To Wind Someone Up 捉弄

Neil: Hello and welcome to Real English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

Feifei: 大家好，我是冯菲菲。

Neil: In Real English we look at words and phrases people use all the time which you might not find in your dictionary.

Feifei: 在地道英语节目当中，我们给大家介绍一些在字典里查不到的新词汇和新短语。

Neil: Hey, guess what, Feifei?

Feifei: What?

Neil: I’m going on holiday to China.

Feifei: Oh really? Neil 说他要到中国去度假了！

Neil: And then I’m going to climb Mount Everest.

Feifei: What? 他还要去爬喜玛拉雅山(珠穆朗玛峰)！

Neil: And after that I’m going to take a trip to the moon.

Feifei: A trip to the moon?! 什么？还要到月球上去探险旅行？OK, now I know you’re joking. 这一定是个玩笑！

Neil: You’re right Feifei. I’m just winding you up. To wind someone up.

Feifei: 这个短语的意思就是告诉一个人不存在的事情，从而来和这个人开玩笑。To wind someone up 捉弄某人。

Example

A: Did you hear that Mike’s going to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen?

B: Really? Why’s that?

A: Well, he says the Queen just invited him for tea.

B: Oh, come on, he’s just winding you up. You know he’s always joking around.

Neil: It’s a verb. To wind someone up.

Feifei: 这是一个动词短语 to wind someone up.

Neil: But it can also be used as a noun. A wind-up.

Feifei: 这个短语还可以变成一个名词 a wind-up.

Neil: Be careful with the pronunciation because it’s spelt the same as wind, but pronounced wind.

Feifei: 大家要注意在这个短语里 wind 和 wind "风" 这个词的拼写是完全一样的，可是它读做 wind，不是 wind.

Neil: So, when Mike said he was going for tea with the Queen, it was just a wind-up.

Feifei: 当 Mike 说女王邀请他一起喝下午茶的时候，那只是 a wind-up 而已。 Well Neil, I’m going shopping now. I’m going to buy a new car; I’m thinking of a Rolls Royce.

Neil: A Rolls Royce? How can you afford that?

Feifei: I won the lottery.

Neil: Ah, stop winding me up!

Feifei: 如果大家想学到更多英式英语的新词汇和新表达，都可以登陆我们的网站 www.bbcchina.com.cn. See you next time.

Neil: Bye.