10.17 Chapter 14 The dance

Words and phrases

By the end of high school I’d become a mogul.

大人物；权贵；巨头

例句：The football captain was the mogul of the school.那足球队长是该校的大人物。

mogul近义词延伸tycoon, baron, big noise (informal), big shot (informal), magnate, V.I.P.

He was never dating them, but he talked a good game, and was always around them.

talk a good game 光耍嘴皮子功夫

例句：They talk a good game about the importance of teamwork and co-operation but they ask employees to do as they say, not as they do.

关于团队和合作的重要性，这些首席执行官说得头头是道，但他们要求员工照他们说的做，而不是照他们做的做。

I walked out to his garage, and as soon as I saw his eyes I knew: He was wasted.

它有3个意思，1.徒劳无功的；白费的 2.（尤指因病）瘦骨嶙峋的，瘦弱的

这里的意思是3.极度迷醉的  strongly affected by alcohol or drugs

表达"喝醉了的"在英语俚语中还可以说screwed，而美国俚语里可以说crocked和canned

[形容微醺]tipsy：微醉的；步伐不稳

-I was a bit buzzed.我当时有点醉醺醺的。buzzed：陶醉的，飘飘然的

[形容大醉]-You're hammered.你喝大了。hammered：被捶打的；喝醉了

-She was blasted.她大醉酩酊。blasted：被摧毁的；喝醉的

get plastered：大醉一场

[正式表达]-Sir, are you intoxicated?先生，您是不是醉了？-I was inebriated.我饮酒过量了。

-It is illegal to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

high，loaded和stoned很久以前只是表达喝酒的俚语，而现在更多用来描述那些吸毒的人。

习语也很多，举几个较常用的，上面列过的这里不列了：on the sauce, in your cups, half cut, , squiffy, legless...

I’d been mesmerized by her beauty and just the idea of her—I didn’t know I was supposed to talk to her.

mesmerize原意1.施以催眠术  这里意思2.迷住

例句I was completely mesmerized by him, because he looked as if he'd just walked out of a manga.我完全被他吸引了，因为他看起来就好像从漫画里面走出来的人物。

Thoughts

So I never got to go to my matric dance. Other than the three minutes I spent running through it looking for someone who spoke Pedi, I spent the whole night in the parking lot. When the dance ended, I climbed back into the shitty red Mazda and drove Babiki home. We sat in total awkward silence the whole way.

毕业舞会，又像是电影情节，经历过2次无果而终的恋爱之后，Trevor本来不抱任何希望的，结果Tom给他找了一个漂亮的女孩，就又开始害羞小心的约会了。直到最后才发现被Tom骗了，她不会说英语，而是说着他也不会的语言，也不是真心和他在一起的，可能是答应了Tom什么才和他在一起的。精心的准备，结果他以为能使他闪耀的舞会泡汤了，还得到了一群男孩的围观，他真的算是度过了最尴尬糟糕的一天了。然而最尴尬的事这段情只是他一厢情愿的脑子里的美好幻想，他最后才发现们从未真正单独两人一起聊过天，从未真正一起交流过。终于梦醒了，一切破灭了，他才清醒过来。结果，一切无法挽回了，他将永远无法忘记这个糟糕的舞会经历。

想了想，他的三段恋爱都几乎是尴尬的，悲剧收场的。也正好对应了这三章的标题。

想起《千与千寻》里的一句话：“我已经准备好了足够挡雨的伞，可是却迟迟没有等到雨的到来，这样的尴尬只是我漫长人生中的小插曲罢了。”希望这也能成为Trevor的三段恋爱小插曲，最好能找到他的那个不是尴尬悲剧的，而是欢快浪漫的终曲。

Summary

By the end of high school, Trevor's tuck-shop business had evolved into a mini-empire that included selling pirated CDs. He had two middlemen working for him, Bongani and Tom. And he felt so good as an outsider that he didn’t even think about dating. In September of grade twelve, the matric dance was approaching. One day, Tom promised Trevor that he could get Trevor a beautiful girl to go with Trevor to the dance in exchange for better pirated CDs. At first,he thought it was just kidding, but he did meet this beautiful girl. He and the girl were both shy. As the dance approached, he started getting nervous. He fixed his hair, bought new clothes and borrowed a car. He was an hour late picking her up. She was completely pissed off. And he realized she didn't speak any English and refused to get off the car. What's worse, twenty guys came running out into the parking lot to watch. He felt mortified. So he never got to go to his matric dance. When the dance ended,he climbed back into the shitty car and drove home. He took her home and said goodbye. At last, his awkward and tragic relationship was over.