流行美语第297课

李华陪Larry一起去看房子。今天我们要学两个常用语：tip your hand和poker face.

LH: Larry, 这间公寓简直太理想了。两个卧室，一个大厨房，后面居然还有个小院子。我看就是它吧！

LL: Yeah, I know. And best of all, the second bedroom will be a great place for me to keep my collection of Chia pets.

LH: 你心里只有你那些草头娃娃！不过话说过来了，这是你办公室附近唯一的一家高档公寓楼，你也没有别的选择。

LL: Shhh! Don't let the landlord hear that I don't have any other options. I don't want to tip my hand when we negotiate over the price.

LH: Tip? 难道租房子还要给房东小费吗？

LL: No no, tip my hand. When you tip your hand, it means that you give someone else secret information.

LH: 我明白了，tip your hand是露底牌的意思。你是怕房东知道你没有其它选择，在租金上就会狮子大开口。所以你不愿意tip your hand，让他知道你的底细。

LL: Exactly. You can remember it by thinking about playing cards. If you tip your hand forward so that other people can see your cards, you give the other players an advantage.

LH: 对啊，打牌的时候一定要拿好自己的牌，让别人看见了你的牌，还能不输？哦，怪不得我老输。一定是你偷看我的牌。

LL: Say, what are you going to get me for a house-warming present? Maybe that new Barack Obama Chia pet that just came out?

LH: 你别想套我的话，暖房的礼物要给你个惊喜，我绝对不会提前tip my hand.

LL: Fair enough.But just in case you were wondering what I want, I'll tip my hand a little bit and tell you that I love Chia pets, and I also love Barack Obama.

LH: 我就知道你看中了新上市的奥巴马草头娃娃。说正经的，这公寓唯一的问题就是租金太贵。你老板最近会给你涨工资吗？

LL: Well I asked my boss for a big raise last week, but so far she hasn't said whether she will accept my offer. I bet if I threaten to quit she will be forced to tip her hand.

LH: 你可千万要三思而行。你要是真丢了饭碗，就别想住进这样的"豪华"公寓了！

******

LL: OK, Lihua. It's time to try to negotiate over the price with the landlord. We don't want to tip our hand, so remember to put on your poker face.

LH: Poker? 谈价钱跟打扑克牌有什么关系？

LL: No, it's an expression. When you put on your poker face, it means that you don't show any emotion.

LH: 我明白了，poker face就是中文里说的不动声色。你是担心如果表现得太积极，房东就会提高租金，但是如果不动声色，房东就没办法揣摩你的心理，反而会提供一些优惠把你留住。

LL: That's exactly right. It's like when you play poker.You don't want the other players to know if you have good or bad cards by acting happy or sad, so you put on your poker face.

LH: 换句话说，如果你不put on your poke face, 你就会tip your hand.

LL: That's right. My boss has a really good poker face. When I asked for that raise, she didn't show any reaction. Now I don't know if she is going to accept it or not.

LH: 那poke face跟straight face是不是一个意思呢？

LL: They're similar, but keeping a straight face usually refers only to not laughing when you think something is funny. It doesn't usually apply to other emotions.

LH: 我知道了，straight face是说故意绷着不笑。哦对了，我已经去过草头娃娃专卖店，奥巴马草头娃娃已经脱销了。

LL: Oh no! That's terrible news! My life is over!

LH: Haha, gotcha! 逗你的！ I told you I can really keep a straight face.

LL: Oh Lihua, please don't joke about something as important as Chia pets. But you did keep a straight face. You didn't smile at all, even though you were making a joke.

LH: 我可是专业水平的！怎么样，要不要我替你跟房东砍价啊？

LL: Sounds good to me. It's pretty clear that you have a much better poker face than I do.

LH: 忘了告诉你，我的砍价费是每小时一百美元。

LL: What? You won't do it just to be a good friend?

LH: Haha, got you again! 又上当了。

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是tip your hand意思是露底牌。另一个是poke face，意思是不动声色。

• collection [kə´lekʃən]   n.收集；征收；募捐   (初中英语单词)
• landlord [´lændlɔ:d]   n.地主；房东；店主   (初中英语单词)
• threaten [´θretn]   v.恐吓；有....的危险   (初中英语单词)
• acting [´æktiŋ]   a.代理的 n.演戏   (初中英语单词)
• reaction [ri´ækʃən]   n.反应(力)   (初中英语单词)
• negotiate [ni´gəuʃieit]   v.谈判；解决；转让   (英语四级单词)