本
文
摘
要
一、Informal Words for Songs
表示歌曲的一些口语词汇
①Tune
曲调
There are two ways to define tune, the traditional way is as follows: A melody, especially one which characterizes a certain piece of music.
有两种方式来定义曲调,最基本的方式如下:一种是旋律,尤其来描述一首音乐作品。
If you use tune in this way you are referring to a part of the song. However, people sometimes will just say “tune” rather than song in everyday speech. The meaning is exactly the same. So when someone says, “I like the new Blur tune” they simply mean, “I like the new Blur song,” referring to the whole song not just a part of it.
如果你这么使用曲调这个词,这就表示是歌曲的一部分。不过在日常对话中,人们有时候用曲调来表示歌曲。所以当有人说我喜欢这首Blur的新曲,其实就是说我喜欢这首歌,而不是歌的一部分。
Examples 例子:
The DJ played some great tunes yesterday.
昨天DJ放的歌很赞!
②Track
乐曲
Track can also simply be used instead of song. In the days of compact discs, the songs were numbered so you could easily find the song you wanted to listen to. People would say,“Tracks 2, 3 and 5 are good but skip tracks 4 and 7, they’re no good”.
Track也可以表示歌曲。在光盘里,歌曲是编过号的,你可以很快找到你想听的歌曲。人们有时候会说歌曲1、3和5很好,但是不要4和7,他们听上去不怎么样。
Examples 例子
The latest track by Blur is amazing!
Blur最近的歌曲很棒!
What was that track you just played? I liked it.
你刚放的那首歌是什么?我很喜欢
③Banger
电子音乐
Banger is a word used mostly to describe electronic dance and hip hop music. You can use banger to refer to the latest club tunes. “Hey did you hear the new banger by Daft Punk? It will blow your mind”.
Banger这个词专门用来形容电子音乐和嘻哈音乐。你可以用banger来形容你在夜店听到的歌曲。“你有没有听过Daft Punk新的音乐?你肯定会很惊讶。”
Examples例子
The new Jay Z track is a right banger!
Jay Z的新专简直是再赞不过的音乐了
④Classic
流行乐
A song that becomes super popular can be called a classic. However, in everyday speech anyone can call a song a classic. There are no rules. So, if you hear a song and you really like it you can say “That song is a classic!” But be warned, this does not mean that other people will agree with you!
一首超级流行的歌曲可以成为classic。每天我们都可以说什么歌曲很流行。没有什么规则可言。如果你听到你很喜欢的歌曲,你就说这首歌很classic。但是注意,这不表示别人会同意你的观点
Examples例子
Dylan has got so many classics.
Dylan有许多好音乐。
Bob Marley made some classic records.
Bob Marley做过很多经典专辑。
Note, classic can also be used when talking about films, books or even experiences as well as music.
注意,classic可以用于电影、书籍甚至经历等等。
⑤Anthem
口水歌
This refers to a very popular song. In music festivals, when this type of song is played, most of the crowd will know all the words and sing along. If it is a dance track everyone will get up and dance to it. It is very similar in meaning to a classic but there is more of an emphasis on the song being loud and that you would sing along to it or dance to it, kind of like the national anthem, just way cooler.
Anthem表示非常流行的歌曲。在许多节日里,如果这样的歌曲播放了,全体人员都会跟着一起唱。如果是舞曲,所有的人都会站起来一起跳舞。这跟classic是同义词,但anthem更强调歌声音很大大家会跟着一起跳舞,和过个一样,只是更好玩。
Examples 例子
Oasis has got some anthems.
Oasis有许多口水歌
The new track by Calvin Harris is going to be a summer anthem.
Calvin Harris的新歌是夏天口水歌
二、Informal Phrases
口语词汇
①Oh my God! That’s a wicked tune!
天哪,这首歌太赞了!
I remember when I was at school in the ‘90’s, my friends and I started saying wicked as an alternative to cool or great. The old meaning of wicked was bad and was often used like this by the older teachers, “That boy did a wicked (bad) thing”. As young people do, the meaning was changed so when someone says “That was a wicked tune” they mean “That was a cool/great tune”.
我记得自己在90年代还在上学的时候,我的朋友开始用wicked来表示酷和赞的同义词。Wicked以前的意思是坏,以前老师会这样用:“那个男孩很坏。”作为年轻人的用法,这个词已经改变了含义“这个曲子很赞”,意思是这首曲子很好。
Examples 例子
The Gorillaz is a wicked band.
Gorillaz是一个很赞的乐队。
Lastly, wicked can be used in a non-musical context. So if your friend suggests you meet up and hang out, you can reply, “Wicked, let’s do it!”
最后,wicked也可以用于其他音乐之外的情景。如果你的朋友想要跟你一起出去玩,你可以回答:赞!就这么定了!
②What a sick tune!
这首歌绝逼了!
Have you ever heard someone say “What a sick tune!” and wondered what they meant? Well, they didn’t mean the drummer had thrown up all over the drums and somehow that got recorded onto the final cut of the record. Actually, sick also just means great, cool or amazing. So, next time you hear a song you like on the radio, on YouTube or in the club you can tell your friends, “Wow I just heard a sick tune”. You might also hear people say, “That was the sickest (greatest) thing I have ever heard”.
如果你有听到“what a sick tune”会想是什么意思吗?这不代表鼓手吐了一鼓子都是,然后不小心最后把整个过程全都录下来了。Sick代表的是好的、赞的、优秀的意思。所以下一次你在电台听到你喜欢的歌,或者Youtube上面或者是夜店里面听到歌,你可以告诉你的朋友:“啊,我刚听到的那首歌好赞。”你也可以听到别人说:“这是我听到的最最赞的音乐。”
Examples 例子
Goldie has made some sick tunes.
Goldie一些很赞的音乐。
Just for your notes, skaters or other *** sports junkies might say “Hey, did you see that trick, it was sick!” The meaning is the same: “It was amazing!”
顺便提一下,滑板运动和其他激烈运动爱好者可能回说:“嘿!你有没有看过那个动作,太赞(sick)了。”这也表示是很赞的意思。
③Last night, the band we saw had some killer tunes
昨晚,我们看到的乐队有一些超级赞的曲子。
For every DJ or band when they go to play a gig they must have some killer tunes to play to their audience. But, what are killer tunes? A simple definition is that these are the DJ’s or bands best songs. But this doesn’t mean that any killing is going to take place! No, it is a metaphor meaning these songs are so good that they cannot be compared to any other songs. They would metaphorically kill off any competition.
对于每一位DJ或者乐队来说,他们进行演出,对观众来说就需要有一些很好听的音乐。但是什么是killer tunes呢?简单定义来说就是DJ或者乐队最好的音乐。但是这不代表真的会发生killing(杀人)。这只是一种形象的手法表示这首歌很赞已经无法跟其他音乐比较了。他们已经在竞争中“杀”出重围了。
Examples 例子
It was amazing, the DJ played killer tunes all night long.
好赞,昨晚DJ打碟的都是最佳音乐
They are a good band. But they haven’t got any killer tunes.
他们是好的乐队。但是还没有最优秀的音乐出来。
④Turn it off, it’s too cheesy!
快关掉,音乐太逊了!
If the music is very simple and without subtlety, and/or the lyrics are corny and obvious (“I will always love you”, “You are my one and only,” etc.) you can say “This music is cheesy”, and accompany this phrase with a pretend sick noise “Urgh” for added effect. Just joking, you don’t need to do this last bit!!
如果音乐很简单也不耐听,歌词很俗而且太浅显(比如我永远爱你,你是我的唯一等等),你可以说这歌太逊了。伴随着这个词组你还可以发出鼻音”Urgh”自带音效。开玩笑啦,你不需要加音效其实。
So, when I look back at the music of my youth a lot of times I think, “That music is so cheesy, I can’t believe I liked it!”
所以当你回头看儿时的许多音乐时,你会觉得“这音乐太俗气了,没想到我以前还喜欢过它。”
It is not all negative though, liking cheesy music can also be a reminder of good times. In this case, you could say, “That music is so cheesy, but I don’t care I love it!”
并不是完全负面,俗气的音乐也可以是对过去好时光的怀念。你可以说:音乐很俗气,但是我不在乎我还是很喜欢!
Examples 例子
This music is very cheesy.
这歌音乐很俗气
⑤It’s not really my thing
这不是我的菜
If someone asks you, “Do you want to listen to the new One Direction album?” you may instinctively want to reply, “No, I would rather eat a bowl full of broken glass.” But, you don’t want to annoy the person asking, so instead you can use the phrase, “It’s not really my thing”. It has a soft and indirect meaning, but still means no. By saying “not really my thing”, you are being vague as to the reason why you don’t want to listen to the song, therefore avoiding any clash with the other person.
如果有人问你:“你喜欢听One Direction的新专吗?”你可能本能得回答,“不,我宁愿去吃一碗碎玻璃。”但是你不想彻底恼怒对方,所以你可以用这么个词组“这不是我的菜。”这个词组的表达更委婉,但是还是表示不喜欢
Example 例子
Friend 1: Do you want to go to a heavy metal gig tomorrow?
朋友1:你想去听明天重金属的演出吗?
Friend 2: Sorry, it’s not really my thing
朋友2:对不起,重金属音乐不是我的菜。
Again like wicked and classic, this phrase can be used in other conversations such as when talking about films or books.
就像wicked和classic一样,这个词组还可以用在其他的对话中,比如电影和书本。
三、Words and Phrases Related to Dancing
和跳舞相关的词组
①That groove is amazing!
这个很有节奏!
Examples 例子
Great groove on that track.
这首歌的节奏很好。
We were grooving all night long (verb form meaning: dancing or enjoying the music).
我们整晚都和音乐舞动(动词形式:跳舞享受音乐)。
②That is a funky tune
这首歌很放克!
What is a funky tune? The definition in the Oxford Dictionary (2015) is: music that has, or uses a strong dance rhythm, in particular that of funk.
Funky tune是神马意思?2015年牛津词典定义:一种有很强节奏感的音乐,尤其是放克音乐。
Examples 例子
I love to listen to funky tunes.
我喜欢听放克音乐。
Heard anything funky lately?
最近有没有好的舞曲?
③Next Saturday, there’s a wicked rave happening!
下周六要举行一个超赞的锐舞派对!
Well, a rave in today’s language is a large electronic dance music party. When you go to a rave you might hear house, techno, dubstep, drum and bass music, or one of the other many genres of electronic music.
Rave现在的意思是大型的电子音乐派对。如你去了锐舞派对,你会听到浩室、铁科诺、回响贝斯、古典和贝斯乐,或者其他电子音乐的种类。
A person that goes to a rave is called a raver, and rave can be used as a verb as well, you can say, “I love raving!” So, next time you go to an all-night party with electronic dance music and DJ’s and you end up dancing all night, yes, you are now a raver!
去锐舞派对的人叫做Raver。Rave也可以作为动词使用,你可以说我喜欢锐舞。下一次你去整晚的电音派对,而且你跟着DJ的音乐热舞一整晚,你就是raver了。
Examples 例子
I’m going raving this weekend.
这个周末我要去锐舞
④Who feels like throwing some shapes?
谁想要跳舞?
Examples 例子
We were throwing shapes all night.
昨晚我们整晚都在跳舞。
She can really throw some shapes.
她跳舞跳得很好。
四、How to Describe Music: Add a -Y
如何来描述音乐:加一个字母 -Y
The last of the fifteen words is not actually a word but a letter: the letter -Y. If you think that describing music is hard, you can just add a -y to the name of the genre and you have made it into an adjective. Then, you are able to describe music in a very simple but effective way.
下面15个词组不是词组,其实只是加了一个字母Y。如果你对描述一种音乐有困难,你可以在音乐种类的后面加一个y,那这样就是一个形容词了。这种描述的方法简单而有效。
Here are some examples of how to do this:
下面是一些例子:
Blues布鲁斯- Bluesy布鲁斯的
Folk乡村-Folky乡村民谣的
Jazz爵士-Jazzy爵士的
Punk朋克-Punky朋克的
Pop流行- Poppy流行的
Examples in sentences 例句
My friend writes bluesy songs.
我的朋友写蓝调音乐。
I know you like folk music so I got you this CD. It’s very folky.
我知道你喜欢乡村民谣所以给你买了这个CD。确实很民谣。
Mark plays funky music.
Mark晚放克音乐
Also, I should explain that it is also perfectly fine to say “It was a blues tune, or “It was a funk tune”. By adding the -y, you are saying “The song is a little in the style of blues/pop/folk/jazz” or, “It has something of the blues/pop/folk/jazz about it.”
另外,如果你说这首歌是布鲁斯乐、是放克乐曲,完全没问题。加一个y之后,这首歌的风格是布鲁斯、流行乐、民谣、爵士。或者有一点布鲁斯、流行、民谣、爵士的感觉在里面。
Lastly, with rock and rap music please be careful as we do not say, “That song is rocky” or, “That is a rappy tune.” Sorry, that’s the English language for you, full of irregularities that you just have to learn.
最后,摇滚和饶舌的话最好不要说rocky或者rappy。抱歉英语里面不是这么说的,特例很多需要大家学习。