SUKI: It was just last night that San Francisco's own little princess partied at the beach but what started out as innocent fun soon turned into allegedly too much fun. This is Suki Sanchez for KPFW.

MIA: Please say something.

CLARISSE: Well, there's not much to say. A picture's worth a thousand words and you have two pictures.

MIA: I embarrassed the family, didn't I?

CLARISSE: Not to put too fine a point on it, yes, you did. I think you're making a wise decision to abstain from the job.

MIA: I suppose I won't come to the ball.

CLARISSE: Of course you should come. You're still family. Just because you don't want to be our princess doesn't mean we're sending you into exile. Your mother's planning to come. All your guests are invited. Except for your beach friends. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm meeting with the press to do some damage control. You can come in now.

JOE: If I may say so that did not go very well.

CLARISSE: Is this the way a princess should act?

JOE: My information tells me that boy was using her. The kiss was merely a device so that he could get his 15 minutes of fame. And her friends didn't help, either. Anna, Falana, Banana, Bandana, Montana...

CLARISSE: I have no idea what you're talking about. Why didn't she have enough common sense to deal with this?

JOE: She's only 15 but today, she acted beyond her years. She showed great respect and gracefully accepted your criticism.

CLARISSE: You're saying that as a queen, I was too harsh on her. I was critical of the person who could become the next ruler of my country.

JOE: No. I'm saying, as a grandmother you might have been too harsh on your granddaughter.

CLARISSE: Do you think she can do it?

JOE: Oh, I have no doubts, ma'am.

CLARISSE: I thought so, too.

妙語佳句，活學活用

1. Not to put too fine a point on it

看了劇情，你有沒有猜出來這個片語是什么意思呢？沒錯，就是“to mean exactly what is said 說得沒錯”，例如：Her performance, not to put too fine a point on it, was terrible. （豪不夸張地說，她的表現太糟了。）

Not to put too fine a point on it 也用來表示“原諒我說得很直接excuse me for making a pointed comment”，后面加表示轉折的句子，例如：Not to put too fine a point on it, but you were the one who suggested we should split up so we could search the creepy old house more efficiently for the axe murderer. （原諒我這么說，但是是你建議我們分開行動，好更有效地搜查這所恐怖的房子找到用斧子殺人的兇手的。）

這個用法和片段中下文的 if I may say so的功用差不多，是一種委婉的開場白。

2. If you'll excuse me…

當你要結束和某人的談話而轉去做其他事實，就可以說If you'll excuse me…，是一種請求對方諒解的表達，例如：If you'll excuse me, I should be getting back. 抱歉，我得回去了。

3. 15 minutes of fame

從字面上大家可以看出來，15 minutes of fame 指“短暫的出名/名聲”。15 minutes of fame (or famous for 15 minutes) is an expression coined by the American artist Andy Warhol. The expression is a paraphrase of Andy Warhol's statement in 1968 that "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." It refers to the fleeting condition of celebrity that attaches to an object of media attention, then passes to some new object as soon as the public's attention span is exhausted. It is often used in reference to figures in the entertainment industry and other areas of popular culture.

4. Beyond one's years

這里的意思是“超越了年齡（的限制）”，例如：Copper is clearly a child, but in some ways he's wise beyond his years. 考伯無疑是個孩子，但在某些方面他的聰明超過了他這個年齡應有的。

 

文化面面觀   Anne Hathaway 安妮·海瑟薇

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