美国习惯用语 | around the corner

我有个朋友订婚了,我本以为她怎么也要等上几个月才会办婚礼。于是问她怎么计划,我好提前安排时间,请好假,赶去外地参加她的婚礼。结果她一说出婚期,吓我一跳,原来就是下礼拜!闪婚啊!这让我想到一个习惯用语:around the corner。

around the corner的意思是“马上,不久之后”。

  • My friend's wedding isn't months away as I'd thought; it's around the corner!
    我朋友的婚礼根本不是像我想的那样,还有好几个月才办,而是没几天就要举行了!

唉,真不知道她怎么能在那么短的时间里筹备婚礼!我想,新郎新娘八成会忙得晕头转向。说到这种临阵磨枪的处境,下面这段话中的人也是一样:

  • Like most Americans, I don't focus on Christmas shopping until December. That's because Thanksgiving comes on the last Thursday of November. It's only after the big family dinner, the parades and football games are over, that I can start thinking about buying gifts. By then, Christmas is right around the corner! I can't believe how soon it is.
    和大部分美国人一样,我都是到十二月才会开始想采办圣诞节年货的事。这是因为感恩节是11月的最后一个星期四,要在感恩节的家庭大餐、节日游行和橄榄球比赛都过去之后,我才能腾出脑筋想采办圣诞礼物的事儿。可到那时,圣诞节已经近在眼前了!我简直不能相信时间会过得这么快!

真是这样!时间好像总是过得比你想像得快!这就是为什么很多人提前好几个月就要开始采办年货,甚至在感恩节以前就把圣诞礼物、新年礼物全都买好!

刚才我们说到买新年礼物不要等到最后一刻,其实,生活中很多时候都需要未雨绸缪,早作打算。比如,近些年来人们经常谈论开发可再生能源,这种有些前瞻性的做法虽然在美国各州还没有普及,但人们显然意识到了尽早参与的好处。

  • The U.S has some of the best resources in the world to meet its energy needs. Already, California produces 31% of its electricity from hydropower, wind and geothermal technologies. Such development is happening now in a few other states as well. And, fortunately, it's just around the corner in many others. The future looks bright.
    在满足能源需求方面,美国有一些全世界最好的自然资源。加州已经实现了百分之31的电力靠水能、风能和地热技术获得。其它几个州也正在这个方向上前进。此外,令人欣慰的是,另外很多州也不久就能走上洁净能源之路。这个领域的未来看来很光明。

新技术的发展真是日新月异。我现在看科幻电影的时候总想,其实这些幻想出来的东西are just around the corner,应该在不久的将来就能变成现实!