Don't Quote Me On That---不是非常确定

 

最近，小爱在和外国朋友聊天的时候，他说：I heard that Justin Bieber is coming to China, but don't quote me on that.前面这半句我听懂了，说的是听说贾斯汀•比伯要来中国，可是后面这半句是什么意思呢？but don't quote me on that，但不要引用他的话？

 

Don't Quote Me On That

 

我们来听一下美国外教Coach Shane的讲解：

 

What does that mean? It means "but I am not exactly sure". I might be wrong. I'm just guessing. This is a great expression. "Don't quote me on that" can mean "Don't tell anyone I said that". That's possible. But it can also mean "I'm not sure", "I'm not exactly sure".

不知道大家是否听懂了，其实，but don't quote me on that有两个意思，一个是说不要跟别人说我说过这话，I'm telling you this in confidence. Please don't tell anyone that I said it. I don't want people to know that I was the source of this information.；而它更常见的另一个意思则是我不是非常确定：I am not exactly sure. I might be wrong.具体是什么意思呢则要根据语境稍微揣测一下。比如：I think he's going to resign, but please don't quote me on that.我觉得他要辞职，但我可不确定哦。