外國人雖然表達意見直接,但是該婉轉的時候,他們也會借用其他字來代替,像是失業會用"between jobs"來替代,表示在前一份跟下一份工作之間。
若聽見別人說"It's just between you and me."別誤會別人對你真情流露,其實他是要你把事情當做秘密,有點像中文說「我們兩個知道就好」,between這個字本身的意思就是「在...之間」,所以經常用來處理類似青黃不接的情形。
Between you and me, I don't think Alex is going to marry his boyfriend.(我不覺得Alex會嫁給他男友,但這別說出去。)
My little sister is between jobs.(我妹妹現在待業中。)
I'm between relationships.(我現在沒男/女友。)
He knows quite a lot of Spanish but he's at an in between stage and not fluent yet.(他會蠻多西語的,不過現在他到了一種不上不下的階段,還稱不上流利。)
都是「之間」,between與among的差異?
曾經有看過一些資料,將這兩個差異整理成2個之間用between,2個以上用among,這個答案是也不是,因為真正的差異不是在數量,而是between強調個別性,among是強調整體性,無法精確區分。
My grandma's house is between the mountains and the river.(我奶奶的房子在山河之間。):清楚可區分為一邊面山,一邊面河。
The gate is hidden among the trees.(大門藏在樹林裡。):門被樹環抱,無法清楚區分門與樹。
I have to choose between NTU, NCU and C&C university.(我得從NTU、NCU、C&C大學中挑選一所。):可以清楚區分是哪三間學校。
I have to choose among universities in Taipei.(我得從台北的大學中挑選一所。):大學只是一個整體概念。
There is an agreement between China, Russia, India and North Korea.(有個協約是跟中國、俄國、印度、北韓有關。):強調個別性。