BBC地道英语:Fair Play 公平竞争

William: Hello and welcome to bbcukchina.com. You're listening to Authentic Real English. I'm William Kremer.

Feifei: I'm Feifei. What's today's word, William?

William: Well there's a footballing theme to this week's question, or at least a sporting theme. Let me ask you, Feifei, what characteristics do you associate with British people?

Feifei: 我把什么特性和英国人能联系在一起呢？Um... well, you're all a bit cynical 愤世嫉俗的，有点儿冷嘲热讽的。

William: Ye-es. That's... That is probably fair. But what about more positive characteristics?

Feifei: Um...

William: To do with sport...

Feifei: 你们英国人善于发明体育项目，不过虽然很多体育项目是你们发明的，可是在比赛中水平反而不及其他国家，哎。

William: Yeah, that's also probably fair as well. But what about our sportsmanship, Feifei? In particular, our sense of fair pay?

Fair play on the football pitch?

Feifei: Maybe. Fair play 的意思就是公平比赛，公平竞争。英国人向来都认为在体育竞技和每日生活中，fair play 是非常重要的一个原则。But what about the phrase, fair play? When do we use that, William?

William: Well, that's a little bit tricky to explain. But we tend to say 'fair play' when somebody does something annoying or perhaps a little negative but we shouldn't criticise them because they were sticking to the rules of the game, or to the spirit of the rules.

Feifei: Right. That is a little tricky to understand. Can you give us an example?

William: I'd be delighted to, Feifei. This example is from two men watching a football match. A goal has just been disallowed because the scorer was offside.

Feifei: 下面对话中两位男士在观看一场足球比赛。一个进球刚刚被判无效，因为一名队员越位了。Offside 越位。他们对裁判 ref 的这一判决很是不满。

Example

Man: Oooooh! Ref, I can't believe it?!

Man 2: That is a shame. That is a shame.

Man: What a joke! This referee needs to get some glasses.

Man 2: Yeah, but fair play to him, that player was offside.

Feifei: 虽然这两位男士对裁判的判决很是不满，但是其中的一位还是说了"fair play to him, that player was offside".

William: Yeah, fair play to him. Now although this phrase comes from sport, we don't just use it to discuss football and so on. So let's hear another example.

Example

Man: Have you heard about Gary?

Man 2: No...

Man: He's kicked his son out of his house.

Man 2: No, what, Kevin?!

Man: Yeah, he's kicked him out. I mean, fair play to Gary, Kevin is 42 now.

Man 2: Yeah and he crashed Gary's car, remember?

Feifei: Hmmm. 在上面的这个例子中两位男士在谈论关于他们朋友 Gary 把自己的儿子 Kevin 赶出家门的事情。

William: One of the men says, "Fair play to Gary, Kevin is 42 now."

Feifei: 因为他们朋友的儿子已经42岁了，而且他还把自己父亲的汽车给撞坏了，所以父亲一气之下就把他给赶出去了。Fair play to him.

William: Maybe not everyone understood that clip, but then, fair play to them, it was quite hard. Let's listen again.

Example

Man: Have you heard about Gary?

Man 2: No...

Man: He's kicked his son out of his house.

Man 2: No, what, Kevin?!

Man: Yeah, he's kicked him out. I mean, fair play to Gary, Kevin is 42 now.

Man 2: Yeah and he crashed Gary's car, remember?

Feifei: William 我注意到刚才上面两个例子里都是男士们在说话。

William: Yes, I think this might be a phrase that men are a little bit more likely to use than women. Maybe that's because it comes from sport.

Feifei: Hmmm... interesting. Well, remember to check our site bbcukchina.com for more Authentic Real English. Bye!

William: Bye bye!