人们还这么说吗？
📖 逐句对照翻译
Hello!
你好！
This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Emmanuel in France about how to know if an expression is still popular in English.
本周的《问老师》节目中，我们回答来自法国的伊曼纽尔提出的问题，关于如何判断一个英语表达是否仍然流行。
Question
问题
Dear Teacher,
亲爱的老师，
Sometimes when I am reading or watching the older films, I find some interesting expressions.
有时当我在阅读或观看老电影时，会发现一些有趣的表达。
But I do not know if the people are speaking them nowadays.
但我不知道现在人们是否还在说这些语言。
How can I figure this out?
我怎样才能弄清楚这件事呢？
Thank you,
谢谢，
Emmanuel
埃马纽埃尔
Answer
回答
I’m happy to answer this question, Emmanuel.
我很乐意回答这个问题，Emmanuel。
It can sometimes be very difficult for learners of English to know if a word or expression sounds like it belongs to an earlier time.
对于英语学习者来说，有时很难判断一个单词或表达是否听起来像是属于较早的时代。
For example, if you watch an older American film from the 1930s, you might hear the expression:
例如，如果你观看一部20世纪30年代的美国老电影，你可能会听到这样的表达：
Gee, that’s swell!
哎呀，那太棒了！
The expression “that’s swell” means that something is good, and that the speaker is pleased.
“that’s swell”这个表达意味着某事很好，而且说话者感到满意。
But nowadays people do not commonly say that.
但如今人们不常这么说了。
And if they do say it, they are probably saying it in a joking way because they know the expression is rare and not currently used.
如果他们真的这么说，很可能是在开玩笑，因为他们知道这个表达方式很罕见，现在并不常用。
Here are some ways to help you find out if an expression belongs to an earlier time:
以下是一些帮助你判断某个表达是否属于较早时期的方法：
Language exchange partners
语言交换伙伴
Find a native English language partner.
找一个母语为英语的语言伙伴。
Then you can ask him or her if expressions are no longer used very much.
然后你可以问他或她这些表达是否已经不太常用了。
Our VOA Learning English article “Five Tips for Great Language Exchanges” gives advice on how you can do a language exchange.
我们的VOA慢速英语文章《成功进行语言交换的五个技巧》为你提供了如何进行语言交换的建议。
Note, however, that native English speakers can have different opinions about what expressions are still popular.
然而，需要注意的是，对于哪些表达仍然流行，英语母语者可能持有不同的看法。
That is because people in different age groups use different expressions.
那是因为不同年龄段的人使用不同的表达方式。
For example, a 20-year-old person might not even know a few of the expressions that older people still use.
例如，一个20岁的人可能甚至不知道一些老年人仍在使用的表达方式。
And some older people do not know expressions that young people, such as teenagers, use.
还有一些老年人不知道年轻人（比如青少年）使用的表达方式。
Also, some older people might not even know that expressions they use are becoming less popular over time.
此外，一些老年人甚至可能不知道他们使用的表达方式随着时间的推移正变得越来越不流行。
Using a corpus and dictionaries
使用语料库和词典
You can also use technology to get more information about expressions.
你也可以利用技术来获取更多关于表达方式的信息。
Language researchers have collected over one billion words in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA).
语言研究人员在当代美国英语语料库（COCA）中收集了超过十亿个单词。
The examples come from American printed writing, video, and sound recordings.
这些例子来源于美国的印刷作品、视频和录音。
You can use COCA to get information about how often an expression is used.
你可以使用COCA来了解一个表达式的使用频率。
It will not tell you if an expression sounds out-of-date.
它不会告诉你某个表达是否已经过时。
But an expression might rarely be used because it sounds old.
但一个表达可能因为听起来过时所以很少被使用。
This VOA Learning English Education Tips article gives information on how to use COCA.
这篇VOA慢速英语教育小贴士文章介绍了如何使用COCA。
Lastly, dictionaries will show if a word belongs to an earlier time by putting the word “archaic” before its definition.
最后，词典会在释义前标注“古旧”一词，以表明该词属于较早时期。
Remember that it is more important to understand idiomatic expressions than to be able to use them.
记住，理解习语比能够使用它们更为重要。
That’s because you can always express your ideas without using idioms in simple language.
那是因为你总能用简单的语言表达自己的想法，而不必使用成语。
For our readers and listeners, what are your questions about American English?
对于我们的读者和听众，你们对美国英语有什么疑问吗？
We want to hear from you!
我们期待您的来信！
Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
请发送电子邮件至learningenglish@voanews.com。
And please let us know where you are from, too.
也请告诉我们你来自哪里。
And that’s Ask a Teacher.
以上就是“问老师”栏目的全部内容。
I’m Andrew Smith.
我是安德鲁·史密斯。
Andrew Smith wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.
安德鲁·史密斯为VOA英语学习频道撰写了这节课。
