2022-04-05 Curate’s egg 好坏参半，还凑合

内容简介

生活中有些事物好坏参半：既有糟糕的地方，但也有可取之处。主持人 Neil 和佳莹在谈论某家餐馆时，提到了一个用来描述这种情况的英语表达。听节目，学习如何形容事物 “不好不坏，还凑合”。

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。）

Jiaying
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目，我是佳莹。

Neil
And hello, I’m Neil. Hey, Jiaying, we were all thinking about going to that new restaurant for lunch. Do you want to come?

Jiaying
No, thanks. I went the other day and once is enough.

Neil
Oh, you didn’t enjoy it? Was the food bad?

Jiaying
It wasn’t terrible, but it was a bit of a curate’s egg!

Neil
What’s that? The restaurant only sells eggs? That sounds a bit rubbish!

Jiaying
No, Neil. 我说的是 “curate’s egg”。我们用表达 “curate’s egg” 来指 “好坏参半、不好不坏的事物”。我们常用它来描述一样不好的事物，但这个事物也有可取之处，有 “还凑合” 的意思。

Neil
So when you said the restaurant was a curate’s egg, you were saying it wasn’t a great experience. What was wrong with it?

Jiaying
I’ll tell you after we listen to some examples of this expression.

Examples
That new film is a curate’s egg. Great action, but the story and acting were awful.

The day ended up being a bit of a curate’s egg. It was nice to see my friends, but after the car broke down and I got wet in the rain, I wasn’t happy.

I think her new novel is a curate’s egg. It has moments of brilliance, but overall it felt a bit of a let-down.

Jiaying
你正在收听 BBC英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。我们正在介绍表达 “curate’s egg”。我们用它来表示一件事物 “好坏参半，还凑合”。Like when I said that restaurant was a curate’s egg.

Neil
Yeah! What was wrong with it?

Jiaying
Well, for one – the food was a curate’s egg. It tasted nice but the cooks were so slow that the food was cold! Then the waiters were nice, but they kept dropping things.

Neil
They sound a bit of a curate’s egg as well.

Jiaying
Yes – and finally the decor. It was really vibrant and bright which was nice at first, but after a while, it gave me a real headache.

Neil
Sounds like the whole experience really was a bit of a curate’s egg. I think I’ll suggest somewhere different to the team.

Jiaying
Good idea! Bye, Neil.

Neil
Bye.