李华收到了妈妈从中国寄来的包裹，迫不及待地把里面的东西拿给Larry看。他们会用到两个常用语： tacky和swallow one's pride.

    LH： Larry， 你看，这是我妈送你的礼物！

    Larry： Interesting……Is……Is that a rug？

    LH： 什么啊？这是毛衣！ 多好看啊！

    Larry： That's a sweater？ Oh， my……

    LH： 你看！我妈还在这儿别了张纸条，上面说，这是她亲手给你织的。我妈真有两下子，是不是啊Larry？

    Larry： ……Oh my.

    LH： 怎么？你不喜欢？

    Larry： Umm……Look， Lihua. Don't get me wrong， it's great， but……It's just a little tacky for what I'd normally wear.

    LH： Tacky？ 什么意思？

    Larry： Well……basically……not fashionable.

    LH： 不时髦？俗气？这毛衣怎么俗气了？！

    Larry： Well， look at this design……there are pine trees and little people knit into it.

    LH： 那怎么了，有松树有小人儿就俗气？

    Larry： Well， a little bit， no？ And look at these colors……bright green and red on black？ It's so tacky it almost hurts my eyes…… and plus， look at the……

    LH： 你还嫌颜色太鲜艳，俗气得让你眼睛难受？！ 行了行了！ I don't think they're tacky at all. 我觉得一点儿都不俗！ 我妈亲手织的，看你敢不穿！

    Larry： Listen， I know you like tacky clothing， and that's fine. But I'm not wearing it.

    LH： 什么？你说我喜欢俗气的衣服？！ 我哪有！

    Larry： OK， for example， your pink Hello Kitty tennis shoes are quite tacky.

    LH： 粉色的hello kitty网球鞋不是tacky，是可爱！ 可爱！

    Larry： They would be cute on an 8-year old girl， not a college-aged young woman……And how about that jacket you have with all the extra zippers all over it？

    LH： 哼！ 咱俩眼光不同，我不跟你争了。反正我妈的这件爱心毛衣，你非穿不可。

    Larry： Lihua， I don't think you understand. There is no way I'm going out in public with that thing on！

    LH： 你不穿我就要生气了！

    Larry： Forget about it！ （a second passes） Lihua， come on. Don't be angry. Lihua？

    LH： 别理我。我正生气呢。

    ******

    Larry： （Begrudgingly， sighs） OK， fine. I guess I'll have to swallow my pride and wear the sweater.

    LH： Swallow your pride？ 你说什么呢？

    Larry： To swallow your pride means to begrudgingly do something that you are embarrassed to do.

    LH： Swallow one's pride 就是忍气吞声，勉强去做不愿做的事儿。这么说……你是要穿这件毛衣喽？

    Larry： Yes， if it will make you happy， I will swallow my pride and wear your mother's tacky sweater.

    LH： OH YEAH！ Larry你真好！

    Larry： Well， it's only because I know you have to swallow your pride and do many things on my behalf as well.

    LH： 啊？我也为了你忍气吞声过？

    Larry： Well， remember when my boss accidentally called you his "Japanese friend"？ You just smiled and nodded， but I'm sure you wanted to correct him.

    LH： 哦，想起来了。那次，你老板的确把我当成了日本人，不过没关系啦，美国人把中国、韩国、日本人搞混是常事。我不介意，我们中国人也常常觉得只要金头发蓝眼睛就都是美国人！

    Larry： Well， do you remember when you swallowed your pride last Halloween？ I made you wear that tacky French maid costume to my friend's party！

    LH： 对！那次万圣节，你非让我穿那件难看得要命的法国女仆装！

    Larry： Right. And I want to thank you for swallowing your pride and wearing that tacky costume.

    LH： 等等！你是说这件爱心毛衣和那件女仆装一样俗气难看？

    Larry： Why not？ I think the sweater is tacky， just like you thought the costume was tacky.

    LH： 可是……我穿的那件女仆装还特别曝露，别扭死了！

    Larry： Oh， come on. Wearing a sexy costume is normal on Halloween！

    LH： 可我不喜欢穿这种衣服！穿女仆装在你一大堆朋友前走来走去，I really had to swallow my pride！ 我牺牲了多少自尊啊！

    Larry： Gee， I didn't realize it was so embarrassing for you. You win， ok？ I'll wear the tacky sweater. But that's all I can do.

    LH：你想得美！ 你看，这里还有一个 Hello Kitty的手套，也是我妈织给你的！戴上吧！

    Larry： Oh good grief. How does your mother know how to make all of this stuff？

    今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是tacky，表示“俗气难看”。另一个是swallow one's pride， 意思是“忍气吞声”。