Give us a bell 給我打電話

內容簡介

菲菲正在錄音間和 Rob 講她周末去大本鐘附近觀光的計劃。Rob 讓菲菲到時候“give him a bell 給他一口鐘”，菲菲可搬不動那麼重的東西。難道表達“give him a bell”另有含義？聽節目，學習一個包含單詞“bell 鈴鐺”的口語說法。

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。）

Rob
Hello, I’m Rob.

Feifei
大傢好，我是馮菲菲。歡迎收聽《地道英語》節目。

Rob
So Feifei, what are you doing this weekend?

Feifei
I thought I’d do some sightseeing in London. 雖然住在倫敦，但度假總是去別處，所以這個周末打算去逛逛沒去過的倫敦景點。

Rob
Good idea. You mean the Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey…

Feifei
….yes and especially Big Ben“大笨鐘”。I’ve always wanted to stand underneath and hear the clock strike 12.

Rob
Do you know what, I might the do same thing. When you’re there, give us a bell and I’ll come and meet you.

Feifei
‘Give us a bell’? There is no way I can give you a bell. Do you know how heavy it is?

Rob
Err, I don’t want a bell from the clock tower. I just mean give me a call – on your phone. Give us a bell!

Feifei
Why didn’t you just say that! 其實在英式口語裡，表達“give us a bell”的意思就是“給我打個電話”。這個說法源於帶鈴鐺的電話時代，那時候的電話上都帶有一個“bell 鈴鐺”，電話一響，鈴就響。所以在“give us a bell”這個說法中，“bell”就代表瞭“call”。

Rob
You’ve got it. So will you ‘give us a bell’?

Feifei
Let me think about that while we hear some more examples.

Examples
When you get there, give us a bell and tell us what it’s like.

Just give us a bell and I’ll tell you how to get here.

After our blind date, he told me to give him a bell but every time I call him, his phone diverts to voicemail.

Feifei
Give somebody a bell 的意思就是“給某人打電話”。但是在英式英語中，人們為什麼說“give us a bell”，而不是“give me a bell”？

Rob
In informal English, we tend to say ‘us’ even when there’s just one of us – just me. But of course ‘us’ can also mean more than one person.

Feifei
在日常生活對話中，英國人有時會用“us”來表示“me”，當然根據說話的具體情況“us”也可以代表“我們”。But this weekend you want me to call you because you’ll be on your own and you’ve got nothing else to do – so you want to spend the day sightseeing with me?

Rob
Yes. Just give us a bell and I’ll be there.

Feifei
Hmm, well, sorry I can’t – I haven’t got your number.

Rob
Well, I could give you a bell. What’s your number again?

Feifei
Ah, saved by the bell. Sorry, got to go, maybe next time. See ya.

Rob
Oh. Bye.