Palaver 繁瑣;麻煩
A lot of palaver has made her feel under stressJo: Hello, I'm Jo and you're listening to Real English from BBC Learning English. With me today is Lily, hello.
Lily: Hello Jo. 是的,兩分鐘的地道英語(yǔ)節(jié)目,短小精悍,常聽(tīng)常練,你能積累許多書(shū)本上見(jiàn)不到的英式新詞語(yǔ)。 Jo,今天的新詞是什么?
Jo: Well today's Real English word is palaver P.A.L.A.V.E.R. palaver.
Lily: Palaver. 聽(tīng)上去像個(gè)名詞,什么意思呢 Jo?
Jo: Well if something is a palaver, it means there is an unnecessary fuss or bother about the way something is done.
Lily: I see. Palaver 意思就是,不必要的繁瑣和麻煩。
Jo: So for example, say I'd just bought a new MP3 player, but it was really difficult to work out how to use it and how to put my music on it, that would be a palaver.
Lily: 這太典型了,買了一個(gè)新的 MP3 播放器,可是操作太復(fù)雜,說(shuō)明太啰嗦,這時(shí),你就 可以說(shuō),it’s a palaver. Let's listen to some more examples.
Examples
A: Oh I can't believe the whole family are coming to dinner – I'll have to buy lots of food, drink and decide what dishes to cook. It's going to be really stressful.
B: For 14 people – I can imagine! What a palaver!
A: Have you applied for that new job yet?
B: I'm trying but it's a real palaver. I have to fill in about five forms, and write an essay, and I have about two days left!