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