Neil
Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English. I'm Neil…
Feifei
…and I’m Feifei. So, Neil, did you hear anything?
Neil
What about, Feifei?
Feifei
Rob’s new job. He must have told you something? Rob 找到了一份新工作。难道他没有告诉你吗？
Neil
Nothing. He didn’t even mention it.
Feifei
How strange. Not even a little clue?
Neil
No, not a sausage.
Feifei
“Not a sausage 没有一根香肠”？可是这和 Rob 的工作有什么关系？Well, I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. In the meantime, let’s explain that wonderful phrase you just used.
Neil
In this Authentic Real English, we’re teaching the very cute but slightly old-fashioned phrase: ‘not a sausage’.
Feifei
We use it to mean ‘nothing at all’. 表达 not a sausage 的意思是“一点也不，什么也没有”，人们有时也用它来表达惊讶的感情，是一个听起来友善而且很幽默的口语说法。
Neil
Yes, it’s informal and friendly. Let’s listen to some examples to get a better sense of how it’s used.
Examples
A: Did you find any good deals?
B: Not a sausage.
A: Did the boss say anything about my project?
B: No, sorry, not a sausage.
A: Are there any sandwiches left?
B: I’m afraid not. Not a sausage.
Feifei
That last example might have sounded confusing: ‘No sandwiches left?’
Neil
‘Not a sausage!’ Yes, confusingly, we were asking about another kind of food – and the answer was still ‘not a sausage’.
Feifei
在最后一个例句里，“not a sausage”用来强调某物“一点也没剩”。You know what? All this talk of sausages is making me hungry.
Neil
Indeed. I’m meeting Rob for lunch – fancy going?
Feifei
Great. Hopefully he will finally spill the beans about this mysterious new job.
Neil
Ooh – ‘to spill the beans’ – meaning to reveal your secrets. It’s often used when you share a secret you didn’t mean to share!
Feifei
Another great phrase. 我刚才提到了另一个和食物有关的表达“to spill the beans 吐出豆子”，它的含义是“不小心泄露情报或秘密”。So, what do you fancy for lunch?
Neil
It has to be a full English breakfast. With beans and… sausage!
Feifei
But of course! Bye, everyone!
Neil
Bye.
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