And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. On this program we explore words and expressions in the English language. We give examples, notes on usage and sometimes we use them in a short story. Today we talk about transportation expressions involving ships, boats, and trains. A train ride can be a wonderful adventure. Imagine that you are in your final days of study in Budapest. You have lived there as a student for over a year but have never traveled to Prague. So, on your last weekend, you plan a train trip from Budapest to Prague. But you only have a couple of days to make the trip. You buy a ticket leaving late on a Friday night. You plan to catch the train after your last class.
现在是美国之音慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。在这个节目中，我们将探索英语中的单词和表达。我们会对用法进行举例和解释说明，有时我们也会在小故事中使用它们。今天我们讨论与轮船、客船和火车有关的运输方面的表达。乘火车出行可以是一次奇妙的冒险。想象一下，你在布达佩斯（匈牙利的首都）学习的最后几天。你作为学生在那里生活了一年多，但从未去过布拉格。所以，在最后一个周末，你计划乘火车从布达佩斯前往布拉格。但是你只有几天的时间来完成这次行程。你买了一张周五晚上出发的票。你打算在上完最后一节课后赶火车。
You are so excited! But after class your professor offers to buy you dinner. He wants to send you off with a celebration. You don't want to be rude. So, you agree, but your eye is always on the clock. Dinner takes longer than you thought it would and soon it's nearing your time to catch the train. So, you thank him and say you have a train to catch. But he insists that you stay for a quick dessert and offers to drive you to the station. You do the time math in your head and figure that if he drives you, you will have just enough time to catch your train. But then, after dessert, he remembers, "Oh I didn't drive. How silly of me"! You tell him, "Thanks. I really have to go"! You rush to the station! But by the time you get there, the train – your train -- is pulling away. And there won't be another one until the next night. You have missed your train and your chance to see Prague before returning home! And that brings us to our expression for today. "That train has left the station". It means you have missed an opportunity. The chance to do something – something you really wanted to do – has passed. We say this when a process is already underway. The time for discussion is over. It's too late to change your mind. And it's too late to make changes. Some possibility or choice is no longer available or likely. If you like boating expressions, you can also say: "That ship has sailed", or that someone has "missed the boat".
你非常兴奋！但是下课后，你的教授提出要请你吃晚饭。他想要给你践行。你不想太无礼。所以，你同意了，但你的眼睛一直盯着表。吃晚饭的时间比你想象的要长，很快就要到你赶火车的时间了。所以，你向他表示了感谢并说自己要赶火车。但他坚持要你留下来吃很快就上桌的甜点，并提出开车送你去车站。你在头脑中算算时间，计算出如果他开车送你，你刚好有足够的时间赶上火车。但吃完甜点后，他记起来了："哎呀，我车没开来。蠢死我了！"你告诉他，"谢谢，我真的得走了！"你火速赶往车站！但是当你到达车站时，火车——你要乘坐的那趟火车——已经开动了。直到第二天晚上才会有下一趟火车。你错过了那趟火车，也错过了在回家前参观布拉格的机会！那就引出了我们今天的表达。"列车已离站。"那是指你错过了一个机会。做某事（你真正想做之事）的机会已经错过了。当一个过程已经在进行中时，我们会这样说。讨论到此结束。现在改主意为时已晚。现在改已经太迟了。某种可能性或选择已经不存在或不可能了。如果你喜欢关于关于船的表达，你也可以说："船已启航"，或者某人"错过了船"。
They are all used the same way. Besides missing an opportunity, all of these expressions could be used in another situation: When events have been put into place and there is no stopping them. For example, let's say your mother wants to fix you up with the nice child of her boss. She arranges the whole date without talking to you first. You don't want to go, but she has already told her boss that you would. If you were to tell me about it, I would probably say to you: "Sorry. But that train has already left the station. You must go on that date". Usually when we use "that train has left the station" or "that ship has sailed" it means events are going forward and you can't stop them. Now, here is a note on usage. Simply put, these sayings mean, "It's too late. So, save your breath". So, they could sound rude or thoughtless. And they are informal. So, I would say them to a friend and co-worker. But I wouldn't say them to my boss or my professor – although it was his fault that I missed my train in the first place! And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. Until next time … I'm Anna Matteo.
它们的用法都是一样的。除了错过机会，所有这些表达都可以用于另一种情况：当事情已经安排好，没有人能阻止其发生时。例如，假设你妈妈想撮合你和她老板家的乖孩子。她没有先和你商量就安排了整个约会。你不想去，但她已经告诉她老板你会去了。如果你告诉我这件事，我可能会对你说："抱歉。但为时已晚。你一定得去赴约。"通常当我们使用"列车已离站"或"船已启航"时，它是指事情在向前发展，你无法阻止它们。对于用法这里有一个解释。简单地说，这些谚语的意思是："为时已晚。所以，你省省吧。"所以，它们可能听起来很无礼或不顾及他人。而且它们是非正式表达。所以，我会对朋友和同事这么说话。但我不会对我的老板或教授说这么说——尽管一开始我错过火车是他的错！以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。
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