《小屁孩日记》（Diary of A Wimpy Kid）风靡全球，这个11岁孩子的日记吐槽让人爱不是释手，但是如果你第一次接触这类书，可能会觉得明明单词很简单，为啥有点看不懂？
答案就是，口语和书面用语本来就有挺大区别的。纵然是汉语，我们日常说话和笔下文字也是不同的。看看一些例子：
一、单词
口语中大量的单词可能是我们书面语中不怎么使用的。
- figure
So I figured I might as well write in this book to pass the time.
figure 认为；猜想；估计
这种是用语习惯上的不一致，我们看惯了课本上用的I think。本书中这个孩子习惯用 I figure，到处都是。下次我们开口时不说 I think，改成 I figure，没准美国人会觉得你说的很地道呢。
- kind of
虽然前面几页的kind of都是我们很熟悉的用法，比如Now it’s about the kind of clothes you wear。
但是看这一句：
I’m kind of glad my plan to get put in the Easy group didn’t work.
如果明白这里的 kind of = rather，你就不会被到处都是的 kind of 搞晕了，这里就是程度副词，表示“有些”。
- end up
But she ended up tossing them in the trash can on the way out the door.
这个在书中常见，其实end up = finally最终
所以这是常见搭配 end up doing sth
- 还有各种骂人的单词
这些一般我们五讲四美三热爱的教材里是不会出现的，但是学骂人永远是最快的，所以口语里大量这种词汇：
包括但不限于 “jerk 混蛋”、“moron 傻瓜”、“dork 呆子” 等。
话说我查到moron是指傻瓜后，突然很操心魔力红（Moroon 5）乐队，他们不担心有人手误写成moron 5么？
And kids like Ronnie McCoy are scratching their heads wondering what the heck happened.
以及这样类似的骂人话 heck 见鬼，糟糕 。
二、短语
每个单词都认识，但组合在一起就不知道了。
- come in handy
So this book is gonna come in handy.
handy是一个常见单词“方便的; 手巧的;”，但是在本句里是这个短语
comes in handy 派上用场
- growth spurt
You got kids like me who haven’t hit their growth spurt yet mixed in with these gorillas who need to shave twice a day.
这个不能怪我们，growth spurt 是个医学术语，指青春期骨骼的突发生长。你跟正在学中文的老外突然说起“青春期”，他也会一脸懵逼。不过这句看上下文也能猜出来。
- be into
The thing that really stinks is that I have always been into girls, but kids like Bryce have only come around in the last couple of years.
be和into合起来的be into是“喜欢”
懂了上半句才会明白，Bryce的come around是指“改变观点”。改变什么观点？就是配图漫画那种“Girls are stinky poos”的观点，等他们长大了会后悔的。
- But of course now I don’t get any credit for sticking with the girls all this time.
creditcard是信用卡，但是get credit for 得到赞扬、称赞或认可
- show up
but we had to make sure people actually showed up.
show up 出席
- cough up
The first kid to cough up his two bucks was Shane Snella.
cough是咳嗽，但是cough up是（勉强）支付
顺便一提，bucks不是鹿，而是美元， two bucks 就是两美元。
- squirm out of
Dad tried to squirm out of it, but once Mom makes up her mind, there's no way you can change it.
squirm out of 逃脱
- feel bad for
Anyway, I felt kind of bad for Rowley.
feel bad for 就是对……感到愧疚。似乎平时我们会用 I am sorry to ，另外注意那个kind of，这里就是相当于程度副词rather
- make it up to
So tonight, I tried to make it up to him.
make it up to 对……进行补偿
- make a point
every time one of them wanted to make a point, they'd stop walking.
make a point 证明自己是对的
- black out
That's the last thing I remember before I blacked out.
black out 晕厥；暂时昏迷
- get grounded
Rowley ended up getting grounded for that whole haunted house mess yeaterday
ground是地面，但是get grounded 是罚（儿童）不能出门；禁足
- live up to
Even if you don't live up to what you got picked for, it doesn't really matter, because it's on permanent record.
live up to 遵守（诺言）；符合，不辜负（期望）
- hold off
but something told me to hold off on that thought for right now.
hold off 推迟；拖延
- egg on
A couple of the guys who were arguing over what happened to the Cheese were the same ones who were egging me and Rowley on yesterday afternoon.
egg on 怂恿;煽动;唆使
而不是鸡蛋怎么了。
三、俗语
- but I think it just goes in one ear and out the other with him.
goes in one ear and out the other 这个不用翻译，也能知道是“一个耳朵进一个耳朵出”，我怀疑从小老师教训我们的这句话就是英语翻译来着，我们中华文明教育是讲究循循善诱，应该没这种话。
- But if he ever gets too big for his britches.
too big for his britches 狂妄自大，膨胀的利害
可不是“穿不下他的裤子”哦，还有一个 ** too big for his boots** 也是自大的意思。
- I'm sure Dad thinks I've got a screw loose or something.
have/get a screw loose 字面意思是有颗螺丝松了，和我们中文里说“脑子里哪根筋不对”类似。
螺丝松了，（脑子里）哪个接口不正常了。你瞧美国人不愧是工业化国家，比喻都这么工业化。
