地道英语

Tell porkies 说谎

内容简介

俚语表达 “tell porkies” 中虽然包含了单词 “porkies”，但它的实际意思和食物没有什么关系。“Porkies” 在这个表达中的意思是 “lies（谎言）”。这个表达源自何处？听目中两位主持人的对话，学习这个 “地道英语” 表达在日常口语交流中的用法。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Feifei
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。I'm Feifei. 

Phil
And I'm Phil. We have an expression which means 'tell lies' – it's 'tell porkies'.

Feifei
Tell porkies. 俚语表达 “tell porkies” 的意思是 “撒谎，说谎”。Tell us a bit more about this, Phil, and no porkies! 

Phil
Nice example there. The meaning is simple. It just means 'say something that isn't true'.

Feifei
That's right. It's got absolutely nothing to do with food, or pigs. 虽然俚语表达 “tell porkies” 里面包含了名词 “porkies”，但 “porkies” 的实际意思是 “lies（谎言）”，所以 “tell porkies” 的意思就是 “tell lies（说谎）”。It's informal, isn't it? 

Phil
Yes, it's slang and it's very informal. We're most likely to use this expression in a light-hearted way, and not in a serious situation.

Feifei
“Tell porkies” 多用于非正式的场合中。如果想说谁 “撒了一个谎”，那就需要把 “porkies” 变成单数 “porky”—— tell a porky（撒一个谎）。So, when you said that you were going to tidy the store cupboard, and I saw you sneaking out to get a coffee, you were telling me a porky!

Phil
I'm not saying anything about that! Let's listen to these examples.

Examples
You said you weren't going to get me a present, and now you bring this! You were telling porkies all along.

I think one of you is trying to trick me. Who's telling porkies?

I know that's not true. You're telling big fat porkies again, aren't you?

Feifei
你正在收听的是 BBC英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。以上我们介绍了俚语表达 “tell porkies” 的含义和用法。“Tell porkies” 多用于非正式场合中，意思是 “撒谎，说谎”。Where does this expression come from?

Phil
This is an example of rhyming slang, where people use something that rhymes with the word they actually mean. Now, what makes it complicated is that then they don't usually say the bit that rhymes. 

Feifei
“Tell porkies” 是一个 “rhyming slang（同韵俚语）”，也叫作 “押韵俚语”，就是用与一个单词韵律相同的词语来代替这个词。So, what does 'porky' rhyme with?

Phil
Well, that's it. The full expression is 'to tell pork pies' because 'pork pies' rhymes with 'lies'. We just usually leave out the 'pies' bit. That's what can be confusing.

Feifei
原来，俚语表达 “tell porkies” 是 “tell pork pies” 的简短说法，因为 “pork pies” 和名词 “lies” 押韵，所以才有了 “tell porkies” 这个说法。We're not telling porkies when we tell you that English can sometimes be a bit strange. 

Phil
Very true. Make sure you come back to learn another surprising English expression next time. Bye!

Feifei
Bye-bye.