Larry 刚刚给自己的公寓贴了新的墙纸，可是他觉得效果很不理想。李华今
天会学到两个常用语：diddlysquat 和rub it in.

    LL： Today， Li Hua ， I discovered that I don't know diddlysquat
about putting up wallpaper.

    LH：什么？ diddlysquat？听你的意思，你好象是说你对贴墙纸什么也不懂，
是吗？

    LL： That's right. I don't know diddlysquat means I don't know anything.

    LH：噢，Don't know diddlysquat就是什么也不懂，一窍不通。

    LL：Right. When I was wallpapering my apartment ， I didn't get the
pieces perfectly straight before I put them on， and now the pattern doesn't
line up.

    LH：我也对贴墙纸一窍不通。不过，贴之前好象总得把墙纸弄直了。否则，
墙纸的花样怎么对得起来呢！

    LL： Yeah ， but it is harder to do than you might think. I really
needed to read instructions in a how-to book before I started ， but I
didn't do diddlysquat to prepare.

    LH：原来你什么准备都没有做就开始贴墙纸呀！美国有很多关于如何装修房
屋的书，你什么没看就动手啦？你胆子也够大的。得了，你来帮我点忙，分散一
下注意力，心情就会好一些。好吗？

    LL： Sure ， how can I help ？

    LH：我昨天买了一个新的电脑硬盘，可我在这方面什么也不懂，I don't know
diddlysquat about computer. 你来帮我装一下，好吗？

    LL： You are just like my mom ， Li Hua. She doesn't know diddlysquat
about computers either─but I am happy to help out. When should I come
by？

    LH： Larry，你能帮我装上，那太好了。午饭以后可以过来吗？

    LL： OK ， I'll do that. But maybe you can come help me remove the
wallpaper I put up.

    LH：帮你撕墙纸，I don't know diddlysquat about that ！让我看看再说
吧。

    ******

    LH： Oh ， Larry，这墙纸还真是没对齐。

    LL： Yeah ， I know. Please don't rub it in.

    LH：不要抹进去？我们不是要把墙纸撕下来吗？

    LL： No ， no. By "rub it in" ， I didn't mean rub the wallpaper into
the wall. I meant that I already know the wallpaper doesn't line up ，
so you don't need to tell me again and make me feel worse.

    LH：我明白了， rub it in的意思是在伤口上抹盐，令人更难堪。墙纸没贴
好，你已经很难过了，我又提起这件事，就是rub it in - 让你更难受，对吗？

    LL： Yeah ， especially when it is something you are not happy about.
"Rubbing it in" just makes a person feel worse.

    LH： Rub it in，只会让人更难过，所以我们的朋友Rick撞车之后，你并没
有对他说， "你怎么这么不小心" ，因为你不想让他更难堪。

    LL： Right， I didn't want Rick to feel even worse about his car.

    LH：上个星期考试，我考得好，你考得不好，我说，" 你本来就该好好复习
嘛".这又是 rubbing it in，往伤口上抹盐，对不对？

    LL： Exactly.

    LH：可是我只是想对朋友提出忠告，并没有抹盐的意思。

    LL： I know you didn't mean to rub it in， Li Hua. Well ， let's go
see what we can do about your hard drive.

    LH： Great. 好吧，去看看我的电脑吧。

    LL： You are really lucky that we are friends ！ I mean ， you don't
know diddlysquat about computers. You'd never be able to install the hard
drive without me.

    LH：我知道我对电脑一窍不通，你就别往伤口上抹盐了。You don't have to
rub it in ！

    今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是don't know diddlysquat about something，
意思是对某件事一无所知，一窍不通。李华学到的另一个常用语是 rub it in，
意思是在某个人的伤口上抹盐，令人更加难过。