近来,在美国人的口语中为害最甚的可说是迅猛传播的“你知道”这一口头禅了。我都弄不清楚,打从何时起,它就象一阵暴风骤雨,横扫过我们的语言领域,但是对这一口头禅带来的益见含混的意义,韵律的破坏,以及对我那副不幸的耳朵的无穷折磨,想来实在使人不寒而栗。有一个男士,在去年夏天跟我的一次电话交谈中,五分钟里就用了三十四次,这只不过是我 Recently, the most damaging thing in Americans’ oral language is the rapidly spreading “you know” mantra. I couldn’t figure it out. From when it began, it was like a storm. It swept through our linguistic realm, but it had mixed meanings, destruction of rhythms, and ears of my misfortune. The inexhaustible torment is really chilling. There was a man. In a telephone conversation with me last summer, it took 34 times in five minutes. It was just me.