生活美語《She'd got left on the shelf》
She'd got left on the shelf
她已是年逾摽梅
Nat：Where have you been honey? I was expecting you an hour ago.
納特：小寶貝，你去了哪裡？我一個鐘頭之前已經開始等你了。
Katrin：Sorry, Nat. I went to see my Aunt Martha and she really wanted to talk. So I just had to stay and chat with her.
卡春：對不起，納特，我去探望瑪爾莎姑母，而她說話說得起勁，我不得不多留一會跟她閒聊。
Nat：Is that your unmarried aunt? You seem to visit her quite a lot.
納特：是你那個未婚姑母嗎？你似乎經常探訪她。
Katrin：Well, yes I do. I like her and feel sorry for her. She's lived alone all her life and missed the chance to get married.
卡春：不錯，我常常找她。我喜歡她，也同情她。她一生都是獨居，失去了結婚機會。
Nat：How was that?
納特：怎麼會這樣？
Katrin：Well, she stayed at home to look after her parents. They were both in poor health. So by the time they died, she'd got left on the shelf. It was too late for marriage.
卡春：她當年在家照顧父母，因為父母身體不好。到他們去世後，她已是年逾摽梅（註），要結婚也太晚了。
多學一點點 等候、「留在架上」
納特見卡春到來，說I was expecting you an hour ago。Expect可以譯做「等候」，和wait有什麼不同？
按expect是「預期某事會發生」，但你通常不會呆著等候，可以如常做其他事情。例如朋友約定晚上來訪，你自然不必枯坐等待，他到來時，你可以說I've been expecting you for an hour（我等你到來有一個鐘頭啦）之類。Expect是心理上的等候。
Wait則是專誠等候，其間沒有什麼事情可做。例如和朋友約定在餐廳見面，他遲到了一小時，你可以說：I've been waiting for you for an hour（我等了你一個鐘頭啦）。
卡春說姑母當年錯過了結婚機會：She'd got left on the shelf。To be left on the shelf直譯是「被留在架上」，常用來比喻女人年紀已大，嫁不出去，偶爾也會用來說沒有結婚的男人。獨身男女往往覺得這成語有冒犯含義，宜小心使用，例如：Some women probably get married just because they do not want to be seen as being left on the shelf（有些女人結婚，可能只是怕被視為沒有人要）。
On the shelf還有一個意思：「擱置」。例如：The project was briefly discussed and then left on the shelf - so much for all the efforts we had spent on it（那計劃經簡單討論之後，就擱置了－我們花了那麼多的心力就此白費）。這個「擱置」改用動詞shelve也可以：The project was briefly discussed and then shelved。So much for有「到此為止」、「就此作罷」的意思。
