場景一
這個詞有多層意思。
場景一:Mike陰差陽錯地來到Harvey所在的律師事務(wù)所面試現(xiàn)場。由于沒有哈佛法學(xué)院的結(jié)業(yè)證書,Harvey一開始是拒絕他的。但當(dāng)Mike一字不差地背出法律手冊上的內(nèi)容時,Harvey不服氣卻也難掩驚喜地說:Okay,hotshot,fire up this laptop.(好吧,牛人,把電腦打開。)Harvey接著出題為難Mike,當(dāng)然也被他一一化解。Harvey可以說找到了一個年輕版本的自己。
此場景中的hotshot表示“厲害的人”之意。這是hotshot最常見的用法。美國著名流行歌手LadyGaga在熱門歌曲“Hair”中就這樣唱道:
Whenever I'm dressed cool,my parents put up a fight(每當(dāng)我打扮前衛(wèi)的時候,父母總是抗拒)
And if I'm“hotshot”,mom will cut my hair at night(如果我在別人眼中成了“牛人”,媽媽到了晚上就會剪去我的頭發(fā))
And in the morning I'm short of my identity(早晨醒來,我不再有自己的造型)
I scream,“Mom and dad,why can't I be who I wanna be?”(我忍不住大叫,“媽媽爸爸,為什么我不能做自己想做的人?”)
場景二
Mike順利進入律師事務(wù)所開始第一天的工作。陌生的環(huán)境顯然令他有些不適應(yīng)。這時,一位佳人翩翩而至,給他介紹工作情況。她叫Rachel Zane。Mike剛見到她不由驚呼:Wow.You're pretty.(你好漂亮。)佳人誤以為Mike對自己有意思,說道:Trust me,I've given dozensof these and without fail,whatever new hotshot it is thinks that because I'm just a paralegal that Iwill somehow be blown away by his dazzling degree.Let me assure you,I won't.(相信我,每個新來的都覺得我是律師助理,所以定會被他們的光輝履歷折服。告訴你,我一點也不。)說完便把Mike甩在身后自顧自開始介紹。
此場景中的hotshot表示“自命不凡、自大的人”之意。這種用法一般帶有諷刺意味。如果某人有點才氣卻特別愛顯擺,就可以稱其為hotshot,挫一挫他的銳氣。舉例如下:
A:See?Told you I could get her number.Ladies find me irresistible.(看見沒?我就說能要到她的電話號碼。女士們無法抗拒我的魅力啊。)
B:OK,hotshot.Work your magic on Jade then.If you can convince her to give you a raise,maybe I'llbe impressed.(好吧,大佬。那就對Jade施展魔力吧。要是你能說服她給你加薪,也許我會覺得你牛。)
場景三
Harvey出示假冒付款憑證以糊弄客戶使其簽合同,客戶發(fā)現(xiàn)后,終止了自己與律師事務(wù)所的合作關(guān)系。Harvey的頂頭上司Jessica撤銷了他的升職并警告說:You do onemore thing that isn't straight as an arrow,and instead ot cove ring yourass,I will put you in front of the bar myself.(要是你再做不靠譜的事,我可不會再包庇你而是親自送你上法庭了。)事實是,Jessica明知真相卻沒有揭發(fā)Harvey,聰明的Harvey利用這一點和Jessica談判,最后順利得到了升職。
straight as an arrow字面意思是“像箭一樣筆直”,即“無節(jié)外生枝的成分”。此場景中Jessica說的straight as an arrow表示“剛正不阿,正直”之意。有意思的是,Jessica作為上司卻沒有以身作則。
這個短語可理解為straight的升級版。要簡單描述“正直”,就用straight,要強調(diào)“非常正直,絕對遵守原則”,就可以用straight as an arrow。舉例如下:
A:So,you are going to vote for Stanely tomorrow?(那你明天會投Stanely一票嘍?)
B:You mean president of the student council?(你是說學(xué)生會主席選舉?)
A:Yeah,you bet.(嗯,當(dāng)然。)
B:No.I'm not gonna vote for anyone.(不。我誰也不投。)
A:How come?I thought you were a big fan of Stanley.Didn't yousay he was straight as an arrow?(怎么回事?我以為你是Stanley的忠實支持者呢。你不是說他“剛正不阿”嗎?)
B:Well,I was too naive then.(這么說吧,我當(dāng)初太天真了。)
場景四
Harvey發(fā)現(xiàn)證人Joanna不出席聽證會的真相是被告Hunt先生企圖雇傭她做假證來拖延聽證會時間。于是,他親自登門拜訪并對Joanna說:Now I could tellyou that I've got the canceled checks or the wire transter or whateversmoking gun that exists.I don't.But I will.And when I do,you'll be goingto jail unless you tell me what happened right now.(我完全可以騙你說我掌握了取消的支票和電匯憑證或者其他確鑿證據(jù)。我沒有這么干。但遲早我會拿到,除非你現(xiàn)在從實招來,不然你就等著坐牢吧。)
從字面可理解為“冒煙的槍支”,說明是熱乎的,剛被使用過。試想如果有人手握一把這樣的槍,而當(dāng)時又有人中彈,無需辯駁,手中冒煙的槍已經(jīng)說明了一切,可謂鐵證如山。所以場景中的smoking gun表示“難以抵賴、確鑿的證據(jù)”。再給一個日常生活里的例子:
A:I snapped a picture of James Blunt when I went to his concert on Saturday.And guess who showed up in the background?Ricky!(周六我去James Blunt演唱會的時候拍了他的照片。猜猜誰出現(xiàn)在背景里?Ricky!)
B:Really?This is the smoking gun that proves he was lying.He said hewas on a business trip in Australia and won't be back until nextweek.I knew there was something fishy.(真的?這可是確鑿證據(jù),證明他在撒謊。之前他說在澳大利亞出差,要到下個星期才回來。我就知道事有蹊蹺。)
就這樣,Mike和Harvey的第一次合作以圓滿達成委托人的意愿而告終。記得剛看第一集時,我完全被緊湊的情節(jié)吸引住,欲罷不能。此劇跟其他律政題材的劇集比起來稍顯輕松一些,可以讓觀眾在更放松的狀態(tài)下學(xué)習(xí)英語,寓教于樂。