Friends,中文译名为《六人行》或《老友记》是美国正在热播的一个sitcom (即situation comedy)也就是我们所说的情景喜剧。它之所以这么受欢迎，是因为其内容轻松，语言幽默，每每令人捧腹不已。对于英语学习者来说，我们更能从中学到不少地道的口语。现在就请大家和我一起感受其中的乐趣吧！

　　还记得上一篇中讲到的那张列有Rachel和Julie优缺点的单子吗?(We'll make a list. Rachel and Julie, pros and cons.) Rachel无意当中在Chandler的电脑里瞥见自己的名字，于是就追问他写的是什么，Chandler, Ross和Joey三个百般搪塞，可结果还是让Rachel看到了那张单子，这下Ross可惨了。

　　第二天当大伙谈起此事时，Chandler懊恼地说：

　　语音讲解：
　　　(点击右键“另存为”可下载语音)

　　CHAN: My diary! My diary, that's brilliant. I should have told her it was my diary, she never would have made me read her my diary.

　　MNCA: You know, that's true. You'd be a great person to have around the day after an emergency.

　　PHOE: I... I cannot believe Ross even made this list. What a dingus.

　　JOEY: Hey, cut him some slack. It was Chandler's idea.

　　PHOE: What?

　　MNCA: What?

　　CHAN: Oh good, I was hoping that would come up.

　　MNCA: This was your idea?

　　PHOE: What were you thinking?

　　CHAN: All right, let's get some perspective here, ok? These things, they happen for a reason.

　　MNCA: Yeah. You!

　　CHAN: All right, Pheebs, back me up here, ok? You believe in that karma crap, don't you?

　　PHOE: Yeah, by the way, good luck in your next life as a dung beetle.

　　【世博视角】

　　在“单子事件”发生以后Chandler才想到当时他应该说电脑里面是他写的日记，这样Rachel就不会追问他到底写了些什么(I should have told her it was my diary, she never would have made me read her my diary.)，这个主意真是很高明(That's brilliant.),只可惜现在才想到已为时过晚了，所以Monica对Chandler说：“You'd be a great person to have around the day after an emergency .”这句话真接的意思是“在紧要关头过后有你这么个人倒是很好”，其言下之意就是说Chandler只会事后诸葛亮。

　　Phoebe接下去说：“我真不敢相信Ross居然会列这张单子(I... I cannot believe Ross even made this list. What a dingus.)”dingus是俚语，用来骂别人笨蛋的。这时Joey倒是为Ross说了句公道话“Hey, cut him some slack. It was Chandler's idea.(别那么针对他嘛，那可是Chandler的主意)”cut someone some slack是一习惯用语，先来看看slack这个词，作为名词它可以表示“松紧”，比如说“拉紧绳子”就是take up the slack,那么cut some slack肯定就是放松的意思，因此cut someone some slack就是指对某人放松一点，别那么严厉，例如：

　　Cut him a little slack - his father just died.

　　"Andrew's late again." "Cut him some slack - his wife's just had a baby."

　　听Joey那么一说，Monica和Phoebe马上把矛头指向了Chandler，相信此时的Chandler肯定很恨Joey多嘴,可他只能略带嘲讽地承认说“噢，太好了，我正希望这会被说到呢！(Oh good, I was hoping that would come up.)接着Chandler又为自己开脱：“我们要透过现象看本质，这些事情的发生可是有原因的(All right, let's get some perspective here, ok? These things, they happen for a reason.)。”“对，你(就是原因)。”Monica的回答真是够透彻! Chandler继续狡辩，搬出Phoebe所相信的“Karma”这一套来唬人，并且让Phoebe支持他一下(All right, Pheebs, back me up here, ok? You believe in that karma crap, don't you?) back somebody up，用背把某人扛起来，也就是支持某人的意思。karma就是我们所说的“因果报应”或是“轮回”。Phoebe的回答也很有意思，她说：“是(我相信)，顺便祝你下辈子做臭虫时好运(Yeah, by the way, good luck in your next life as a dung beetle.)”

　　*本篇所讲到的表达法：

　　cut someone some slack

　　back somebody up

　　karma