【英語習語】off the cuff 「即席」、「即興」
【英語習語】 off the cuff「即席」、「即興」
佳中
在電視中，我們經常看到一些名人即興回答記者提問，也時常看到一些政客發表即席演說。在英語中與「即興」的對應的有一個習語off the cuff。cuff是「袖口」的意思，據說有一些演
講者沒有事先準備好演講稿，於是臨陣磨槍，把演講的要點寫在襯衣袖口上，由此形成固定的
習語 off the cuff，意思是「即席的」、「 即興的」、「未經準備的」，即speak without
planning what you will say beforehand。有時也可表示「隨意」的意思。
off the cuff 在句中常用作狀語或表語，如作定語修飾名詞，則需寫成 off-the-cuff，如 a
off-the-cuff remark (即興講話)。
1）She wasn"t expecting to win, so she hadn"t prepared a speech, but she still
managed to say a few words off the cuff after being given the award.
她沒有期望會贏,所以沒有準備發表講話,但得獎後她還是即興說了幾句。
2）Professor Johnson had to give the lecture off the cuff because he was filling
in for someone who was ill.
約翰遜教授不得不即興講課，因為有人病了，他是臨時替人上課。
3）He had to speak off the cuff because he forgot to bring his prepared
speec.
他不得不做一個即席演說，因為他忘了帶準備好的講稿。
4）The prime minister keeps making off-the-cuff remarks that get him into
trouble.
首相總是沒有準備就即席發表講話,使他麻煩不斷。
5）Considering that the speech was off the cuff，it was rather good.
由於這發言是毫無準備的，所以它還算是不錯的。
6）I"m afraid I can"t answer your question off the cuff。
對不起，我不能當場（毫無準備地）回答你的問題。
7）I said it just off the cuff, so do not get hung up on my choice of words.
我可是隨便說的, 你別挑字眼兒。
8）This isn"t the kind of question that one can answer off the cuff. Can I
answer it later? I need to look it up.
這可不是那種可以隨口回答的問題，我可以先不回答嗎？我要先找到答案再告訴你。
9）Mr. Simpson is very homorous. He says the funniest things right off the cuff.
辛普森先生很幽默, 他隨口就能說出些笑話.
10）Mr. A landed in some hot water with an off-the-cuff comment regarding this matter.
A先生對這件事的隨意評論，惹上一些麻煩。
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