BBC Learning English.
大家好欢迎收听BBC英语教学的你问我答节目。 This is Question and Answer of the Week, where we answer your questions about English language, culture and life.
I'm Bully.
And I'm Georgie.
How are you, Bully?
Hmm, everything's fine now, but before you joined me, there were some issues with the recording system.
The computer was lacking and the microphones kept cutting out.
Oh dear, well I'm glad you've got it all sorted just in time for the recording.
Shall we hear this week's question?
I'd like to learn expressions related to problems using electronic devices.
For example, how to describe a device being slow, not responding or having poor signal.
I've also heard people say that something could have crashed, be out of order or on the blink.
Do they mean the same thing?
What a practical question!
這位聽眾問了一個在生活中非常常見的問題,我們可以怎麼向他人描述手頭的 electronic devices 電子設備,比如手機、電腦、電視等等出問題了?
Shall we start with some language to use in those frustrating moments when our electronic devices are being slow.
Yes, and we'll use the word computer as an example of an electronic device throughout, but the language can be generalised to other devices like a mobile phone too.
So when your computer is being a bit slow, we can use the word lag.
The noun lag means there's a delay between the human action and the desired result.
首先,如果一个设备反应慢了,比如一台电脑要在敲击键盘一段时间之后才会有反应,我们就可以用单词lag来描述这个情况。lag既可以做名词表示延迟两件事之间的时间间隔,也可以做动词表示某个设备响应速度变慢。
Or you can even describe the device as laggy, which is a bit more informal.
For example, the studio was being a bit laggy before I arrived, wasn't it?
Yes, it was.
在口语中,我们还可以用单词lag的形容词形式laggy来形容一个设备反应慢,反应迟缓。
除了slow和lag,我们还可以用一些表达来形容电子设备反应慢。比如,我们可以说一个程序、文件或网页is taking ages to load,载入的时间太久了。
我们甚至可以夸张地向别人抱怨。 It's taking forever.
太慢了,好像永远都打不开。 What about when the device just isn't responding at all?
I think I've heard the expression frozen before.
Yes, well imagine if something is literally frozen, it's stopped, it's not moving.
So if your device stops responding to what you're asking it to do, it has frozen.
Yeah, the screen might be showing something, but it's not doing what you want it to do.
フローゼン原本的意思是凍結了,因此人們通常會用它來比喻靜止不動。 如果我們用Frozen來形容一個電子設備或者一塊屏幕,意思就是這個設備沒有反應了,對我們的操作沒有響應,或者屏幕顯示的東西靜止不變了。
Georgie, what about when the computer just isn't working anymore?
The listener mentioned the idiom on the blink.
Does that work?
Yes, on the blink means that your electronic device isn't working properly.
But this idiom is not very commonly used in modern English.
Instead, you can use expressions like my computer has died or my computer has crashed.
這個問題中提到的習語on the blink 確實可以用來形容一個設備壞了出毛病了 不過on the blink有些過時 現在人們通常會用something has died 或者something has crashed 來表達某個設備死機了 或者某個設備壞掉了 Now let's talk about internet connection Good idea.
So let's imagine we're doing a video call and the internet connection is unstable.
You can say, sorry, my connection keeps dropping or my internet keeps cutting out.
我的网络信号不好,一直断断续续的。
你正在收听的是BBC英语教学制作的你问我答节目。 在本期节目中我们正在学习描述电子设备出故障的成用表达。 在这位听众提出的问题里还有一个常见的表达out of order。 Georgie.
Does this have a similar meaning to crashed or died?
Yes, the meaning is similar.
It means something isn't working.
But it's not common to use out of order when talking about personal devices like phones and computers.
The phrase out of order is more for machines that are publicly used, like vending machines, lifts in buildings, even toilets.
Right now that I think about it out of order is mostly used on signs to warn people not to use the machine.
Out of order这个表达的意思是损坏了,不工作了。它通常形容的是公共场合的物品,比如公共电话,办公室里的打印机,甚至公共厕所等等。我们也可以用它来标记其他人也会用到的公共设备或器械,来提醒他人,此物已坏,请勿使用。
Yes, but you're unlikely to hear my phone is out of order or my laptop is out of order.
And that's it for this programme.
If you have a question that you'd like us to answer, you can email us too at questions.chinaelt at bbc.co.uk 你也可以通过微博向我们提问。
