介绍:
A: OK, everyone it's 6 o'clock, I'm done. I think it's time we go for dinner!
B: I'm starving. Shall we go to Big Eaters? I love their salad - you can go bottomless.
C: I'm not a salad person. How about some fish and chips? Happy Fisher offers bottomless chips.
D: No, I suggest we go to Happy Chicken across the road. We can go bottomless with any soft drinks. I'm very thirsty.
A: Do we know anywhere that we can go bottomless on the main course?
D: Oh, that can only be your home!
Li: Oh my God! 怎么回事，要裸体去餐馆儿？Hey, Neil, what are you talking about? Are we really going 'bottomless' tonight? 实在抱歉，裸体就餐我实在为难啊。I'm afraid I can't go to the restaurant naked!
Neil: Oh Li. You have misunderstood the word 'bottomless'.
Li: Oh? What does it mean then?
Neil: Here it simply means 'unlimited' or 'boundless' - you can have as much food or drink as you like for the same price.
Li: Ah, 原来这个词的意思是不限量，多吃多给。It sounds like a buffet, doesn't it? You can eat as much as you like. So can I say 'I had a bottomless buffet'?
Neil: No, it's not a term people say or use, mostly you see it only on the menu in a restaurant.
Li: 我倒是见过 unlimited 表示不限量，这么说 'bottomless' 是同一个意思，只不过说法不同。
Neil: Yes. They mean the same thing. Nowadays a lot of restaurants do this to attract customers, but the 'bottomless' only applies to soft drinks. Do you know why?
Li: Because they are cheap! I guess no pubs in the whole of England would offer a bottomless service!
Neil: Shame about that! However, there is another common expression you may come across: 'a bottomless pit'. Let's listen to some examples:
It's a poor country with a bottomless pit of debt.
Jack will eat any food that's left over. His stomach is a bottomless pit!
Neil: This expression is used to describe someone or something that always needs or wants more of whatever they're given, especially money.
Li: 明白了。'A bottomless pit' 就是无底洞的意思。What a vivid expression!
Neil: Finally the word 'bottomless' does have another meaning - not wearing trousers.
Li: That's what I thought, going naked. Now that you have explained, I must not make the same mistake again! Thanks Neil.
Neil: For more idiomatic expressions just log onto bbcukchina.com. Bye!
Li: Bye!
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