated names.
京晶：那么那些更加复杂一些的名字呢？
Mark: I always liked the name Sarafina.
马克：我一直喜欢萨拉菲娜这个名字。
Jingjing: What does that mean?
京晶：是什么意思呢？
Mark: You got me. I just think it sounds elegant.
马克：你问到我了。我只觉得它听上去非常高雅。
Jingjing: Sophia is nice too. Doesn't it mean intelligence and sophistication?
京晶：索菲亚也很好啊。难道不是聪颖和老练的意思吗？
Mark: It's associated with that. When choosing a name, watch out for slang meanings, and look up some of the famous people with the name.
马克：也跟这样的意思有关吧。挑选一个名字的时候，要小心留意有没有俚语的含义，同时查一下取这个名字的一些名人。

New words: 习语短语

family name 姓氏
surname, last name
ancestors 祖先
members of ones family who lived a hundred years ago
given name 名
first name
obvious 明显的
clear, easy to guess
sophisticated 复杂的，精致的，老于世故的
educated, having good taste
elegant 优雅的，高雅的
graceful, luxurious
slang 俚语
very informal words, sometimes loaned from other languages (e.g. "schlep" is Yiddish) As for names, Mark means a person who is easily cheated and would be chosen by con artists, Joe means a typical guy.