Nick:Hi everybody, this is Nick. Welcome to teaching series"how do you say this in American English."
Nick:大家好，我是Nick.
Brad:大家好，我是Brad
Nick:那今天呢我要教大家一个词组“relatively speaking"相对而言。这个词组呢是用来做一个比较，就是说你在谈论一个什么东西的时候，为了让自己显得不是那么绝对--大家都知道如果讲话讲得太绝对，大家可能听的会比较反感不太喜欢，对吧。“这个东西绝对不好用，这个人绝对很坏"这样一般我们会觉得非常武断，是不太好，所以我们可以用这个比较就相当于compare do something它是另一个表达方法我们常说的.So, I would say"relatively speaking, this exam is easier."
Brad: Yeah, it depends on who you are. Let's say that you are majoring in math. And you'll say, when you took the exam in algebra,"relatively speaking, that exam was pretty easy." But if you speak to someone who is never learned that before, they are gonna say,"what do you mean, what are you talking about? The exam is so hard." But since they know that you are a mathematician.they know that relatively speaking, it was easy for you. Another example I think was weather.Relatively speaking, it's warm out.Even now I'm wearing a sweater and a jacket and a hat. But you say relatively speaking because I have, uh, cousins in Florida, where is very hot out. It's very warm like they are wearing shorts and a t-shirt right now. But for Ohio, 60°F is a nice day in February.So that's my scenario to"relatively speaking"
Nick: Well, just say"relatively speaking, it's pretty nice outside."
Brad: So, considering you've known I'm wearing a lot of clothing to keep me warm. It's warm out for the time of the year.
Nick: Ok, But you don't have to really like list all the comparisons, right?
Brad: Not really. It's usually commented. They wanna know then they'll ask,"compare to what?'
Nick: You can just say,"um, relatively speaking, it's a good day today.I don't have to put on a lot of clothes. If they don't really know what you were mentioned to. They might ask you"oh, compared to what?"
Brad: You know, and I'll just say, Florida. But they should know that.
Nick: Yeah they shouldn't be asking this. Usually. 那Brad刚刚就是说呢这个“relatively speaking"你可以不需要，刚刚我举的一个例子就说我考试我觉得这个考试简单，他说如果你学数学的，你觉得数学考试简单，但是相对而言，可能其他没学过数学的就觉得考试难。包括我说的温度，你觉得外面非常暖的。然后虽然你穿了很多，但是你觉得外面很暖，那是因为在俄亥俄这个地方呢因为它比较冷，所以现在这个温度他还是觉得很暖--虽然说其他人会觉得很冷，但是他仍然觉得很暖。其实可以试想一下，假如说你在东北,常年零下20℃，然后你跑到海南你会觉得非常暖，然后假如说海南是0℃，一个东北零下20℃跑过去觉得诶还是挺暖，但是海南就会觉得哇怎么这么冷，因为他们平常都是20℃，这个就是“relatively speaking"有一个比较性。另一个他说的一个点就是你并不需要把所有的这个comparisons所有这个比较的物品参照物给说出来，这个是没必要的，大家一听就会听得懂。比如说你现在觉得外面虽然很多人觉得很冷，但是你觉得很暖你走出去说很暖，你不需要说，因为我是在更冷的地方长大的，所以我觉得这个冷不算什么，你不需要说出来。这个毕竟不是你们讨论的重点。那如果真的你们在聊天的时候，因为你是想表达自己不冷而已，其他人想要了解为什么你会这么说他们可能会问“compare to what?'为什么你会说这里很冷，或者说为什么你会说不冷就这样。So this is the way we use"relatively speaking", I'll see you guys next class.
Brad: Bye, everyone！