生活美語《We'll be hearing wedding bells pretty soon》
We'll be hearing wedding bells pretty soon
我們快要聽到結婚的鐘聲了
對話
Guy：How long has Kate been going out with George? It must be at least 12 months.
蓋伊：凱蒂和喬治來往有多久了？最少應有十二個月啦。
Nancy：Oh, it's longer than that dear. It's eighteen months. Don't you remember they met at Mary James' engagement party and that was in June last year.
南施：不止十二個月啦，老公。有十八個月了。你不記得嗎，他們是在瑪麗．詹姆斯的訂婚會上認識的，那是去年六月的事。
Guy：Do you think they're serious about each other? They seem to be.
蓋伊：你看兩人是認真的嗎？他們似乎不是鬧著玩的。
Nancy：Oh, they're more than serious dear.
南施：啊，他們不只是認真。
Guy：What do you mean?
蓋伊：我不明白你的意思。
Nancy：I think we'll be hearing wedding bells pretty soon.
南施：我看我們快要聽到結婚的鐘聲了。
Guy：What makes you say that?
蓋伊：你憑什麼這樣說？
Nancy：Well Kate rang me just now to say that George had just taken her to Zemmany's to choose an engagement ring.
南施：凱蒂剛剛打電話給我，說喬治剛才和她去曾曼妮公司挑選訂婚戒指。
多學一點點 好事近了
蓋伊問南施：How long has Kate been going out with George? Go out當然是「外出」，例如He went out early this morning是「他今天一早就出門去了」。Go out還常用來指男女戀愛期間外出遊玩，意思和date（約會）差不多，其後常用with或together，例如：Hector and Diana went out together(=Hector and Diana dated) for almost ten years before getting married（赫克特和黛安娜相戀將近十年才結婚）。
蓋伊不知道凱蒂和喬治談戀愛是不是認真的。南施告訴他：They're more than serious。More than常用在一些形容詞之前，意思是「非常」，或作more than a little，例如：(1) I am more than glad to be able to give him a hand（我很高興能夠助他一臂）。(2) The news that his former wife had died of cancer more than a little depressed him（他聽到前妻患癌去世，非常難過）。
南施說：We'll be hearing wedding bells pretty soon。Wedding bells當然是指教堂舉行婚禮時響起的悠揚鐘聲。To hear (the sound of) wedding bells是成語，有「看來婚訊快傳來了」的意思，例如：They are always seen together, and all their friends can hear the sound of wedding bells（他們總是形影不離，朋友都覺得他們好事近了）。
說起來，結婚的鐘聲和古代迷信有關。古人相信魔鬼喜歡破壞世人婚姻，教堂鐘聲大鳴，可以趕走無處不有的魔鬼。今天，不少人還喜歡按響汽車喇叭慶祝婚禮，聽來十分熱鬧。那喇叭聲和教堂鐘聲一樣，仍然帶著古人迷信的遺風。
