Lesson42

3. She Blew a Fuse 她大发雷霆

BACKGROUND 背景

A man has just had bad argument with his girl friend and is telling his friend about it.
一个人刚和女友吵了架，正在跟他的朋友倾诉。


A: Hi, do you have a minute to talk?
嗨，你有空和我谈谈吗？

B: Sure. What’s going on? You don’t look too happy.
当然了。怎么啦？你看上去不太高兴。

A: I’m not. I’m afraid I blew it with Cindy.
我确实不高兴。我和辛迪恐怕要玩完了。

B: What do you mean you blew it with Cindy?
此话怎讲？

A: Well, yesterday afternoon she mentioned that she would like to go to the movies. I said I’d like to go too but I didn’t have enough money. So I asked her if she wouldn’t mind paying my way. Wow! She really blew a fuse.
昨天下午她说想去看电影。我说我也想去，但是我的钱不够。于是我就问她能不能连我的票买了。哇！她听了之后勃然大怒！

B: I can imagine. What happened then?
我能想象当时的情景。后来呢？

A: She told me off for about ten minutes, told me that I was the cheapest guy she has ever met, called me loser, and then stormed off. I haven’t seen her or talked to her since then, and I don’t know what to do to make up with her.
她骂了我将近十分钟，说我是她见过的最小气的男人，说我是失败者，然后就摔门走了。我到现在还一直没有见到她，也没有跟她谈过，我不知该怎么做才能跟她和好。

B: Well, just take it easy. I’ll have a word with her to try to smooth things over. But don’t make a mistake like that again. Ok? Girls hate it when you ask them to pay.
别着急，慢慢来。我会和她去谈谈，为你们打个圆场。但是下次可别再犯这样的错误了，怎么样？女孩子们讨厌你让她们付钱。

A: I’ll try not to, believe me!
我尽量不犯，相信我吧！

B: Good, next time just make an excuse about having an exam the next day!
好吧。下一次就找个借口说你第二天要考试！

A: Thanks for the advice.
谢谢你的建议。

额外成就感

blow it: lose through carelessness or error, fail to take advantage of 由于粗心或错误而失去；没有利用好☆☆☆☆
* The exam wasn’t very hard, but I blew it.
考试并不难，可我考砸了。
* This is your last chance to make a good impression on your boss. Don’t blow it.
这是你最后一次在老板面前显露的机会。不要搞砸了。
* I’m so nervous about my job interview tomorrow. I’m afraid I’ll blow it.
我对明天的工作面试非常紧张。我怕会搞砸了。

blow a fuse: become very angry; express one’s anger using strong words　勃然大怒；用强烈的语言发泄愤怒☆☆☆☆☆
* When he found out his wife had spent so much money, he blew a fuse.
当他发现妻子花了那么多钱，气得大发雷霆。
* The children kept making so much noise that he couldn’t sleep. He finally blew a fuse.
孩子们不停地吵闹使他不能睡觉，最后他发了脾气。
* There’s no need to blow a fuse over such a little problem.
为这么点小事没必要发脾气。

tell someone off: scold someone; attack someone verbally
斥责或责骂某人；数落某人的过错☆☆☆☆☆
* When he heard he was going to be fired, he told the boss off.
当他听说要被解雇时，他把老板大骂了一通。
* That’s it. I’m going to tell him off right now.
那好。我现在就去找他算帐。
* I can’t believe she tried to tell me off about making too many phone calls at work.
我简直不能相信她因为我工作时间打电话太多就想斥责我。

storm off: leave a room or a place very angrily, usually by making noise (for example slamming the door) 怒气冲冲地离开房间或某个地方，一般伴随着响声（如摔门）☆☆☆☆☆
* After telling him off, his friend stormed off.
他的朋友训斥了他一顿后，气冲冲地走了。
* He was so angry that he stormed off and didn’t come back.
他发了脾气，摔门而去，再也没回来。
* Every time we fight, one of us storms off for a couple of hours to cool down.
我们每次吵架，其中一个都要气冲冲地离开个把小时去冷静一下。

make up: be friends again (after a quarrel)
（吵架后）和解，和好了☆☆☆☆
* They had a terrible argument, but two hours later they kissed and made up.
他们大吵了一通，可是两个小时后，他俩言归于好，亲吻起来。
* They finally decided to stop arguing and make up.
他们最后决定停止争吵，握手言欢。
* The best part of fighting is making up afterwards!
吵架最精彩的部分就是过后言归于好。

smooth things over: make an unpleasant situation seem better; try to excuse 使不愉快的局面平息下来；消除分岐☆☆☆☆
* No matter how hard she tried, she was unable to smooth over their differences.
不管她怎么努力，也未能消除他们之间的分岐。
* He tried to smooth over their argument by making his parents laugh.
他想把他的父母逗笑来平息他们之间的争吵。
* This mistake is too big. I don’t think there is any way we can smooth it over. The boss is sure to notice.
这个错误非同小可。我觉得我们不可能蒙混过关。老板肯定会知道的。