Larry 和李华刚刚在餐馆吃完饭。李华今天要学两个常用语doggie bag和back
burner.

    LL： This is waaaay too much food for me to finish. I guess I'd better
ask for a doggie bag.

    LH：怎么啦，你不会是想吐吧。

    LL： Huh？ No ！ I said I am going to ask for a doggie bag. That's
a bag that you use to take home leftover food from a restaurant.

    LH：我知道了，就是中国人说的打包。你们叫"doggie bag"，是因为美国人
一般都把剩下的饭菜喂狗吧？可你没有狗呀。

    LL： It's just a figure of speech. I 'm asking for a doggie bag because
I plan on eating the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

    LH：原来是你自己吃啊。美国人这种习惯真好。在中国，大家出去吃饭总要
点好多菜，根本吃不了，剩下的，有的就扔了。

    LL： The U.S. isn't so different. People originally used the phrase
"doggie bag" because they were embarrassed to admit they were saving food.

    LH：怪不得叫 "doggie bag" ，原来开始的时候美国人也不好意思承认自己
节俭，所以说是要喂狗。美国人真觉得这样做丢人吗？

    LL： Hmm……well， in the U.S. you wouldn't ask for a doggie bag at
a really nice restaurant， or on a formal occasion. But otherwise most
people would rather ask for a doggie bag than waste food.

    LH：所以说，在高级饭店和正式场合一般不打包，但除此之外，打包就很正
常了。中国现在也差不多，打包越来越普遍，不过我们用的是饭盒。

    LL： Yeah ， same here. But even though the food usually goes in a
box ， people still use the term "doggie bag".

    LH：美国人真把剩饭剩菜喂狗吗？

    LL：（Chuckles） The food from doggie bags can make a dog fat ！

    LH：不光是狗，经常在外面吃，人也会变胖的。账单来了。你得要 "doggie
bag"了。

    LL：（To the waiter ） Excuse me， could I get a doggie bag for this
please？

    ******

    LH： Larry，刚才说了半天 "doggie bag".我还真想养只小狗。

    LL： I know ， you've mentioned that before. But you'd better just
put that on the back burner for now.

    LH：把什么放在炉子上？你在说什么呀？

    LL： I said put it on the back burner. That means ， you should give
your idea of owning a dog low priority， and wait until it is more practical
or convenient.

    LH：你是说我养狗不现实，所以不要着急，应该暂时放一放。其实，我要是
真的养条狗也没有什么不可以，就是要做出一些牺牲罢了。

    LL： Really ， you should just put it on the back burner. Taking care
of a pet requires money and time.

    LH：你说得也对，养狗又花时间，又费钱，确实应该等毕业有工作了再说。
我真恨不得马上毕业。

    LL： I know ！ I have to put so many things on the back burner while
I'm in school …… I feel like I have no life ！

    LH： Larry，你都想干些什么呢？

    LL： Well ， for instance ， Jack and I were working together on an
online business ， but I am too busy with school to work on it often.
I had to put that on the back burner.

    LH：你和Jack要合作在网上做生意，真有两下子呀！

    LL： It's on the back burner right now. You know， I was in a rock
band for a while， but I put that on the back burner as well.

    LH：（Laughs）摇滚乐队？不会吧。Larry ，我听过你唱歌，你不会真想当
摇滚歌星吧？（Cell Phone Rings）是你的电话。

    LL： Whoa ， it's Angie. I'll talk to you later ， Li Hua. I've got
to answer this. I'm going to ask Angie out this weekend.

    LH：谁？你不是要跟Cindy 约会吗？怎么又变成Angie 了。你可不能脚踏两
条船啊。

    LL： Cindy？ Well ， earlier this week， she left for study abroad
in Europe ， so I had to put her on the back burner.

    LH：（Groans） Whatever ， Larry！

    今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是Doggie bag，意思是在外面吃完饭打包
用的盒子。还有一个是back burner ，意思是暂时不考虑。