2011年實用口語練習:是魯莽還是勇氣可嘉

get up the nerve

1：I’m trying to get up the nerve to walk in and tell my boss I want a 20% raise

我打算鼓起勇氣到老板的辦公室去，告訴他我想加薪百分之二十

有時候人們用work代替get，成為

work up the nerve

I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to ask her to marry me, but I’m afraid all she’ll do is laugh.

我一直想鼓起勇氣開口向她求婚，但我老覺得難以啟齒，因為我怕她會一笑了之。

我們再來學個習慣用語: have got a lot of nerve。在這個習慣用語里，nerve不再解釋為“神經”或者“勇氣”，而是“魯莽”。

You’ve really got a lot of nerve telling me I spend too much money! Remember, you are the one who goes up to New York every month and brings back a thousand dollars worth of stuff.

你也好意思說我花錢太多？你每個月都得去一次紐約，而且每次總要買一千多美元的東西！

Of all the nerve。

Of all the nerve! How dare you criticize me for being late in the morning. You’re the one who sneak out half an hour early - at least I work a full eight hours every day!

真是大言不慚！你還說我早上遲到？你自己每天提前半小時就回家了，至少我每天都待夠八小時。