It's a long story.
    總有些人喜歡問(wèn)一些尷尬的問(wèn)題，例如：女人的年齡問(wèn)題、或問(wèn)你為什么失業(yè)、為什么跟男朋友分手。當(dāng)你被問(wèn)及一些尷尬的問(wèn)題時(shí)，你可以這樣回答："It's a long story." ‘這是說(shuō)來(lái)話長(zhǎng)?！侨思艺f(shuō)完這句話之后，你可千萬(wàn)別等著聽(tīng)故事，因?yàn)?It's a long story."之后有弦外之音：其實(shí)我不想告訴你。"It's a long story."雖然是說(shuō)來(lái)話長(zhǎng)，但并不代表一定沒(méi)有下文。"Let me make it short." ‘說(shuō)來(lái)話長(zhǎng)，但讓我長(zhǎng)話短說(shuō)?！?也許人家會(huì)說(shuō)："It's a long story, you won't like it." ‘這個(gè)說(shuō)來(lái)話長(zhǎng)，我想你不喜歡聽(tīng)?！绻阆敫F追猛打或想作弄一下他的話，你可以說(shuō)："I have plenty of time." ‘我可是有很多時(shí)間。’
    對(duì)話來(lái)源：考試大
    A：If I were Ronald, I would have found a new job.
    B：What do you mean?
    A：It's a long story. Anyway, if he had changed his job, he wouldn't have broken up with Susan.
    B：I don't agree. Things are not that simple.
    甲：如果我是羅納德，我已經(jīng)換了一份新工作。
    乙：你是什么意思?來(lái)源：考試大
    甲：這說(shuō)來(lái)話長(zhǎng)。無(wú)論如何，如果他有轉(zhuǎn)工的話，他就不會(huì)跟蘇珊分開(kāi)了。
    乙：我不同意，事情不是這樣簡(jiǎn)單的。
    It is a long story的story指‘事情的原委’，全句等于中文的‘說(shuō)來(lái)話長(zhǎng)’。It is a long story, but if you are interested I will tell it to you.即‘說(shuō)來(lái)話長(zhǎng)，但假如你想聽(tīng)，我就原原本本告訴你?！?‘說(shuō)來(lái)話長(zhǎng)’一般不如‘長(zhǎng)話短說(shuō)’或to cut/make a long story short，例如：To cut a long story short, their affair is over.（總之，他們的那段情已成過(guò)去。）以上兩句成語(yǔ)，一說(shuō)long，一說(shuō)short，還有一句long、short兼說(shuō)：the long and the short of it，意思是‘總而言之’，和to cut a long story short差不多，例如：The long and the short of it is that their affair is over. (= Their affair is over. That is the long and the short of it.) ‘總而言之’或‘簡(jiǎn)而言之’英文還有另一些說(shuō)法，常見(jiàn)的有in a word，直譯是‘用一個(gè)字來(lái)說(shuō)’，只是說(shuō)起來(lái)往往不止一個(gè)字，例如：In a word, Tom and Mary have fallen out.（總之，湯姆和瑪麗鬧翻了。）To fall out是成語(yǔ)，意思是‘爭(zhēng)吵’。此外，你還可以說(shuō)in a nutshell。這直譯是‘在堅(jiān)果殼？’，以堅(jiān)果之小比喻說(shuō)話之精簡(jiǎn)，例如：To put it in a nutshell, Tom and Mary have fallen out.鬧翻了，可以言歸于好， 這英文叫做to make it up，例如：Tom has made it up with Mary.（湯姆已經(jīng)和瑪麗言歸于好。）