你還真有美國時間！ --you surely have a “whale of time”

圖／老唐

文／dr.j.j.

常羨慕別人好像時間用不完似的，竟然還有空閒去做一些我們都不敢奢想的事情時，中文常會說：真是有「美國時間」！

而在英文裡，當然不會直接說”american time” ，而是用比較接近的單純講法，如”have a lot of time”或是更貼切的講法 “have a whale of time”來形容時間不只多，而且是龐然如”whale”（鯨魚）那麼大（多）！

vivien：jenny, come over here. i just can ’t decide which one i should buy! look at this catalog! there are so many things to choose from.

vivien：jenny，過來一下。我真的無法決定要買哪一個才好?，你看這本型錄裏有這麼多寶可以選。

jenny：hello!! don ’t we have a deadline to place in the order for next season? we ’re running out of time and you are still browsing through the catalogue. you surely have a whale of time, don ’t you!

jenny：喂，我們不是快來不及下下一季的訂單了嗎？都快火燒屁股了，你還在翻購物型錄。你還真有美國時間耶！

vivien：well, but we have been working so hard for the whole morning. i ’m feeling so dizzy plus they always say a little bit of “retail therapy” makes you work even more efficiently.

vivien：是沒錯啦，但我們已經忙了一整個早上了。我頭都昏了，而且不是有種「購物治療」的說法嗎，稍微血拼一下搞不好更能提昇工作效率呢。

jenny：what can i do with you! you always have so many excuses… hey, this pair of shoes is nice. what is the price?

jenny：真是拿你沒辦法！你總是有一堆理由……嘿，這雙鞋子不錯看，多少錢啊？

vivien：now, my dear. why don ’t we just spend 30 minutes to relax a bit and i promise you we ’ll work very hard afterwards to get the order form out today.

vivien：好了，親愛的。我們乾脆呢，就花個30分鐘好好放鬆一下，然後我保證我們今天一定能把訂單下出去。

jenny：ok then, i have your words this time.

jenny：好吧，就信你一次。