第二十六輯 第十三課 I'm all ears.

出版時間 2003/11/01

當別人跟你說話,而你在洗耳恭聽時,可以說:I'm all ears.(我正洗耳恭聽),也可說:I'm listening.(我正在聆聽)/ I'm paying attention.(我全神貫注)/ I'm all yours.(我全部的時間 / 精神都給了你)。若你想別人聆聽你的話,你可問:Can I bend your ear?(我可以借用你的耳朵嗎?)即是指「你可以聽聽我說話嗎?」的意思。

Brian:The boss wants to see you. He's not happy.
布萊恩:老闆要見你,他不太高興哦!
Gordon:Tell me what it is. I'm all ears.
戈登:告訴我到底發生甚麼事,我會洗耳恭聽。
Brian:He isn't happy about your behavior at work.
布萊恩:他對你的工作態度很不悅。
Gordon:What have I done wrong?
戈登:我做錯了甚麼?
Brian:Well the trouble is he thinks you're all mouth. So shut up and listen in future.
布萊恩:嗯,問題是他覺得你光說不練,所以將來你要閉嘴並聆聽。

戈登問同事老闆為甚麼對他不滿:Tell me. I'm all ears。同事告訴他:He thinks you're all mouth。
英文有to be all eyes(滿是眼睛)的說法,意思是「全神貫注的看」,例如:We were all eyes as the conjurer performed his tricks(魔術師表演的時候,我們都目不轉睛的看)。
To be all mouth(滿是嘴巴)可以說是同一句式的成語,意思是饒舌或誇張其言卻沒有行動。這成語有另一個較奇怪的說法:to be all mouth and (no) trousers。trousers(褲子)和饒舌有甚麼關係,為甚麼(all) trousers也可說是no trousers等,恐怕沒有人能夠解釋;此外,trousers部分往往省去,例如:He is all mouth (and trousers) when it comes to helping the poor, but he never practices what he preaches(談到濟貧,他常說話滔滔不絕,但從不身體力行)。
To be all ears(滿是耳朵)當然是指「全神貫注的聽」,例如:I was all ears when the Nobel laureate began to speak(當諾貝爾獎得主開始致辭,我聚精會神的聽)。
但如果你對別人的話沒有興趣,大概就不會all ears,而會listen with half an ear(用半隻耳朵來聽):I listened to him with half an ear即「我沒有留心聽他說話」。結果恐怕是:What he said to me went in one ear and out the other(他對我說的話,左耳進,右耳出)。

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