開春了，李華和Larry 正在商量種花種菜。今天我們要學(xué)兩個常用語：apples
to oranges和penny pincher.

    LH： Larry，終于等到春天了，你說，咱們該種點什么花呢？是玫瑰還是杜
鵑？

    LL： No way ， those are too much work. Let's plant a cactus so that
we only have to water it once every couple weeks.

    LH：什么？就為省事，你居然要種仙人掌？這也太雷人了吧，那還不如一懶
到底，堆幾塊石頭，弄個日本枯山水花園算了。

    LL： Oh come on ， Lihua. A cactus garden is completely different
from a rock garden. You're comparing apples to oranges.

    LH： Apples and oranges ？你不是說要種仙人掌嗎？怎么又提到蘋果和桔
子呢？

    LL： Actually ， when you say that someone is comparing apples to
oranges ， it means he is trying to compare two very different things
that aren't the same at all.

    LH：哦，我明白了，to compare apples to oranges意思就是把兩件完全不
同的東西拿來相提并論。你是在說，仙人掌花園和日本枯山水花園壓根兒就是兩
回事。

    LL： Right. Or say your favorite actor is a movie comedian， and my
favorite actor only performs in Shakespeare theatre. Comparing the two
would be like comparing apples to oranges.

    LH：就是說，雖然倆人都是演員，可一個是演喜劇電影的，另一個是演莎氏
比亞大戲的，兩人沒有可比性。

    LL： Exactly！

    LH：可是Larry ，你別忘了，我今天早上把電話借給你用，所以你欠我一個
人情，一定要聽我的，種玫瑰，不種仙人掌。

    LL： What ？ Borrowing your phone was just a small favor， but this
garden is going to be a big project. You're comparing apples to oranges.

    LH： Larry，你不是最喜歡草頭娃娃嗎？種花也是一樣啊，澆水、上肥，樂
在其中，你就當(dāng)是在養(yǎng)寵物好了！

    LL： Lihua， you're comparing apples to oranges ！ Plants and pets
are totally different things.

    LH：我承認(rèn)，動物和植物確實有很大差別，可起碼有一點是共同的。

    LL： Really ？ What's that？

    LH：它們不會跟我吵嘴�。�

    ******

    LH： Larry，要不這樣吧，種什么，咱倆一人挑一半。怎么樣？

    LL： That sounds good. I'm going to plant some tomatoes ， carrots
and blueberries so that this summer I don't have to buy expensive fruits
and vegetables at the store.

    LH：對啊，我們可以種菜。沒想到，你還挺會過日子的。

    LL： Well you know， Lihua， in this bad economy we all have to be
penny pinchers.

    LH： Penny pinchers ？是什么意思啊？

    LL： Penny-pinching is being very careful not to waste money. It means
that you manage to each penny very carefully.

    LH：哦，penny-pinching就是精打細(xì)算，一分錢掰成兩半花的意思�？墒荓arry，
這種說法是名詞、動詞還是形容詞呢？

    LL： It can be any of those. I could call someone a penny pincher.
Or， for another example， I could say that Todd really had to pinch every
penny after his boss lowered his salary.

    LH：那好，我舉雙手贊成你種菜。這樣你就可以省下很多錢，帶我去吃法國
大餐了。

    LL： Uh ……actually， Lihua， that reminds me of another phrase.
Penny wise， pound foolish.

    LH： Penny wise ， pound foolish？這里所說的Pound 是英鎊嗎？

    LL： That's right. Penny wise ， pound foolish means that you are
careful to save little bits of money， but then waste large amounts of
money.

    LH：噢，就是說在小錢上精打細(xì)算，在大錢上大手大腳。小氣鬼，你不會是
轉(zhuǎn)彎抹角地拒絕帶我去吃法國大餐吧？

    LL： Well ， if I saved a little bit of money growing my own vegetables，
but then wasted a lot more money on expensive dinner dates， I would be
penny wise， pound foolish.

    LH：你不會覺得把錢花在女朋友身上是浪費吧？

    LL： Uh …… I mean …… of course not！ It's just that I'm pinching
every penny so that I can buy you a really great birthday present ！

    LH：生日禮物？我猜，一定是浪漫的“仙人掌花園”。

    今天李華學(xué)了兩個常用語。一個是apples to oranges ，意思是在風(fēng)馬牛不
相及的兩件事。另一個是penny pincher ，意思是精打細(xì)算的人。