Two Ticks
William: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, I'm William Kremer.
大家好，欢迎来到“日常英语。我是威廉.克莱姆。
Wang Fei: And I'm Wang Fei. So how are you today?
我是Wang Fei. 还好吗，威廉？
William: Two ticks...
等我“Two ticks……”
Wang Fei: What?
什么？
William: Give me two shakes, Wang Fei, I just need to...
给我“two shakes”。 我得……
Wang Fei: Eh? What's that?
嗯？什么意思？
William: I'll be with you in a jiffy...
等我“a jiffy".
Wang Fei: In a jiffy. What's a jiffy? William, what are you talking about? In a jiffy
？什么叫做“a jiffy”？威廉，你在说什么？
William: There, done now.
好了，搞定。I just needed to send a text.我只是需要发一条短信。
Wang Fei: But what were all those ticks and jiffys?
但是，你刚刚说的这些什么“ticks”啊“jiffys”啊,到底什么意思？
William: Ahh, and shakes?
啊？还有“shakes”也让你犯迷糊吧？
Wang Fei: Yes.
嗯。
William: Well they're all expressions of time, Wang Fei. So they're ways of saying 'just a moment', or 'just a minute'.
那个，它们全都指时间呢， 也就是是说，它们相当于是说“等一会儿”“马上”。
Wang Fei: I see.
我明白了。
• Can you come and help me lift this sofa? • Yeah, I'll be with you in two ticks.
可以帮我搬一下这张沙发吗？ 当然可以。马上就来。
William: Two ticks. In English, we say clocks make this noise: tick tock, tick tock. “tick tock, tick tock”。So two ticks is just like saying two seconds.
马上就来。在英语里面，钟表走动的声音为 所以呢，“two ticks”就相当于是在说“等我两秒钟吧（一会儿就好）”
• I said, can you come and help me here? It's too heavy for me. • Yes, yes. I'll be there in two shakes.
嘿，可以过来帮我以下吗？这东西太重了。 嗯嗯，马上就到。
Wang Fei: Hmm. Two shakes?
唔……Two shakes?
William: Yeah, the full phrase here is 'two shakes of a lamb's tail', but we shorten this to 'two shakes'.
没错，完整的表达应该是“羊尾巴摆两下”，我们现在用的是它的缩略版“two shakes”。
Wang Fei: Oh I see. Two shakes of a lamb's tail. English can be a very weird language!
啊，明白了。指的是“羊尾巴摆两下”所用的时间。英语还真怪呢！
William: Yes, it can be! I guess that this is because lambs' tails shake very fast, so two shakes is a short time! And finally...
嗯，是挺怪的。 我认为这是因为羊摆尾巴特别快，摆两下只要一眨眼的时间。 最后来听一下：
• Look Neil, this sofa isn't going to lift itself. Get a move on!
听着，Neil,麻烦你动作快点可以吗？这沙发自己可没长腿！
• I know, I know. I said I'll be with you in a jiffy.
知道啦知道啦。我说了马上就来嘛！
Wang Fei: In a jiffy. So in a jiffy also means 'in a short space of time'. But what's a jiffy?
这里用了“in a jiffy”。这么说,“in a jiffy”也是只“一小段时间“咯？但是什么叫做 “jiffy”呢？
William: Well, you know what, Wang Fei? Nobody is completely sure of the origin of this word. But it has been in use for over 200 years!
嗯，没人说得清楚呢， 但是大家已经这样说了200多年啦。
Wang Fei: 200 years! That's quite a long time. More than a jiffy!
200多年，这可不算短。比一”jiffy”可要长多了。
William: Yes, and that's several billion shakes of a lamb's tail.
没错。羊羔的尾巴得甩无数次了。
Wang Fei: Yes and all those ticks of a clock! Bye for now.
钟摆也得摆很久啦。到此为止吧。
William: Bye bye.
再见。
• Are you going to help me with sofa or not?!
你到底帮不帮我搬这张沙发？
• What sofa? You need help with a sofa?
什么沙发？你需要我帮你搬沙发吗？