大家常常可以听到有的丈夫抱怨说,自己的老婆在家里总是唠叨个没完没了,说他家务事做得少,衣服到处乱扔等等.如果用一个字来形容这种爱唠叨的现象,那就是:nag¹.

Nag这个字的意思就是没完没了地唠叨,让听的人觉得很烦燥.但是,这个字不是女人的专利,它还可以用来形容其他喜欢唠叨的人.

例如:I like my boss except for onething--he's always nagging² me about getting to work on time. I'mnever more than five minutes late, and that's only when the busdoesn't show up on time.

我的老板什么都挺好,就是老是嘱咐我要按时上班,唠叨个没完.实际上,我即便晚到也从来不会超过五分钟,而那也只是在公共汽车晚到的时候才会发生.

这句话里nag是个动词,但是,nag也可以用做名词来形容那些不断批评别人,要别人按着他的意志行事的人.

例如:My wife is such a nag aboutmy smoking--she keeps after me all day long to stop it. You know,I've been smoking twenty years now and giving up my four packs aday is hard to do.

我的太太在我抽烟的问题上真是爱唠叨,为了要我戒烟她成天说个没完.可是你要知道,我抽烟已经有二十年啦.要戒掉一天四包烟的习惯可是很难的事.

果有人老是对你唠叨个没完,如果你想耳根清净,你可以这么说:Hey,get off my back, will you!这句话的意思是:喂,你别跟我唠叨了,行不行!这里,to get off one's back就是不要再纠缠、唠叨的意思.

例如:I'mtelling you, if that guy doesn't stop nagging me about workingfaster, I'm going to tell him to get off my back or I'll walk rightoff the job and let him see how hard it is to find a good mechanicthese days.

我告诉你,要是那个家伙再来唠叨要我更快地干活的话,我就要告诉他别再纠缠不清,否则我就不干了,让他知道现在要找一个真正懂机械的工人是多么的难.

To get off one'sback还可以指一些对人起限制作用的规章、条例或机构等.

例如:Doyou know what would help pick up the economy? Just get thegovernment off our backs with all these useless rules andregulations that keep us filling out forms and showing inspectorsaround."

你知道什么能够促使经济发展更快吗?就让政府取销所有那些毫无用处的条例和规章就行了,省得我们老是填表格,带着检查员到处看.