“Cool”“小单词,大用途”.docVIP

“Cool”的“小单词,大用途” 　　岳阳的Jane问： 　　我常听到人们说“cool”这个词。原先我觉得它就是“酷”的意思，但渐渐我又发现这个词在很多情况下都会用到，意思和用法好像都不太一样，弄得我都糊涂了！所以我想问问Tom，“cool”这个词，究竟是什么意思啊？怎么用啊？ 　　 　　Tom： 　　“cool”这个词大概要算是现代英语社会中被用得最滥的词之一了。有人说这个词意思太模糊，基本上没什么实质意义，但我却更愿意认为它是一个用途广泛的词汇。 　　 　　The Birth of Cool “COOL”的由来 　　The use of cool as a generally positive word has been in English since roughly World War II, and was first recorded in the 1930s. Jazz musicians who used the term were responsible for its popularization during the 1940s. Where hot jazz was fast-paced, exhilarating music you could dance to, cool jazz was more understated and laid-back. As a slang word expressing generally positive sentiment, it has stayed current (and fashionable) far longer than most such words - no one says groovy or far out any more unless they are joking, but cool has persisted for decades. 　　“cool”在英语中被泛用为褒义词，大约始于第二次世界大战，最早的记录出现在20世纪30年代。而它在20世纪40年代里的流行则归功于使用此词的爵士音乐家们。尽管“热（hot）”爵士是欢快活泼的音乐，你可以将其用作伴舞之用，但“冷（cool）”爵士却更为内敛和轻松。作为一个泛指好感的俚语，与大部分同类词汇相比，它使用得更久（且流行得更久）――除非是在开玩笑，不然就没人会再用“groovy”（真棒）或“far out”（时髦）了，不过“cool”却沿袭了几十年。 　　 　　But What Does It Mean? 　　OK, so firstly there is of course the literal meaning of cool - a comfortable temperature that is the opposite of warm. Easy enough. It can also mean unenthusiastic, as in the manager gave his new idea a cool reception. However, from there on out it gets a bit more difficult. So, here are several different ways you can use the word cool. 　　“COOL”的含义 　　好了，那么首先当然就是“cool”的字面意思了――指一种与“warm”（温暖）相对、令人感到舒适的温度。够简单吧。它也可以是“缺乏热情”的意思，如???the manager gave his new idea a cool reception（经理对他的新想法反应冷淡）”。然而，接下来呢，它就有点儿不太好懂了。那么，下面就是一些你会用到“cool”的不同情况。 　　 　　Hes a pretty cool guy. 　　Basically, the guy in question is a good person to know in some way, but this could mean a lot of different things. Usually it will mean that he is a nice person who does not get over-excited about anything and is usually pretty nonchalant. Someone who is cool is also somewhat fashionable and attractive to others. Being