看了这么多年美剧，开口用英语打招呼，你是不是还是只会“How are you?”那你的美剧就白看了！现在就为你发现、归纳及拓展美剧中那些常用的实用表达。今天的主题是常用见面用语。
B: Reverend Sykes. What a nice surprise!
赛克斯神父，这真是个惊喜！
S: That's quite a crowd out front. I practically had to fight my way in.
门口人真多。我几乎是使劲挤进来的。
B: Well, ever since I took over the kitchen, we've been jam-packed. Thank you so much for suggesting I get involved. I have never felt more needed or important in my whole life.
自从我接手厨房，我们这里变得非常拥挤。谢谢你让我参与到这件事里来。我一生都没有这么被需要过。
S: The intention of charity is not to make us feel important.
慈善的目的不是要让我们感到自己很重要。
B: Of course not. It's to help people. Feeling important is just a bonus. So what brings you by?
当然不是。慈善是为了帮助他人，感觉自己重要不过是个福利。什么风把您吹来了？
S: I was hoping you could tell me where a homeless person could get a hot meal.
我希望你能告诉我流浪汉们哪里能吃到一顿热饭。
B: Well, right here. Of course.
当然是这里了。
S: No, Bree. Ever since you've turned this soup kitchen into a bisque kitchen, the homeless don't feel comfortable here.
不，布里。自从你把清汤厨房变成浓汤厨房之后，流浪汉觉得待这里不舒服。
B: why? I was just trying to make this place special.
为什么？我只是想让这地方特别些。
S: It was already special. It was home for them, until you took that away.
这地方本来就很特别。这里本来是他们的家，直到被你夺走。
在这个片段中，Bree 是在什么情况下用到 “What brings you by?” 的呢？起初见到赛克斯神父，他说的是“What a nice surprise!”见到您可真是个惊喜呀！ 语气中带有奉承之意，因为是神父介绍他到这个慈善活动中来的，所以他要表现出自己的热情和感激。但当神父否定了他的“做慈善是为了让自己感到重要”的观点之后，他多少感到尴尬，心里对神父的态度也开始发生转变，于是用“是什么风把您吹来的？”这样的话来为自己打圆场，同时打探神父来此的真实目的。这样是不是更清楚地理解了这个短语的使用语境？
根据2002年由麦格劳希尔出版的《美国英语习语与动词短语词典》的表述：
What brings you here/by? 其实就是在问：What is your reason for being here? (A polite request for this information. More polite than "Why are you here?")
再来看两个例子：
Tom: Hello, Mary. What brings you here?
Mary: I was invited, just like you.
Doctor: Well, John, what brings you here?
John: I've had this cough for nearly a month, and I think it needs looking into.
除了“what brings you here?”这个表达，我们还可以从美剧中发掘更多的地道打招呼的方式：
1. How was your day? 你今天过得怎么样？
2. How are you doing? 你近好吗？
3. How's everything going? 一切还好吗？
4. It's a beautiful day! 今天天气真不错！
5. What's up? 还好吗？
6. Anything new? 有新消息吗？
7. Same as ever. 一如既往。
8. Everything seems to be all right. 一切看起来都挺好。
学完今天的内容，以后打招呼的时候就可以根据情况灵活变通啦，不要永远都是 “How are you?”“I'm fine, thank you and you?”啦！
