“You know what/是大多數美國人的口頭禪. 它是一個典型的不能按字面意思來理解的句子.發問者并不是問你知道什么,而是象征性地問一句“你知道嗎?不妨把“You know what?看成是“You know this?或者“Guess what?這句話就容易理解了.舉例如下:

You know what? We’rethrouygh.(你知道嗎?我們玩完了.)

You know what?I’ve never liked physics, and I never will.9你猜怎么著?我從來就不喜歡物理,今后也不會喜歡.)

在一般情況下,you know what帶有明顯的負面情緒,或輕蔑,或反感,或不耐煩,說出來有助于情緒的宣泄.比如:

輕蔑:She thinks she’s the center of the universe and the whole world should revolve around her. You know what? She’s absolutely wrong.(她大錯特錯.)

反感:I’m so fed up with people trying to force their religions down my throat! You know what? I don’t care what you believe in. Just go away! (我真受不了有些人硬性推銷他們宗教信仰的行為!知道嗎?你愛信啥信啥,我管不著.別來煩我就是了!)

注釋在美國的不少地方會有人上門推銷宗教,比如勸你信奉基督教.

不耐煩:Good grief! It’s been two hours, and you still haven’t made up your mind. You know what? That dress is great. You should take it. (天哪!已經2 個小時了,你還沒下定決心,知道嗎?那條裙子很不錯.你應該買下它.)

當然,“You know what? 有時可以是中性,不一定帶有負面的情緒.比如你突然想到一個點子的時候,你可以說“You know what? We should try this.”(你知道嗎?我們應該試試看.)不過從總體上來看,這句話還是偏消極的.

另外,還有一個跟“You know what?類似的,但感覺上比較客氣一點的說法:“I ’ll tell you what. I’m gonna go out there and give it my best shot. It really doesn’t matter if I win or not.(我告訴你,我一定會竭盡全力.至于羸不羸,真的不那么重要.)

Tell you what. I have decided to study frech.(告訴你,我決定學法語了.)