John: Hello, you're listening to Real English from BBC Learning English. I'm John.

Helen: And I'm Helen.

John: Here on Real English, you can learn words and phrases which you might not find in your dictionary.

Helen: That's right. 希望您在今天的地道英语节目中能学到一些平时在字典里找不到的英语表达。 So what's our phrase of the day, John?

John: Today we're going to learn about the expression: to slag¹ somebody off, to slag off.

Helen: To slag somebody off. 这个表达的意思是什么呢？

John: It means to criticise² someone.

Helen: 批评别人， to criticise.

John: But it has a more negative element, because it usually means to criticise someone behind their back strongly.

Helen: 原来是这样。难怪这个表达听起来像个贬义词，因为指的是在背后批评别人, 而且是非常强烈地批评。

John: It's not a nice thing to do, to slag someone off, to be very critical about someone.

Helen: So do we hear this phrase a lot in conversations? 这个表达我们是不是经常会听到呢？

John: Yes, people use this expression a lot when they are talking about someone else.

Helen: 那让我们听听例子吧。

Insert

A: I really can't work with Mark anymore.

B: Why's that?

A: He's just so annoying. I really don't like the way he is slagging³ people off behind their backs. Some of the things he says are so unfair.

B: I'm sure he won’t be here for long if he keeps doing that.

John: So Mark keeps slagging other people off behind their backs.

Helen: 听刚才的例子，Mark 老是在别人背后说坏话，看来他非常不受欢迎。

John: Well, let's recap, today's expression is to slag somebody off, to slag someone off.

Helen: 意思就是非常强烈地批评别人，带有诋毁别人的感觉。

John: That's all from us. We hope you'll join us for more Real English next time. Bye.

Helen: Bye.