[ti:Ways We All Can 'Go Off the Deep End'] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:08.48]And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. [00:21.72]That is the sound of someone diving off a diving board [00:26.24]and into the deep end of a swimming pool. [00:29.40]The deep end is where the water is the deepest. [00:33.80]The water in the deep end is deep enough to dive in head-first. [00:40.68]Diving into the deep water is fun and can make you feel very free. [00:48.84]For a second or two, you fly through the air [00:52.32]before going into the water below. [00:56.48]If the water is deep enough, and the pool rules permit it, [01:01.04]it is safe to jump inro the deep end. [01:04.72]Some people may jump in wildly or without control. [01:10.72]So, it is not surprising that the phrase "off the deep end" has other meanings [01:17.64]– besides simply jumping into a swimming pool. [01:22.20]We use it in several situations. [01:25.72]If someone has gone off the deep end, they have gone a little crazy! [01:31.84]They have lost self-control. [01:34.68]They have become angry or excited. [01:39.56]When someone goes off the deep end, we can also say they have lost their mind! [01:45.44]Someone crashed into Tony's car. [01:48.40]But don't tell him until after his birthday party. [01:51.60]He loves that car and will go off the deep end when he hears the news. [01:57.24]"Go off the deep end" can also mean that you jump into a project [02:02.04]without much preparation or thought. [02:05.88]You do something on the spur of the moment [02:09.64]– quickly and without thinking about the results. [02:14.20]Did you hear the news about Jake? [02:16.16]He met a woman a month ago and they just got married! [02:19.72]Talk about jumping off the deep end. [02:22.96]"Going off the deep end" can mean you are acting [02:26.24]in a very strange or extreme way. [02:30.28]You seem irrational – like in this example. [02:36.16]When my friends saw me laughing to myself, [02:39.00]they thought I had dove right off the deep end. [02:42.12]I told them that I had just won $10,000. [02:46.40]Then they understood my seemingly crazy behavior. [02:52.16]When we go off the deep end, we experience something in the extreme. [02:58.08]We often use this expression when talking about strong emotions: [03:03.68]love, anger, fear, and sadness. [03:09.60]I have never seen Aisha so in love. [03:12.48]She's really fallen off the deep end over this new guy in her life. [03:17.72]These are things we lose our minds over. [03:21.44]We lose emotional control. [03:25.48]Losing his job, apartment, and wife in one month [03:29.40]pushed my friend off the deep end. Not surprisingly! [03:34.56]Did you notice the different verbs we use with "off the deep end"? [03:39.24]You can dive, fall, jump, or go off the deep end. [03:44.40]And sometimes life's troubles can push you off the deep end! [03:50.80]So, those are the different meanings of the expression [03:54.32]"off the deep end" and how we use them. [03:57.76]I hope I didn't give you too many examples. [04:01.32]That may push some listeners right off the deep end. [04:06.64]And that's all the time we have this for this Words and Their Stories. [04:10.48]But join us again next week! [04:12.80]Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo! [04:15.76]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM