2016年ESL之就医和人际交往 01 Naming Children

ESL Podcast 1170 – Naming Children 

Celeste: So, here is my shortlist. 

Albert: A shortlist for what? 

Celeste: Baby names. 

Albert: We have months to decide. Don’t you think we should wait? 

Celeste: No, I want to be prepared. Here, take a look. See what you think. 

Albert: Ezekiel?! You want to name our child Ezekiel? He’ll be teased by every kid in school. 

Celeste: It’s a family name. I was trying to appease¹ my parents. They’ve been suggesting a lot of family names. We could call him by a nickname, maybe “Zeke.” 

Albert: I’m not naming my child Ezekiel. His name would be Ezekiel Eckleman. That’s a mouthful. I also want to steer² clear of alliterative names. I’ve never liked them. 

Celeste: Okay, are there any names you like on my list? 

Albert: Not Alan Phillip. That’s for sure. 

Celeste: Why not? I thought we’d name the baby after my grandfather. Alan is a nice first name and Phillip is a nice middle name. 

Albert: His initials would be “A.P.E.” – ape! He would never live that down. 

Celeste: How about “Mikol”? 

Albert: You mean an alternate spelling for “Michael”? People don’t know how to pronounce a name with an odd spelling. 

Celeste: Well, are there any names you do like? 

Albert: Albert Eckleman Junior has a nice ring to it. 

Celeste: As you say, we have months to decide. Let’s keep an open mind. 

Albert: Humph! 

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse 

1 appease   

v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足

参考例句：

• He tried to appease the crying child by giving him candy.他试图给那个啼哭的孩子糖果使他不哭。
• The government tried to appease discontented workers.政府试图安抚不满的工人们。

2 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。