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內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介

你有沒(méi)有經(jīng)歷過(guò)這種情況：你滿腹牢騷，想要抱怨某件事情，卻不想讓旁人聽(tīng)清楚你說(shuō)的是什么？英語(yǔ)表達(dá) “under one's breath” 就可以用來(lái)形容這種 “低聲嘀咕，自言自語(yǔ)” 的做法。聽(tīng)節(jié)目，學(xué)習(xí)這個(gè)習(xí)語(yǔ)的用法。

文字稿

（關(guān)于臺(tái)詞的備注: 請(qǐng)注意這不是廣播節(jié)目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能沒(méi)有體現(xiàn)錄制、編輯過(guò)程中對(duì)節(jié)目做出的改變。）

Neil
Welcome to Authentic Real English, with me, Neil…

Feifei
… and me, Feifei.

Neil
In this episode, we are looking at the expression: 'under your breath'. It means 'say something so quietly that no one else can hear exactly what you're saying'.

Feifei
我們用 “under your breath” 來(lái)描述一個(gè)人 “低聲抱怨，小聲嘀咕”。這個(gè)表達(dá)中的 “your” 可以用 “my、his、her” 等物主代詞來(lái)替換。“Under your breath” 可以與動(dòng)詞 “talk” 搭配使用 —— “talk under your breath”。我們 “talk under our breath” 的原因經(jīng)常是想讓別人知道我們對(duì)某事感到不滿，但又不想讓人聽(tīng)清自己到底說(shuō)了什么。

Neil
Yes, and it can be a quite unpleasant or nasty situation. We could be saying negative things about someone, and we don't want them to hear exactly what we're saying.

Feifei
沒(méi)錯(cuò)。比如：昨晚我和佳瑩一起看了一部很糟糕的電影。我想表現(xiàn)出來(lái)自己不太高興，但又不想讓她知道我的確切想法，所以我說(shuō) “I hate this film” under my breath.

Neil
While we often use it for complaints or negative comments, sometimes we can use it to describe when we talk to ourselves directly.

Feifei
Yes. 我們還可以用 “under my breath” 來(lái)為自己加油打氣。比如：昨天，我和 Rob 打了一局乒乓球。比賽前，我小聲說(shuō)了 “I'm going to beat you” under my breath.

Neil
Exactly! Let's hear some examples before we talk more about this idiom…

Examples
He always says things under his breath about the work and tasks he's given. I'm not sure what his problem is.

Bruce told himself under his breath that he would not come back to the restaurant again. He hated it.

She said something under her breath, but I couldn't quite hear it! She looked angry though.

Feifei
你正在收聽(tīng)的是 BBC英語(yǔ)教學(xué)的 “地道英語(yǔ)” 節(jié)目。以上我們學(xué)習(xí)了表達(dá) “under your breath” 的用法。它的意思是 “輕聲說(shuō)話，小聲嘀咕”，這樣做的原因可能是表現(xiàn)自己的不滿，也可能是為自己加油打氣。

Neil
We often use it with verbs of speech, so, for example 'I said something under my breath'. We sometimes use it with the verb 'mutter', which has a similar meaning: 'speak quietly in a way that's not easy to hear' and is often used to talk about someone complaining.

Feifei
Yes. 'Mutter something under your breath'. 記住，由于 “under your breath” 是一句習(xí)語(yǔ)，要注意使用的場(chǎng)合。

Neil
The next time you hear someone complaining, but you can't understand everything they're saying, you now know an idiom you can use.

Feifei
They are 'speaking under their breath'. Join us again to learn more common English expressions. Thank you, bye.

Neil
Bye.