“东西”在汉语里是一个涵义非常丰富的词，在汉语里大家表达“这个东西”，“那个东西”时常会说：“these things”， 美国人虽然也可以理解，但是一般他们会说，“these matters”， 比如：To raise a kid in the United States， parents have to think about daycare， proper nutrition， pre-school education and then education from kindergarten to the twelfth grade. These matters become more acute as their children grow older. 在美国，要养大一个孩子，家长们就得考虑白天孩子的看护问题，要有
合理的营养，学前教育，还有从幼儿园一直到12年级的教育问题。他们的孩子日渐长大，这些东西就显得越来越重要。
表达“东西”这个意思，还可以用一个词——stuff，比如：When you have a stomachache， don’t drink cold stuff. 胃疼的时候，不要喝凉的东西。再比如：Mary had all her wisdom teeth pulled yesterday， and for two weeks， as she was advised by the doctor， she could only eat soft stuff.玛丽昨天拔了智齿，医生要求她一周之内只能吃软的东西。
除此之外，当表示一个更具体的意思的时候，还可以用item， 比如 Bob never bought jewelry for his girlfriend ， for he knows she is quite spiritual， and doesn’t really care for material items.鲍勃从来没有给他的女朋友买过珠宝，因为他知道她是精神需求很高的女人，不太在乎物质方面的东西。
有趣的是，thing 和 item 都还可以表达汉语中的“男女私情”。比如 For a long time people think that Jean and Peter are just colleagues， without knowing they are actually an item。很长时间以来大家都以为简和彼得只是同事，没想到他们是一对儿。同样是这句话，也可以说，For a long time people think that Jean and Peter are just colleagues ， but actually they have a thing going between them.▲
（本栏目供稿：若 原）
