Jessica在北京學中文，她的中國朋友要是遇到了不知道用美語怎么說的詞，就會來請教她。今天是怡茹要問的：道聽途說。

YR: Jessica, Congratulations! And I'm mad at you!

Jessica: What? Why? What's going on?

YR: 我聽說你交了個特帥的男朋友！所以當然恭喜你一下嘍！不過，咱倆是好朋友，你居然瞞著我，所以我生氣啦！

Jessica: What boyfriend? Where did you hear it?

YR: 大家都這么說啊。就是……啊……怎么說來著，street words say...

Jessica: Do you mean "word on the street"?

YR: 對！Word on the street is you've got a new boyfriend! 坊間傳言，你交了新男友哦！

Jessica: Gosh! This is pure rumor! Yiru, you must tell me who told you this. I need to dispel this rumor!

YR: 我也是道聽途說，這樣吧，你告訴我道聽途說用美語怎么說，我就告訴你傳謠言的人是誰！

Jessica: Deal! 道聽途說……Let me see...Okay, you can say "I heard something through the grapevine." Grapevine is spelt g-r-a-p-e-v-i-n-e.

YR: 哦，grapevine是葡萄藤的意思，I heard it through the grapevine 就是“通過葡萄藤聽來的消息”，也就是道聽途說嘍! 還有別的說法么？

Jessica: You can also say "a little bird told me." For example, if you don't want to tell others the source of your information, you can say "Let's just say I know because a little bird told me."

YR: 哈哈，真可愛，A little bird told me, 小鳥告訴我的！

Jessica: 好啦，現在你可以告訴我了吧？Who's spreading the rumor?

YR: Well, let's just say a little bird told me!

Jessica: Hey! That's cheating, Yiru! Besides, if you say "a little bird told me," usually it means both you and I actually know the source of the information, but neither of us wants to say it. 可我現在不知道??！

YR: 原來，在用a little bird told me的時候，大家對消息來源其實都心知肚明，只是故意不說。好吧，那我告訴你吧，其實---I heard the rumor through the grapevine!

Jessica: Hey!

YR: 今天我們學的內容包括：第一，坊間傳言可以說Word on the street is...;

第二，道聽途說可以說 I heard it through the grapevine;

第三，大家心照不宣地不挑名消息來源，可以說 A little bird told me.

相關閱讀

“Grapevine” 小道消息

英語中這樣傳播謠言

Chinwag 閑談

“Ear”的相關英文表達

（來源：VOA英語教學 編輯：旭燕）