上个月,英国语言学家Jeremy Butterfield出版了一本新书A Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare。他根据牛津语料库(Oxford University Corpus)中的资料,统计得到英国人最常见的10句套话。对于老外,听到这些话,可能会觉得反感。但是,我觉得对于中国人,不妨好好学一下,偶尔用用,反而能增进语感,让native speaker“刮目相看”。
下面就是我做的笔记。
1. At the end of the day
【中文解释】 最终;表示总结
【例句】Sure we missed our best player but at the end of the day, John, we just didn't play well enough to win the game.(我们最好的选手不能上场,但是最终来说,还是因为我们发挥得不好,所以无法赢得比赛。)
【例句】At the end of the day, what matters is that you're safe.(最终来说,你安然无恙,这才是最重要的。)
【例句】We interviewed many people for the job, but at the end of the day, we didn't think any of them could handle it.(我们面试了很多人,但是最后,我们觉得合适的人选一个也没有。)