内容简介

在互联网如此发达的今天，许多事情都离不开 “electronic devices（电子设备）”，但它们偶尔也会 “闹脾气”。当这些电子设备 “响应速度变慢”、“死机” 或者 “坏掉了，不工作了” 的时候，我们该如何向他人求助或描述这些故障呢？听节目，跟主持人步理和 Georgie 学习描述电子设备 “出故障了” 的常用英语表达。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Buli
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC 英语教学的 “你问我答” 节目。This is Question and Answer of the week, where we answer your questions about English language, culture and life. I'm Buli.

Georgie
And I'm Georgie. How are you, Buli?

Buli
Hmm. Everything's fine now, but before you joined me, there were some issues with the recording system. The computer was lagging and the microphones kept cutting out.

Georgie
Oh dear. Well, I'm glad you've got it all sorted just in time for the recording! Shall we hear this week's question?

Question
I'd like to learn expressions related to problems using electronic devices. For example, how to describe a device being slow, not responding, or having poor signal? I've also heard people say that something could have 'crashed', be 'out of order' or 'on the blink', do they mean the same thing?

Buli
What a practical question! 这位听众问了一个在生活中非常常见的问题：我们可以怎么向他人描述自己手头的 “electronic devices（电子设备）”，比如手机、电脑、电视等等 “出问题了”？

Shall we start with some language to use in those frustrating moments when our electronic devices are being slow?

Georgie
Yes. And we'll use the word 'computer' as an example of an electronic device throughout, but the language can be generalised to other devices like a mobile phone, too. So, when your computer is being a bit slow, we can use the word 'lag'. The noun 'lag' means there's a delay between the human action and the desired result.

Buli
首先，如果一个设备 “反应慢了”，比如，一台电脑要在敲击键盘一段时间之后才会有反应，我们就可以用单词 “lag” 来描述这个情况。“Lag” 既可以作名词表示 “延迟，两件事之间的时间间隔”，也可以作动词表示某个设备 “响应速度变慢”。

Georgie
Or you can even describe the device as 'laggy' which is a bit more informal. For example, the studio was being a bit laggy before I arrived, wasn't it?

Buli
Yes, it was. 在口语中，我们还可以用单词 “lag” 的形容词形式 “laggy” 来形容一个设备 “反应慢，反应迟缓”。

除了 “slow” 和 “lag”，我们还可以用一些表达来形容电子设备 “反应慢”。比如，我们可以说一个程序、文件或网页 “is taking ages to load（载入的时间太久了）”。我们甚至可以夸张地向别人抱怨 “it's taking forever（太慢了，好像永远都打不开）”。

What about when the device just isn't responding at all? I think I've heard the expression 'frozen' before.

Georgie
Yes. Well, imagine if something is literally frozen, it's stopped – it's not moving. So, if your device stops responding to what you're asking it to do, it has frozen.

Buli
Yeah. The screen might be showing something, but it's not doing what you want it to do. 形容词 “frozen” 原本的意思是 “冻结了”，因此人们通常会用它来比喻 “静止不动”。如果我们用 “frozen” 来形容一个电子设备或者一块屏幕，意思就是这个设备 “没有反应了，对我们的操作没有响应” 或者 “屏幕显示的东西静止不变了”。

Georgie, what about when the computer just isn't working anymore? The listener mentioned the idiom 'on the blink', does that work?

Georgie
Yes, 'on the blink' means that your electronic device isn't working properly, but this idiom is not very commonly used in modern English. Instead, you can use expressions like 'my computer has died' or 'my computer has crashed'.

Buli
这个问题中提到的习语 “on the blink” 确实可以用来形容一个设备 “坏了，出毛病了”。不过，“one the blink” 有些过时。现在，人们通常会用 “something has died” 或者 “something has crashed” 来表达 “某个设备死机了” 或者 “某个设备坏掉了”。

Georgie
Now, let's talk about internet connection.

Buli
Good idea. So, let's imagine we're doing a video call, and the internet connection is unstable. You can say 'Sorry, my connection keeps dropping' or 'My internet keeps cutting out'.

如果并不是设备本身出了毛病，而是网络连接或者信号等等出现问题，那我们就可以用 “My connection keeps dropping” 或者 “My internet keeps cutting out” 来告诉别人 “我的网络信号不好，一直断断续续的”。

你正在收听的是 BBC 英语教学制作的 “你问我答” 节目。在本期节目中，我们正在学习描述电子设备 “出故障” 的常用表达。在这位听众提出的问题里还有一个常见的表达 “out of order”。Georgie, does this have a similar meaning to 'crashed' or 'died'?

Georgie
Yes, the meaning is similar – it means something isn't working – but it's not common to use 'out of order' when talking about personal devices like phones and computers. The phrase 'out of order' is more for machines that are publicly used, like vending machines, lifts in buildings, even toilets.

Buli
Right, now that I think about it, 'out of order' is mostly used on signs to warn people not to use the machine. “Out of order” 这个表达的意思是 “损坏了，不工作了”，它通常形容的是公共场合的物品，比如，公共电话、办公室里的打印机，甚至公共厕所等等。我们也可以用它来标记其他人也会用到的公用设备或器械，来提醒他人 “此物已坏，请勿使用”。

Georgie
Yes. But you're unlikely to hear 'My phone is out of order' or 'My laptop is out of order'.

And that's it for this programme. If you have a question that you'd like us to answer, you can email us too at: questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Buli
你也可以通过微博向我们提问。我们的微博账号是 “BBC英语教学”。Bye!

Georgie
Goodbye!