内容简介

“Twig” 作名词时有 “小树枝” 的意思。但在英语俗语中，“twig” 也可以作动词，意思是 “突然明白了某事，顿悟”。就比如，你的朋友总是提到他的一个同学，但你过了很久才突然意识到 “这个人也是我的同学！I finally twigged that she was my classmate as well!” 听节目，跟主持人菲菲和 Beth 一起学习俗语 “twig” 的用法。

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（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Feifei
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC 英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。在每期节目中，我们都会介绍一个英语母语人士或讲英语流利的人会用到的习惯用语或者短语。I'm Feifei, and I'm here with Beth. How are you?

Beth
Hi Feifei! I'm great, thanks. And I have a funny story to share with you.

Feifei
Oh, go on!

Beth
So, I was at a fancy-dress party last weekend, and I was talking to a person in a superhero costume. I had no idea who it was, I was talking to them for ages, but then they finally took their mask off, and I twigged – it was my cousin!

Feifei
Ah, must have been a good costume. And that's a great example of the word we're looking at in this programme, 'twig'. It's an informal British English verb, and if you twig, it means you realise or understand something, often after some time or confusion.

Beth
Exactly. And you can suddenly twig something, or it can be a slower realisation. Can you give us an example of when you have twigged something, Feifei?

Feifei
Yes, actually. I was in the lift the other day, and the person standing next to me looked really familiar, but I didn't know who it was until I got out of the lift. I suddenly twigged – it was a famous actor!

Beth
Oh, that's cool.

Feifei
'Twig' can often be used in situations where you've been a bit slow to understand something, like maybe you're watching a mystery film, and it's only in the final scene that you guess who the murderer is, you finally twig who it is.

Beth
Yes. And we always 'twig' a thing – the realisation. Here are some more examples of the verb 'twig'.

Examples
So I know this man in the office, and then I also know a woman in my choir, and I've only just twigged that they are actually siblings!

So a friend of mine has really smelly breath, and I tried to tell him gently by offering him mints, and I even bought him a toothbrush once, and he finally twigged and sorted it out.

My wife kept telling me stories about her friend who was going out with someone called 'Dave'. It was months later that I twigged it was my friend Dave!

Feifei
你正在收听的是 BBC 英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。以上我们一起学习了俗语 “twig” 的用法。在英式英语中，“twig” 可以作动词，意思是 “突然明白了某事，顿悟”。“Twig” 既可以用来表达 “经过思考后突然明白了某事”，也可以是 “未经思考地对某件事情产生了顿悟”。

Beth
So, 'twig' is used to describe the moment you finally realise something.

Feifei
Yes. It's really useful for describing those 'aha!' moments. “Twig” 可以表达出我们领悟某件事时的惊奇或者惊喜。比如，有一次我和孩子玩捉迷藏的时候，直到听见他在碗柜里打了喷嚏才意识到他藏在哪。The other day I only twigged where my son was hiding when I heard a sneeze from inside a kitchen cupboard!

Beth
Oh, how funny. So, to recap, we've learnt 'twig', which we can use when we realise or understand something, often after some time or confusion.

Feifei
And that's all from us. We'll be back next time with another useful English phrase. See you then!

Beth
Bye!