Li: 大家好我是杨莉，欢迎收听《地道英语》。

Rob: And hello, I'm Rob. Now Li, I need to tell something. You know John in the office? Well, he's got a new job.

Li: That's great news. How is he feeling?

Rob: Well, obviously, he's over the moon.

Li: What? John “在月亮上”？这不成了嫦娥了。Is he going to be an astronaut?

Rob: No Li! Well, I don't think so, anyway! I just mean he's extremely pleased and happy.

Li: Oh I see. I know the nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle, "the cow jumped over the moon", but I've never heard of a man jumping over the moon, so he must be very, very, very excited.

Rob: It's just a saying Li. He's not actually jumping over the moon. We say it to show that he's so excited that, in theory, he could jump as high as the moon!

Li: And over it! 如果某人非常高兴，欣喜若狂就可以用 over the moon 这个短语，比喻一个人欣喜至极甚至都可以飞到月球上去。

Rob: Actually, Li, do you know how high the moon really is?

Li: No, but I know it's a long way away.

Rob: It certainly is! Let's hear some more examples of people being over the moon…

When Jane heard she had won the lottery, she was over the moon.

When he found out he'd passed his exam he was over the moon.

I can't hide it; I'm over the moon about getting a promotion.

Li: 所谓在月亮之上就是形容一个人欣喜若狂。

Rob: Of course John is not only over the moon about getting a new job – he's also on cloud nine.

Li: What? Moons, clouds… 约翰现在是在九层云霄之上？Is he going to be an airline pilot then, or a bird even?

Rob: No, nothing like that. It's just another way of saying he's very excited and happy – he's up on a very high cloud – cloud nine.

Li: I see. 如果你在九层云霄之上 on cloud nine, 那也同样表示你非常心满意足，就像飞上云端。

Rob: Here's some examples:

Julie got married last week and she's been on cloud nine ever since.

I've never seen Fred so happy; he's been on cloud nine since he passed his exams!

Rob: So, now we know what to say about someone who's very excited and happy.

Li: Yes, two good phrases. So come on Rob, if John is not going to be a pilot or an astronaut, what is his new job? Something just as exciting maybe?

Rob: No – he's going to be an accountant.

Li: 什么? 会计师！Are you sure? What's that I can see jumping over the moon?

Rob: Is it a cow? Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

Li: No, it's John, he really is over the moon! And he really is a star!

Rob: Come on Li, let's get down to earth and say goodbye to everybody.

Li: 我们下次的《地道英语》节目再会！Oh, Rob, I think he got stuck over there!

John: Help, help!

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（来源：BBC英语教学 编辑：Julie）