Off the cuff 難道是讓你捲起袖口？你到底要幹嘛？
週末和公司同事一起聚餐，開吃前總得先聽鄰居嘚啵嘚啵才行［小鼓掌］~於是大家就起鬨讓老外副總講兩句，猛得被點名兒，一看他就是沒準備好，於是就紅著臉說道：“ I‘m not very good at making off-the-cuff speeches。。。” 會計小劉又不明白了，問我說：“你說讓他兩句，他說什麼挽袖口兒啊~”［摳鼻］
其實這裡老外是用了一句地道的口語表達，他說的意思是“我不太擅長即興演講”。得嘞，那今天就來跟大家說說這個“off the cuff”的用法吧！“cuff”大家都知道是“袖口、褲腳外卷邊”的意思，連在一起就是“即席、即興、沒準備、很隨意”的意思啦。而這句短語的起源據說來自一些演講者沒有事先準備好演講稿，於是他們就只能臨陣磨槍，把演講的要點寫在襯衣袖口上應付一下了。
off the cuff
na. 即席的；即興的；未經準備的；隨意
【En】If you speak off the cuff， you say something without having prepared or thought about your words first。
如果你即興發言，指的是你會在沒有事先準備或考慮的情況下說一些話。
An off-the-cuff remark is made without being prepared or thought about in advance。
即興評論是在事先沒有準備或思考的情況下說的。
An off-the-cuff remark， reply etc is one that you make without thinking about it first。
即興評論、回答等是你沒有事先考慮就做出來的。
得嘞，還是老規矩，先來聽幾句跟這個短語有關的例句吧，把耳朵磨靈光嘍，學起英語來就快多啦！
［聽歌］
• I hadn’t prepared a speech so I just said a few words off the cuff。
我沒有準備演講稿，所以就即興說了幾句話。
• I could not answer it off the cuff。
我不能即興做出回答。
• I didn‘t have time to organize my thoughts， so I just spoke off the cuff。
我沒有時間整理思路，所以我只是作了即席講話。
• The senator has become known for making off-the-cuff remarks that create controversy。
這位參議員以即興發表引起爭議的言論而聞名。
• Her remarks were off-the-cuff， but very sensible。
她的話是即興的，但很有道理。
• I’m not very good at making off-the-cuff speeches。
我不太擅長即興演講。
• This wasn‘t just an off-the-cuff decision。
這並不是一個即興的決定。
• I don’t know how you can stand up and give an after-dinner speech off the cuff like that。
我不知道你怎麼能站起來像那樣做一個晚宴後的即興演講。
• She‘s very good at speaking on these issues off-the-cuff。
她很善於即席就這些問題發表意見。
• He was just speaking off the cuff when he made those suggestions。
他提出那些建議時，只是隨便說說而已。
• I didn’t mean any offence。 It was a flippant， off-the-cuff remark。
我沒有冒犯你的意思。那只是一句輕率的、即興的話。
• Mr Baker was speaking off the cuff when he made those suggestions。
貝克先生提出那些建議時是在即興發言。
【活學活用 give an example】
• I‘m telling you this strictly off the cuff。
我是當場即興告訴你這件事的。
• All those jokes and that banter are not off-the-cuff wit。
所有這些笑話和玩笑都不是即興發揮的機智。
• His off-the-cuff acceptance speech in Huntingdon was a model of quiet decency。
他在亨廷頓發表的即興獲獎感言堪稱低調得體的典範。
• The press officer said that the president’s statement was an off-the-cuff remark， not as an official statement of policy。
新聞官員說總統的宣告是即興的言論，不是官方的政策宣告。
• There were many hilarious discussions and off-the-cuff remarks。
有很多令人捧腹的討論和即興的評論。
• The president‘s off-the-cuff remarks were better than his official statements。
總統的即席演講勝過他的正式演說。
• I raise that as an off-the-cuff thought。
我提出那是一個即興的想法。
