Man Flu 男士小感冒

The script of this programme 本节目台词

Diarmuid: (Sniff) Hello, welcome to Authentic Real English. I'm Diarmuid.

Yang Li: And I'm Yang Li. You don’t sound well Diarmuid.

Diarmuid: Yes, I feel really, really ill.

Yang Li: Oh – but you were fine this morning.

Diarmuid: I know.

Yang Li: And you… don’t have a temperature 你没有发烧啊… strange.

Diarmuid: But I feel awful. I think I have flu.

A nasty case of man flu

Yang Li: Flu 流感? Diarmuid, you look fine. (Whispering to audience) You know what I think it is? It's a case of man flu.

Diarmuid: I heard that!

Yang Li: (Giggling) 我不知道为什么男士们总是小题大做，把轻微的小感冒说成严重的流感? 英语里专门有一个讽刺性的短语 man flu ‘男士小流感’。

Diarmuid: Yang Li, I really do have flu (sniff, sniff).

Yang Li: Yes, of course you do.

Examples

A: Is Trevor off sick again?

B: Yes, he’s got man flu.

Diarmuid: Well, clearly I'm getting no sympathy from Yang Li today. Perhaps some of you listening to this programme will take pity on me? Anyone?

Yang Li: Yes, well Diarmuid, I think you might be waiting for some time. In the meanwhile, let's tell our audience how to find out more about the latest English words and expressions.

Diarmuid: OK. Our website www.bbcukchina.com is a great place to visit if you’re interested in colloquial English. Bye for now everyone. You know, I think I’m feeling better.

Yang Li: I knew it. Bye everyone (sniff).

Diarmuid: Eh?