内容简介

你知道 “squeeze”、“press”、“squish” 和 “squash” 这四个表示 “挤”、“压” 的单词的区别吗？要想准确地使用它们，首先要从 “挤、压” 过程中的动作和发力方式说起。比如，表达 “用整只手攥住、从各个方向用力挤压” 时就可以用 “squeeze”，而不能使用 “press”。听节目，跟主持人 Georgie 和步理一起学习 “squeeze”、“press”、“squish” 和 “squash” 之间的区别。

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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。）

Buli
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC 英语教学的 “你问我答” 节目。We are here to answer your questions about English language, culture and life. I'm Buli, and to help me answer this week's question, I have Georgie here!

Georgie
That's me! Hey, Buli. How are you?

Buli
I'm very good, thank you. How are you?

Georgie
Yes, I'm very well, thank you, too. OK, let's hear the question.

Question
请问想表示 “挤，压” 时，“squeeze”、“press”、“squish” 和 “squash” 这几个单词在意思和用法上有什么区别？

Georgie
OK, no pressure, let's look at these words together in this episode.

Well, Buli, I think we should start with the word 'squeeze' because that is the one I can think of the most examples for. We use it all the time! We squeeze lemons, we squeeze toothpaste out of the tube, we squeeze a wet cloth to get the water out… We can even squeeze someone's hand!

Buli
Right! Let's think about squeezing a lemon. You hold it tightly with your hand and apply pressure to get the juice out of it. You do the same with a tube of toothpaste – you encircle it with your hand, applying pressure on all sides to squeeze the paste out.

Georgie
Yes. Now if you squeeze someone's hand, you're obviously not trying to get anything out of it, but it's the same idea of holding something tightly, encircling it and applying pressure.

Buli
OK, let's think about 'press'. This one is about applying pressure, but it doesn't have the sense of encircling something or applying pressure on all sides. You can press a button, for example – you push your finger against the button.

Georgie
Yes, pressing a button is a very common use of the word 'press'. But let's think of a cooking example. So imagine you're baking cookies – you've made the mixture, you've rolled it into balls and now you have to press them into flat shapes to make the cookies. So you have a ball of cookie mixture on the kitchen surface, and you use the palm of your hand to press it flat.

Buli
Now, the other words mentioned in the question, 'squish' and 'squash', are very similar, but there's a subtle difference between them. If you 'squash' something, you apply pressure quite forcefully so that it loses its shape, almost like crushing it. For example, earlier I had to stand on a cardboard box to squash it so that it could fit in the recycling bin.

Georgie
Yes, and I accidentally sat on my sandwich earlier and completely squashed it. Now, 'squish' has the same idea but it's more informal and has an added connotation that you are squishing something wet and soft. It has an onomatopoeic sense – in other words, the word sounds a bit like what happens when you squish something.

Buli
Yes, imagine you squish a tomato in your hands – it's wet and messy and makes a squelchy sound a bit like the word 'squish'!

你正在收听的是 BBC 英语教学的 “你问我答” 节目。刚才我和 Georgie 讨论了四个描述 “挤，压” 这个意思的单词 “squeeze”、“press”、“squish” 和 “squash” 的用法。

其中，“squeeze” 的意思是 “挤压，捏，攥”，通常指的是 “用力把……挤出来”。单词 “press” 的意思则是 “按，压”，通常指 “按下或用力压扁某物”。而 “squish” 和 “squash” 都可以表达 “压扁、压碎某物”，但区别在于 “squash” 给人一种 “用力很猛” 的感觉；而 “squish” 则通常搭配含有大量水分、质地柔软的东西，也可以作名词来描述 “squish（咯吱一声）”。

Georgie
OK, so we've thought of lots of food-related examples, but let's go back to that more human example of squeezing someone's hand. We can also sometimes use 'squeeze' when talking about hugs. For example, I saw my sister crying once and it made me want to squeeze her – that means I wanted to give her a big hug.

Buli
And we can also use it as a noun, 'a squeeze'. You can give someone a big squeeze, which means give them a big hug.

单词 “squeeze” 在表达 “挤，压” 这个意思时有 “从各个方向施加压力、挤压某物” 的意思，因此它也引申出了 “使劲拥抱某人” 这个含义。在表达这个意思时，它既可以作动词，也可以作名词。比如，我们既可以说 “to squeeze someone（拥抱某人）”，也可以说 “to give someone a squeeze（给某人一个拥抱）”。

Georgie
Ah, well that seems like a nice way to end this programme. Remember to give your loved ones a big squeeze! And if you have a question that you'd like us to answer, you can email us too at: questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Buli
你也可以通过微博向我们提问。我们的微博账号是 “BBC英语教学”。Bye!

Georgie
Goodbye!