從小學習美式英語的我們,在看英劇或英國電影時常常一頭霧水,lift 不是「提起來」的意思、flat 也不是「平坦的」!?
一起跟著到英國求學的 Rafal,看看英式英文跟美式英文有多麼不同吧!
Rafal 抵達英國後,陸續開始看宿舍。今天下午他跟一位英國老爺爺約看房…
Landlord: Good afternoon, you must be Rafael. Come on in lad, I’ll show you the flat.
房東: 午安啊,你一定就是 Rafal 了吧。進來吧小夥子,我來帶你看公寓。Rafael: Flat what now?
Rafael: 不好意思,你說什麼平平的?Landlord: Oh, in British English, flat means “apartment”.
房東: 噢,在英式英語裡面,flat 就是「公寓」。Rafael: Thanks! The … flat is on the first floor, right?
Rafael: 謝謝您!我的公寓在一樓對吧?Landlord: Yeah, so we’ll take the lift up.
房東: 對,所以電梯在這邊。Rafael: Lift … up?
Rafal: 提…什麼東西?Landlord: Haha, here we call an elevator a lift. Or we can take stairs if you like.
房東: 哈哈,lift 就是「電梯」的意思,不然你也可以爬樓梯。Rafael: But you said it was on the first floor?
Rafael: 但您說我的公寓在一樓不是嗎?Landlord: Oh, I see why you’re confused. What you would call the second floor is actually our first floor, and the first floor is called the ground floor.
房東: 喔,我懂為什麼你這麼困惑了。你們說的二樓其實是我們的一樓,然後我們的一樓叫做 ground floor。
看來 Rafael 還要好一陣子才能適應英國的生活呢,先來複習單字吧!