”闪婚“ 英文怎么说？

在网上看到"闪婚"这个词以后，一直想英文会怎么说呢。网上几个地方把它译成"flash marriage"，觉得太不像英文了，问了Cathy，她也说不行。看来只能以动词来译 － to get married hastily, to get married on the spur of the moment.  说起来比较长，也不如中文生动，但意思在，老外也看得懂。
找到一个跟"闪"比较接近的字 "whirlwind"， 但一般跟"romance" 或 "courtship" 连用，whirlwind romance 就是闪电式恋爱。

Niceties是什么意思？

最近看到一篇有趣的报道，讲的是专业大提琴演奏家们目前的困扰，经常需要飞到各地表演的提琴手们为了避免贵重的乐器托运时受损，往往得买一张机票给宝贝琴坐在自己的旁边。有些航空公司跟这些乘客说不能以乐器的名义累计里程积分，也不能用自己的积分为乐器购买机票。看来虽然这些大提琴可以价值过百万以 上，但是还是低人一等啊。现在经济不景气，航空公司能省就省，不再给乘客提供好处 － Airlines now cut corners and withhold niceties.

niceties - accuracy and precision; fine or subtle details; elegant, delicate, or civilized features.  在这可译成"人们喜欢的好处"。

 

作为例子，Cathy 还用 niceties 写了以下的句子:

 

"The restaurant provides all the niceties that their well-to-do customers expect: valet parking, champagne on ice, classical music playing in the background."

 

"Her fiance provides her with all the niceties of romance: flowers, candy, love letters.... We'll see how he behaves once they're married!"

Tongue-in-Cheek 是什么？

好几次听到 "tongue-in-cheek" 这个说法，不太明白，请 Cathy写了这个贴。

Wife: “Do these pants make me look fat?”
Husband:  “Not at all!  In fact, they take about 20 – no, I'd say 30 pounds off you. In fact, they make you look like you need to eat more pizza and ice cream. ”
Wife: “Please – no more tongue-in-cheek humor.  Just tell me the truth. ”

When a person is being “tongue-in-cheek,” he is lying in a joking way.  He pretends to be serious but keeps saying things that are more and more difficult to believe. Meanwhile, he pretends to be very serious. He is really laughing at you, and it's hard for him not to smile, so he grimaces, bites his lip, or sticks his tongue in his cheek in order to stop himself from smiling.

Usually, tongue-in-cheek humor is gentle. The person who is tongue-in-cheek does not want to hurt your feelings or offend you.

当一个人开玩笑时，他装着一本正经的样子，越说越让听者难以置信，他本人好不容易忍住不笑，把舌头都顶到脸颊了，所以说 "tongue-in-cheek"。

Tongue-in-cheek 幽默一般不苛刻, 讲 tongue-in-cheek 的话的人不会伤害你的感情，也不会得罪你。

普洱茶农改种咖啡豆

新闻说国内普洱茶农改种咖啡豆，因为种咖啡的利润可能比种茶高，中国种植的约6万吨咖啡几乎都来自云南。咖啡的需求日增，主要是越来越多的年轻人喜欢喝，喝星巴克咖啡是城里人身份的象征。Demand grows as Starbucks signifies status for urban elite.
 urban elite - 城市精英。