名人教英文:i could not care less何解?
有些英文语句的表达方式比较迂回,或令学习英文的人感到疑惑,以下有几个例子:
no more than
no more than 有时指「不多于(某数量)」,和not more than差不多,例如:there is a hotel no more than/ not more than five minutes' walk away.
另外,no more than可解作「只不过是」,近义语为nothing more than和little more than,不能用not more than代替。例如:in britain, the monarch (君主) is no more than a figurehead (象征式领袖). the real executive power lies in the hands of the prime minister.
no less than
no less than有时指「不少于」,例如:whole milk contains no less than/ not less than 3.25% milk fat.
no less than也可解作「多达」(as much as/as many as),强调数目多于预期,虽然less一般用于不可数名词,但在这个情况可用于可数名词,例如:no less than half the students failed the examination.
no less than还可解作「简直是」(与nothing less than同义),例如:
it was no less than / nothing less than a miracle that all passengers survived the plane crash.
i couldn't agree more
i couldn't agree more直译为「我再同意不过了」,其实即「完全同意」,意思和i can't agree刚刚相反。
i couldn't care less
i couldn't care less表示「毫不在乎」,即i don't care.
i couldn't care less源自英式英语,意思是「我完全不关心(所以不可能比现在关心得更少了)」。在美国,愈来愈多人用i could care less来表达同一意思,但是很多人认为这个说法不通,所以还是说i could not care less较为稳妥。