文│LTTC教師Nigel Daly、研究員陳靜慧
情境介紹
任職於跨國企業臺灣分公司的Eric受邀到美國友人Jake的老家一同慶祝感恩節，隔天星期五Eric便與Jake開車外出……
Black Friday Shopping Spree.
Eric: Jake, the traffic was bumper to bumper all the way to Walmart. What’s going on?
Eric: 傑克，到沃爾瑪一路上交通都走走停停。這是怎麼回事啊？
Jake: You don’t know? Today is Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving and the busiest shopping day of the year!
Jake: 你不知道嗎？今天是黑色星期五、感恩節的隔天，同時也是一年最忙碌的購物日！
Eric: Right…I’ve heard of it…but why is it called Black Friday?
Eric: 對……我有聽說過……但為什麼今天會被稱為黑色星期五呢？
Jake: This phrase originated in Philadelphia in the 1960s, when police used it to describe the congested traffic. Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, and it is actually the biggest family holiday in the year. Thursday is the day everyone gets together, but Friday is the day everyone goes out.
Jake: 這個詞源自於1960年代的費城，警察稱這天的大塞車為黑色星期五。感恩節在星期四，它其實是一年中最盛大的家庭假日。星期四是大家聚在一起的時間，星期五則是大家出門的日子。
Eric: To the stores?
Eric: 出門去商店？
Jake: Well, retailers picked up on this shopping opportunity and started to offer huge discounts because it marks the start of the Christmas shopping period. I’ve heard that only after “Black Friday” are retailers financially “in the black.”
Jake: 嗯，零售商看準了這個鼓勵購物的機會，便開始提供特別優惠的折扣，因為黑色星期五是整個聖誕季節購物季的開端。我還聽說這些量販店在黑色星期五過後才會真的賺到錢呢！
Eric: And bargain hunters are “in the red!”
Eric: 然後找便宜的人都負債累累！
(Both laugh.)
（兩個人都笑了。）
實用詞彙
1.spree (n.) 狂熱，無節制的狂熱行為
2.Walmart (n.) 沃爾瑪，美國的跨國零售企業
3.Thanksgiving (n.) 感恩節，每年十一月第四個星期四
4.originate (v.) 起源於
5.Philadelphia費城，位於美國東岸，為美國第五大城
6.congested (adj.) 擁塞的
7.retailer (n.) 零售商
8.discount (n.) 折扣
9.bargain hunter (ph.) 找便宜的人，bargain為「特價商品」，hunter為「搜尋者」
實用慣用語：
Bumper to bumper
（美式交通的慣用語）開開停停，行車緩慢
例：In big cities, the traffic on the freeways is always bumper to bumper during rush hour.（在大城市，尖峰時刻高速公路的交通總是開開停停。）
Fall on
正逢(某日)；落在
例：Because Mr. Smith’s birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year, his family is going to celebrate the two occasions together.（因為今年史密斯先生的生日正好跟感恩節同一天，他的家人會同時慶祝兩個節日。）
Pick up on
了解到、注意到
例：Although the woman tried to pretend to be calm, the police officer picked up on her nervousness right away.（雖然那個女士試著假裝冷靜，警察先生馬上就察覺到她的緊張。）
In the black
有賺(錢)、不賠(錢)
例：Now that the company is in the black, we can look forward to our year-end bonus!（因為公司現在有賺錢，我們可以期待年終獎金囉！）
In the red
負債；虧損（通常不會形容個人的財務狀況，對話中是Eric為了幽默而挪用）
例：Tourism has been down lately, and many hotels are operating in the red.（旅遊業最近比較蕭條，許多旅館都是負債營業。）
還想學更多？我們再加碼以下這些跟購物有關的詞彙。想要知道怎麼說「撿到便宜」或是「敲竹槓」？趕快來看看假期期間（holiday season）還有哪些必學的實用英語！
Chain store
連鎖店
例：Everywhere you turn in a city, you will see different types of chain stores.（無論你在城市的哪個角落，都會看到不同類型的連鎖店。）
steal
此處做名詞使用，價格低廉到像用偷來的好東西；划算
例：Amy got this beautiful dress at a clearance sale. It was a steal.（艾咪在清倉大拍賣時買到這件漂亮的洋裝。超划算。）
rip-off
敲竹槓
例：It cost me a fortune to have just a sandwich at the new restaurant. It was a total rip-off.（在那間新餐廳吃個三明治花了我大把銀子。簡直是敲人竹槓。）
regift
轉送（收到的）禮物
例：Regina was angry at Tom when she found that he had regifted the wallet she gave him for his birthday.（蕾吉娜發現湯姆將自己送給他的生日禮物皮夾轉送別人，對他非常生氣。）
Get a jump on sth.
搶在大家之前（行動）
例：If you want to get a jump on the Black Friday shopping spree, you’d better not go to bed on Thanksgiving night.（如果你想搶得黑色星期五購物先機，那麼感恩節晚上你最好別睡覺。
小試身手：請試著用本期介紹過的字彙完成下列段落。（反白看答案）
The traffic was bumper to bumper all the way from our apartment to Walmart. It was easy to go a bit crazy after sitting in the car for more than 2 hours. Let’s just say all the stores will be in the black after today. The sneakers that I had always wanted to buy were a steal at $10 per pair. Now I’m heading home with three pairs in different colors and a few other things I bought at a discount. But I didn’t overspend! I won’t be in the red when my credit card bill comes next month.
黑色星期五沒有買到喜歡的東西怎麼辦呢？別擔心，還有網購星期一（Cyber Monday）！實體店面買不到，還有網路購物可以選擇唷。這一系列延伸的節日與詞彙是不是很有趣呢？LTTC幫助您學習外語更有效率，趕快上LTTC課程網!
