代接電話說"He is outside."、吃外食說"eat outside"錯在哪?out、outside用法一次看
有讀者問,接到外國同事打電話找老闆,老闆剛好不在,可不可回答:"He is outside."?我們趁這個機會來說說out和outside,以及中文的「外」是怎麼回事。
Outside,是一個比較具象的字,一般指在建築物或空間附近的外面。答"He is outside."意思是他在辦公室外面,不在裡面,可能在外頭抽煙、聊天;Out比較抽象,說"He is out.",是他不在辦公室,可能出去開會、下班了。
兩句話字面看起來差異不大,但含意不同,對方領悟自然也有差:
He is outside.在辦公室的外面。(應該很快回電。)
He is out.出去了,不知道會不會回來。(可能不會很快回電。)
另外常常不小心弄錯的還有eat outside和live outside,看看下面兩個句子:
我們常常在外面吃。
(X) We always eat outside.
(O) We always eat out.
我住外面。
(X) I live outside.
(O) I live by myself.
字面上差一點,意思卻差很多。eat outside意思是在戶外吃,live outside意思是不住房子裡,可能住在公園、草地甚至森林,如果要表達自己住外面,應該要說I live by myself。外帶怎麼說?
"Is that for here or to go?"外帶有很多種說法,美式英文會用to go、take out,英式用法則是說take away。
Out的慣用語
Out是個很好用的介系詞,搭配out讓片語顯得很有畫面感,看看幾個用到out的生活慣用語:
Out of the blue 突然、毫無預警地
Out of the blue, Sam announced that he was leaving. (Sam突然宣布要離開的消息。)
Out of control 失控
I'm sorry for the way I acted last night; I was drunk and got a little out of control.(對於昨晚的行為我很抱歉,因為喝醉導致我有點失控。)
Burn (yourself) out 累壞
Stop working so hard! You'll burn yourself out.(別那麼辛苦,你會把自己累壞。)
Chew someone out 責備某人
I knew my dad was going to chew me out. (我早就知道我爸會罵我了。)
Cut it out 停止、別鬧了
Cut it out, you two. I am on the phone. (你們兩個別鬧了!我正在講電話。)
Worn-out(adj.)破舊的;累壞的
You look worn-out. Go to get some sleep. (你看起來累壞了,去睡一覺吧。)