昨天同事小何跟外教 Lawrence 约好了一起去见客户，却闹了个大笑话。原来他们本来约定中午十二点在餐馆和客户一起吃饭，早上出门时小何还给 Lawrence 打了个电话，电话里他明明听到对方说: " I'm now on my way and I'll be there in three hours at the outside." 于是小何到达之后想着 Lawrence 是打算和他在外面儿先碰个面儿然后再一块儿进去，这哥们儿就在餐馆外傻等了半天......没想到一刻钟之后 Lawrence 从餐馆里出来找他了~

小何这就纳闷儿了，咱不是在电话里都说好了嘛——"我已经在路上了，三小时之后在餐馆外面儿集合！" 呵呵，屏幕前的同学们猜出端倪了吗？原来是小何把"at the outside"这个习惯用语理解成了"在外面儿"，其实这个短语的意思是"顶多、最晚、充其量"的意思，所以人家 Lawrence 本来说的是"我现在在路上，最晚三个小时后就到了。"

at the (very) outside

最多，顶多； 最晚；充其量 ; 不出...之内; 至多，不超过

【En】

at the most or at the greatest extent.

最多或在最大程度上。

at the absolute limit.

在绝对极限。

used to say that an amount is the most possible in a situation.

用来表示在某种情况下，一个数量是最可能的。

used to say that a particular number or amount is the largest something could possibly be, and it might be less.

用来表示一个特定的数字或数量可能是最大的，也可能是最小的。

you think that a particular amount is the largest possible in a particular situation, or that a particular time is the latest possible time for something to happen.

你认为某一特定数量在某一特定情况下是最大可能的，或者某一特定时间是某件事发生的最迟可能的时间。

● It's only a 20-minute walk, half an hour at the outside.

步行只要20分钟，顶多半个小时。

● Give yourself forty minutes at the outside.

最多给自己留40分钟。

【Scenario Example 场景示例】

● The traffic wasn't that bad, so I think I'll only be 15 minutes late at the very outside.

交通不是那么糟糕，所以我想我充其量只会晚到15分钟。

● The job will take about ten days at the outside.

这活儿顶多需要10天左右。

● With tips I can earn 150 a week, at the very outside.

连小费在内我每星期最多能挣150英镑.

● There weren't more than ten at the outside.

外面不超过十个人。

● What do you think tuition will cost at the outside?

你觉得学费最多是多少钱?

● The car repairs will cost $300 at the very outside.

这辆汽车的修理费顶多不会超过300美元。

● I expect I'll have everything prepared in a couple of months, three at the outside.

我想我会在几个月内把一切都准备好，最多三个月。

● I doubt if this factory makes more than 500 cars a year at the very outside.

我怀疑这家工厂每年充其量是否能生产500多辆汽车。

● There be only fifty people there at the very outside.

那里至多才五十个人。

● The investor estimated that his rate of profit would be ten percent at the very outside.

这位投资人估计他的利润充其量不过10%。

● Within an hour at the outside, they'd be out in force looking for him, probably concentrating their search towards the coast.

不出一个小时之内，他们就会蜂拥而至寻找他，可能会把搜索集中在海岸。

出处：见配图水印