Muddle along 得過且過，混日子

內容簡介

在對 “How are you? ” 這個問候作答時，除瞭 “I’m fine” 之外，我們可能會聽到有人說 “I’m muddling along.” 這是什麼意思呢？聽節目，跟主持人菲菲和 Beth 學習短語 “muddle along” 的用法。

文字稿

（關於臺詞的備註: 請註意這不是廣播節目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能沒有體現錄制、編輯過程中對節目做出的改變。）

Feifei
Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English, where we explain phrases used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too. I’m Feifei.

Beth
And I’m Beth. Feifei, how are you today?

Feifei
Oh, you know, muddling along. Everything’s fine – the same as usual.

Beth
Ah, you’re ‘muddling along’! Well, that’s what we’re looking at today, and it’s a phrasal verb. If you say you’re ‘muddling along’, it means you’re coping fine with something – things aren’t great, but things aren’t bad either.

Feifei
And it can also be used when you’re doing something without a plan or in conditions which aren’t perfect.

Beth
Yes. So, for example, I don’t have enough money to spend on a new phone at the moment, so I am muddling along with my old one for now. It’s not a great phone, but it’s OK for now.

Feifei
Yes. So, when working on projects, I prefer to have a very detailed plan. I don’t like to muddle along.

Beth
I’m the same.

Feifei
Let’s hear some more examples of ‘muddle along’.

Examples
I’ve just moved into a new house, and I don’t really have any plates or dishes or anything or any furniture, but I think we’ll muddle along somehow.

I could really do with a new job at the moment, but there’s nothing out there, so I’m just muddling along for now.

I’m very disorganised. I don’t really have a plan for my life. I just muddle along.

Feifei
你正在收聽的是 AYYBLOG 英語教學的 “地道英語” 節目。剛剛我們一起學習瞭短語動詞 “muddle along” 的用法。“Muddle along” 通常可以用來表達 “一件事情的進展或者一個人的處境既不太好也不太壞，勉強混著向前推進或者發展”，或者 “正在做的事情沒有一個清晰的目標，走一步看一步”。

Beth
Now, we can also say ‘muddle on’ with the same meaning.

Feifei
短語動詞 “muddle on” 的意思和 “muddle along” 相同。

And we also have ‘muddle through’. 還有一個包含單詞 “muddle” 的短語動詞是 “muddle through”，它的意思也和 “muddle along” 類似，但主要強調的是 “在沒有詳細計劃或不知道該如何做某事的情況下應付過去”。

Beth
So, my Spanish is quite low level. I could muddle through if I had to speak Spanish, but it would be difficult for me!

Feifei
Beth, I’m sure your Spanish is just fine. We’ll be back next time with another useful English phrase. See you soon!

Beth
Bye!