Hey, shouldn’t you be doing your English homework? Or at least practicing some grammar, or doing a boring vocabulary exercise?That’s probably the last thing you want to do when you get home from work. You’d  probably prefer to just sit back, relax and turn on the TV.
嘿，你不是应该正在做英文作业吗？或者至少练习一些语法，或做做无聊的词汇练习？这可能是你从工作中回到家后最不想做的事吧？你也许更倾向于坐下来放松一下，打开电视机看看电视啥的。

Why don’t you do both at the same time?
为什么不能俩者兼顾呢？

The beauty of learning English is that there are so many ways you can practice with popular media; one of the best being watching TV sitcoms (series). So, what are the benefits of watching sitcoms? Some of them include:
学习英文的好处在于我们有众多可以通过流行媒体的方法来练习英文；其中最受欢迎的莫过于看情景喜剧了。那么，看情景喜剧都有哪些好处呢？

1. Learning the language with practical and real life situations.
从实践和生活真实场景中学习英文。

2. The vocabulary can be colloquial and formal depending on the sitcom you watch.
所学词汇可以是通俗口语性的，也可以是正式体的，取决于你所观看的情景剧的场景。

3. Your listening skills are enhanced and/or  you have more contact with different accents.
你的听力技巧可以提高而且、或者你有机会接触更多不同的口音。

4. You can start to understand cultural references and different types of humor.
你可以了解文化影响和不同类型的幽默风格。

The goal of this article is to show you how a sitcom can not only help you with your vocabulary and conversational skills, but also give you more insight and a stronger connection to the culture that goes with it. This is what we tend to call lifestlye learning. When watching a sitcom like How I Met Your Mother, people often identify themselves with a character. I’ve seen this help peoples’ English skills, as they tend to copy the character as if it were their “English alter ego.” This can make the person feel more confident when speaking because they feel almost as if they were the character. When speaking English, they are a different person.
本文的目标就是告诉你如何通过看情景剧既提高词汇量，加强对话技巧，又增强你对这其中文化的洞悉力和强有力的联系感。这就是我们所谓的生活方式学习。当你在看情景喜剧时，比如《老爸老妈浪漫史》，人们通常把自己看做是剧中的一员。我曾亲眼见证这种做法帮助人们提高英文技巧，因为当人们在模仿剧中人物性格时就仿佛它是英文版的另一个自我。这使人们在说英文时感到更加自信，因为这使人们觉得自己就是剧中那个角色。当说英文时，他们是完全不同的另外一个人。

In this article, I’m going to motivate you to start using sitcoms for your English practice, using the legendary sitcom, How I Met Your Mother! You’re going to see how you can learn a lot about American humor, and the use of wordplay. TV series are a good way to understand foreign humor.But first let me give you a quick summary of what the show is about:
本文中，我将鼓励大家运用情景喜剧来练习英文，从这部传奇性的情景喜剧《老爸老妈浪漫史》开始！你将会看到你如何能学到美式幽默和双关语的用法。电视连续剧是理解外国幽默的好办法。不过首先让我为大家简单介绍下这个剧的主要内容：

CONCEPT OF THE SHOW内容简介

How I Met Your Mother is portrayed as a father telling his children a story. The main character is Ted Mosby, who lives with a couple he met at college, Marshall and Lilly. Throughout the series, Ted has many relationships, one of them being with another one of the main characters, Robin. But one of the funniest and most eccentric characters is Barney. Ted met Barney in the bathroom one day and he has been friends with the rest of the characters ever since.Because Barney is one of the most memorable characters, I’m  going to uses his character to teach you about “catchphrases.” With this you’ll understand the humor of the show much better  and become addicted to this great sitcom.
《老爸老妈浪漫史》以父亲为孩子们讲故事的形式来描述。主角是泰德.莫斯比，他与大学里认识的一对夫妇Marshall和Lily住在一起.整个剧中，泰德有过多次恋爱，其中一个恋人为剧中另一主角，罗宾。但是其中最有趣而又最怪异的角色是巴尼。有一天泰德在厕所中结识了巴尼，从此以后巴尼与剧中其它主角一直是好朋友。由于巴尼是剧中最容易被记住的主角，所以我准备用这个角色来教大家什么是“口头禅“。这些口头禅会让你明白这个剧的幽默之处，也会让你疯狂迷恋这部剧的。

BARNEY’S CATCHPHRASES巴尼口头禅

A catchphrase is a phrase or expression used repetitively by a person or character. These types of phrases are commonly used in American sitcoms for comical purpose and to grow character popularity. This is excellent for your English and understanding of native speaking culture.Good examples of other famous catchphrases would be the character Joey from the sitcom Friends. Joey has a famous pickup line, “how YOU doin?” *this is a colloquial form of “how are you doing?”
所谓“口头禅“是指某人或某个角色经常说的词组或表达方式。这些口头禅在美式情景喜剧中应用极广，目的就是为了达到喜剧效果并塑造人物欢迎度。口头禅非常有助你的英文,能使你更好的理解英语语言文化。最好的其它知名口头禅例子就是情景喜剧《老友记》中Joey了。Joey有个非常出名的搭讪口头禅：“how YOU doin?”这是“how are you doing?”比较口语化的形式。

Another famous catchphrase is from the movie The Terminator, “I’ll be back!” Ever since this movie was made, people have used this catchphrase when leaving a room.

The sitcom How I Met Your Mother also has used many catchphrases which have become very popular in American Culture. Most of these phrases are used by the character Barney. Although Barney is not the program’s main character, these few expressions have made him internationally famous and probably the most adored character on the show.

另外一句知名的口头禅莫过于电影《终结者》中的：“I’ll be back!”（我一定会回来的！）自从这部电影上映后，人们每次离开房间总喜欢说一句：“我会回来的！”情景喜剧《老爸老妈浪漫史》中也应用了众多口头禅，这些口头禅在美国文化中非常流行。大部分口头禅都出自巴尼这个角色。尽管巴尼不是剧中的主要角色，但这些口头禅使得他闻名国内外，声名大噪，可以说是剧中最受追捧的角色。

SUIT UP穿起笔挺的西装

Barney’s most popular catchphrase since the first episode is, “suit up.” Barney uses this expression to tell someone to put on a business suit. You will notice that Barney wears a suit in every episode as if it were some kind of superhero costume.
从第一季开始后巴尼最为常用的口头禅就是：“suit up.”巴尼用这句短语告诉别人穿商务装。你会发现巴尼在每一季中穿的都是一个行套，西装放佛成了超级英雄服。

During the series, Barney modifies his catchphrase to fit specific situations. Some of these moderations  include:
在剧集中，巴尼会根据某个特殊的情景修饰他的口头禅。其中包括：

SNOW SUIT UP - Telling the other to put on appropriate clothes for the snow
SNOW SUIT UP –告诉某人穿上适合雪地场景的服装。

BIRTHDAY SUIT UP - Your birthday suit is a reference to being naked in English
BIRTHDAY SUIT UP –生日服是英文中裸体的暗示（人们出生时都是什么也不穿的呢）

SLUT UP - Telling robin and Lilly to wear more provocative clothes (slut is word used to describe a woman who sleeps with many men)
 
SLUT UP – 告诉Robin和Lilly穿更富有挑逗性质的衣服（slut这个单词用于描述与很多男人睡的女人）

LEGENDARY传奇

Another common catchphrase which is used from the beginning of the series is “Legendary.” This expression is generally used when Barney is describing one of his crazy plans or when he makes references to something he has done in the past… “that was legendary!” Using this phrase could make your English sound cooler.
另外一句常见的口头禅是剧集一开始出现的“Legendary.”这个词通常是巴尼在描述自己的某个疯狂计划或当他暗指过去曾经做过的某事时应用。如…真是奇迹啊！应用这个词组可以使你的英文听起来更帅气。

A very common modification to legendary is when he pauses in the middle to add more suspense. On many occasions you’ll hear him say, “It’s going to be legen… wait for it… dary!” A more extended version of this one is when he says, “legen.. wait for it… and I hope you’re not lactose intolorent because the next part contains… dary.”
一个非常常见的legendary的修饰就是当他故意在中间加上停顿制造更多的悬念。在很多场景下你总会听到他说：“It’s going to be legen… wait for it… dary!”另外一个升级版的版本就是当他说：“legen.. wait for it… and I hope you’re not lactose intolorent（legen…等一下…我希望你不是乳糖不耐受人群）因为下一部分包含…dary.”

Here he is using word play. The final part “dary” sounds like the word dairy (milk products), which can’t be eaten or drunk by lactose intolerant people.
此处巴尼在玩文字游戏。最后一部分的“dary”听起来像单词dairy（奶制品），而乳糖不耐受人群是不能吃或喝奶制品的。

AWESOME 太棒了

Awesome is a very common slang used by English speakers all around the world. In How I Met Your Mother, Barney takes this expression to another level.
Awesome是个非常常见的英语为母语人士常用的俚语，在全世界都很盛行。在《老爸老妈浪漫史》中，巴尼将这句俚语应用得达到了更高的境界上。

Barney thinks very highly of himself and believes he really is incredibly awesome. His most common catch phrase with awesome is, “When I get sad I stop being sad and be AWESOME instead. True story!”
巴尼非常自恋并认为自己绝对无可比拟棒极了。他最常见的包含awesome这个词的口头禅为：“当我悲剧了，我选择牛B，而非泪流满面。这是事实！”

HIGH FIVE举手击掌

A high five is common practice in American culture. This is when you put your right hand in the air and slap it with another person’s hand. This is most commonly used to congratulate or to express excitement about something with a friend.
举手击掌在美国文化中非常常见。通常是你举起右手来与另外一个人击掌。在朋友间表示祝贺或激动兴奋时非常常见。

In the series, Barney gives the most “high fives” out of any other character, and he often modifies the style of the high five to suit the situation. Some of these modifications have been:
在剧集中,巴尼跟其它角色比起来是应用最多的。他经常改变修饰举手击掌这个词组来适应相应的场景。其中包含：

1. ARTHRITIS HIGH FIVE- A high five with your fingers all bent like an old person
ARTHRITIS HIGH FIVE-将五根手指都弯曲起来举手击掌，就像一位老人家一样。

2. PHONE FIVE- Slapping the phone as if you were giving the other person a high five through the phone.
PHONE FIVE-敲打电话，仿佛你在通过电话与他人举手击掌。

3. HYPOTHETICAL HIGH FIVE- When the people don’t actually perform the high five, but both think about it at the same time.
HYPOTHETICAL HIGH FIVE-当人们头脑中同时想到了举手击掌的情景，但实际没有真正举手击掌。

4. FREEZEFRAME HIGH FIVE- The two people stop with their hands together as if someone has pushed pause on a movie.
FREEZEFRAME HIGH FIVE-俩人同时停手，仿佛电影被暂停了一样。

 HAAAAVE YOU MET TED?你见到泰德了吗？

Barney is a single man who is always trying to pick up (term used for trying to get someone to have sex with you) girls, in English we can call this type of guy a “player.” In many cases, when Ted is single, Barney becomes Ted’s wingman (a named used for a friend who helps you talk to girls) to help him with women. The first thing he often says to break the ice is, “haaaave you met Ted?” As soon as he says this he usually walk away leaving Ted looking rather silly and awkward.

The funny thing about the catchphrase, “have you met Ted?”, is that many people have adopted this as a kind of jokingly way to talk to women in real life, changing the name “Ted” for the name of their wingman. If you’re ever in an English speaking country, try it one day and see if this catchphrase can make you more popular with the ladies in Real Life.

巴尼是个单身汉,他总是想跟女生搭讪（pick up用于表示想跟某人发生关系）。在英文中我们可以称这类男人为“player.”在很多情况下，当泰德单身时，巴尼就会变成他的僚机（wingman 用于表示帮助朋友搭讪追女孩的人）帮助他追求女生。他经常说的开场白就是：“你看到泰德了吗？”一旦他说完后，他通常就走开了了，留下泰德一个人看起来傻傻的，很尴尬。关于这句口头禅的有趣之处在于现实生活中很多人采用这句话来跟女人搭讪，将其中“泰德”的名字改成他们僚机的名字。如果你恰巧生活在说英语的国家，不妨试试这个办法，看能否使你在现实生活中更受欢迎。

CONCLUSION总结

Are you making the most of television?  I hope that with this one aspect of what you can learn with sitcoms, you can see how much deeper your English knowledge and lifestyle can go in comparison to a simple grammar or vocabulary exercise with no REALLIFE connection.
你有充分利用电视机吗？跟单纯的学语法背单词这种跟实际生活毫无关联的方法比起来，我希望你通过情景喜剧这个层面能够更深入的了解英文知识和英语国家生活方式。

Try it today!!  Buy a DVD of How I Met Your Mother, or any other series and make it a consistent part of your English learning.
马上试起来吧！买盘《老爸老妈浪漫史》的DVD或者其它剧集，让它成为你英语学习中不可或缺的部分吧！