Knickers in a twist 因小事而不高兴

The script of this programme 本節目台詞

Will: Hello, I'm William and here I am in Li's garden to present the programme today…

Li: Hi Will! Yes, I'm Li, and well, 在開始今天的節目之前我需要先把這些剛剛洗過衣服都掛起來!

Will: No problem, it's actually quite handy to have you doing that as we have an expression to teach today that many people might even find a little bit amusing. To get your knickers in a twist!

Li: My knickers in a twist! No, Will, 我的短褲 knickers 沒有擰在一起呀，你看我的短褲這不都平平整整地掛在繩子上嗎，還有我的襯衣，牛仔褲，還有台布，你批評我掛衣服不平整嗎? Don't you think I'm doing my washing right?

Will: No, I don't mean that. I even like these pink pyjamas with yellow polka dots that I can see hanging further down the line. People can probably see them from the moon! Oh dear, they are a bit too bright for my taste, Li.

Li: I see, 你瞧你這又在取笑我的審美觀。其實是我媽的審美觀，因為這些睡衣都是我媽給我的聖誕禮物… 其實我並不喜歡，不過我不想讓我老媽感到掃興，她總在問起這些衣服。 It's annoying!

Will: Don't get your knickers in a twist!

Li: There you go again! 行了行了，別沒完沒了地數叨我的短褲了! 我倒想問問你的短褲什麼樣? Maybe they are twisted!

Will: Look, I must confess that sometimes… maybe lots of times actually, I get my knickers in a twist. And it's not when I am hanging up my washing. Knickers is a British word that refers to underwear – they're what Americans call panties, ladies' underwear. But actually 'to get your knickers in a twist' has got nothing to do with underwear.

Li: 這麼說 to get your knickers in a twist 只是一個短語，和短褲沒有任何關係呀，那是不是男女都能用?

Will: Yes, you can. It's an expression in English that you use when you want to say that someone is getting upset about things that are not important, trivial matters. Let's listen to some examples:

<span >Examples

(Phone ringing)

Female 1: Your phone's been ringing all morning and you haven't bothered to pick it up.

Female 2: Alright! Alright! I will do it now. Don't get your knickers in a twist!

Male: My teenage son is very sensitive. Whenever I tell him to tidy up his room he gets his knickers in a twist and slams the door!

Li: Ah, getting your knickers in a twist has nothing to do with knickers! 這個短語的意思是因為一些雞毛蒜皮的小事而煩惱或生氣。

Will: That's right! And by the way, the knickers that you have hanging from your washing line are not twisted either. You are doing a really good job there, Li.

Li: Thank you, Will. But 真糟糕，要下雨了。我花了20分鐘剛剛把這些衣服全都晾起來，現在又要全部摘下來! 看起來這可是場大雨，哎呀，我明天沒衣服穿了… 真討厭! 這鬼天氣，總下雨！ 真不公平，我好不容易才抽出時間把所有的髒衣服都洗了，瞧，這件粉紅的睡衣，多難看，我媽怎麼不給我買雙襪子或著其他什麼東西呢？她從來都不允許我穿我喜歡的衣服，我十幾歲的時候想穿短裙，我媽就是不讓！

Will: Here we go again! Knickers in a twist! Goodbye.

Li: Goodbye. 不過我們為什麼總是要匆匆忙忙地結束呢，我們的聽友喜歡這檔節目喜歡學英語，不是嗎？ 我們的節目時間放的長一點這樣我們不就能教更多的地道英語了，不是嗎？這對我們忠實地的聽友多不公平，花時間上我們的網頁來不就是要盡快地多學點東西嗎？…