Ellen DeGeneres at Tulane’s 2009 Commencement Speech

来源: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JccudODwwY

【1】Oh boy, thank you so much, thank you so much. Thank you, President Cowan, Mrs. President Cowen; distinguished guests, undistinguished guests, you know who you are, honored faculty and undistinguished creepy Spanish teacher. And thank you to all the graduating Class of 2009, I realize most of you are hungover and have splitting headaches and haven’t slept since Fat Tuesday, but you can’t graduate ’til I finish, so listen up. When I was asked to make the commencement speech, I immediately said yes. Then I went to look up what commencement meant which would have been easy if I had a dictionary, but most of the books in our house are Portia’s, and they’re all written in Australian. So I had to break the word down myself, to find out the meaning.

· distinguished /dɪ'stɪŋgwɪʃt/ adj. 卓越的;著名的;受人尊敬的

· undistinguished /ʌndɪ'stɪŋgwɪʃt/ adj. 无特征的;无特色的;普普通通的;平庸的

· creepy /'kriːpɪ/ adj. 令人毛骨悚然的
例句：There's something creepy about that guy.
那个男的有点诡异。
例句：I get the creeps every time he walks by.
他每次路过都会让我起鸡皮疙瘩。

· commencement /kə'mensm(ə)nt/ n.毕业典礼, 学位授予典礼

· find out vt. 发现 ，找到
例句：That was around the time that I found out he loves me.
那是在我发现他爱上我的时候的事儿。
例句：He found out where she lived by checking the phone book
他查询电话簿，找到了她的住址。

阿男翻译：非常感谢！感谢考恩校长和校长夫人，感谢各位尊敬的来宾和不尊敬的来宾！你们都知道我说的是谁——尊敬的教职工和让人起鸡皮疙瘩的西班牙老师。感谢所有2009届毕业生，我知道你们大多都因为昨儿晚喝多了而头痛，从周二的狂欢派对到今天可能都还没好好儿睡过觉。但是我没讲完你们就不能毕业，所以听好了哦。当我接到这个commencement（毕业典礼）演讲邀请的时候，我毫不犹豫就答应了。然后我就马上去查“commencement”是什么意思。如果当时我有字典就好了，但我家的书大多是Portia的（她澳大利亚的妻子），而且都是澳洲英语。所以我还得自己去拆词儿，去揣摩“commencement”的意思。

【2】Commencement: common, and cement, common cement. You commonly see cement on sidewalks. Sidewalks have cracks, and if you step on a crack, you break your mother’s back. So there’s that. But I’m honored that you’ve asked me here to speak at your common cement. I thought that you had to be a famous alumnus, alumini, alumnis, alums; you had to graduate from this school. And I didn’t go to college here, and I don’t know if President Cowan knows, I didn’t go to any college at all, any college. And I’m not saying you wasted your time, or money, but look at me, I’m a huge celebrity.

· alumnus /ə'lʌmnəs/  n. 男校友；男毕业生
复数alumni /ə'lʌmnaɪ/ n.校友；毕业生（男女）
例句：Her parents are alumni of the state university.
她的父母是州立大学的校友。

· celebrity /sɪ'lebrɪtɪ/n. (尤指娱乐界的)名人, 名流
例句：The actress lived a life of celebrity.
这位女演员过着名流的生活。
例句：There were many celebrities at the party.
在聚会上有很多名人。

· An old saying goes, "Step on a crack; break your mother's back."
有俗语说：脚把裂缝踩，妈妈背折断。

阿男翻译：“COMMEN”常见，“CEMENT”水泥：常见的水泥。你常常在人行道上见到水泥，人行道有裂缝，脚把裂缝踩，妈把背折断，就酱。我很荣幸被邀请来“常见的水泥”做演讲。我以为一定要是名校友，而且是本校毕业的才能来。我没在这里念大学，而且我不知考恩先生是否知道，我压根儿没有上过大学，真没有。当然我不是说你们在这里浪费时间和金钱。不过你看，我现在可是个大名人儿。

【3】Although I did graduate from the school of hard knocks, our mascot was the knockers. I spent a lot of time here growing up. My mom worked at Newcomb and I would go there every time I needed to steal something out of her purse. But why am I here today? Clearly not to steal, you’re too far away and I’d never get away with it. I’m here because of you. Because I can’t think of a more tenacious, more courageous graduating class. I mean, look at you all, wearing your robes. Usually when you’re wearing a robe at 10 in the morning, it means you’ve given up.

· hard knocks困境
例句：It sounds like you've been to The school of hard knocks.
看来你是在困境中学习成长的。

· mascot /'mæskɒt/ n. 吉祥物
例句：The team had a mountain lion as their mascot.
他们队的吉祥物是美洲狮。

· knocker/'nɔkə/ n. 门环；吹毛求疵的人；复数也指女人胸部
例句：What a knocker he is; no matter what we suggest, he finds fault with it.
他真是吹毛求疵，不管我们建议什么，他都会挑刺儿。
例句：If you're on the beach do you want somebody with big knockers next to you？
如果你正在沙摊上，你想不想让大胸妹子坐你旁边？

· tenacious /tɪ'neɪʃəs/ adj.坚韧的，顽强的，持久的
例句：The company has a tenacious hold on the market.
这家公司对市场有持久占比。

· courageous /kə'reɪdʒəs/ adj. 勇敢的;无畏的
例句：She was a courageous woman who wasn't afraid of rumors.
她是一位无惧流言的勇敢女性。

· robe /rəʊb/ n. 礼服，睡袍

阿男翻译：但我从挫折这所大学毕业了。这所大学的吉祥物就是“门环”。我在新奥尔良度过许多成长的岁月。我妈妈在纽科姆工作时，每次我想偷钱时就会来找她。但是我今天不是为偷东西而来的，你们隔着那么远我偷不着。我来这里是为了你们，因为没有比你们更坚韧、更勇敢的毕业生了。看看你们，身穿袍子（学士袍）。通常早上十点还穿着袍子（睡袍），代表你已经要放弃人生了。

【4】I’m here because I love New Orleans. I was born and raised here, I spent my formative years here, and like you, while I was living here I only did laundry six times. When I finished school, I was completely lost and by school, I mean middle school, but I went ahead and finished high school anyway. And I really, I had no ambition; I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I did everything from: I shucked oysters, I was a hostess, I was a bartender, I was a waitress, I painted houses, I sold vacuum cleaners; I had no idea and I thought I’d just finally settle in some job and I would make enough money to pay my rent, maybe have basic cable, maybe not, I didn’t really have a plan.

· formative /'fɔːmətɪv/ adj. (影响)形成
例句：This experience had a formative influence on his art.
这个经历对他的艺术产生了塑造性的影响。
例句：She is a teacher who was a formative influence on generations of students.
她是一个位对几代学生都有着深远影响的老师。

· ambition /æm'bɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 野心，雄心
例句：My first ambition as a child was to be in the circus.
我小时候的野心就是能去马戏团。
例句：He lacked ambition and couldn't compete with the others.
他缺乏雄心壮志，无法与别人竞争。

· vacuum /'vækjʊəm/ n. 真空吸尘器

阿男翻译：我今天来到这里，是因为我爱新奥尔良。我在这里出生、成长，度过少年时光。和你们一样，我在这儿的时候，只洗过六次衣服。当我从学校毕业的时候，我完完全全地迷失了自己。学校我指的是初中，后来我好歹继续念完了高中。我当时真的没有什么雄心壮志，不知道自己想做什么。我什么活儿都干过：挖生蚝、招待、酒保、服务员、漆房子，还卖过吸尘器。我当时完全不知道自己想干什么，我只想随便找个能糊口的工作，能有钱付得起我的房租就行。也许还有钱付有线电视，也许没钱付。我那时对自己的人生真没啥计划。

【5】My point is that, by the time I was your age, I really thought I knew who I was but I had no idea. Like for example, when I was your age, I was dating men. So what I’m saying is, when you’re older, most of you will be gay. Is anybody writing this stuff down? Parents? Anyway, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and the way I ended up on this path was from a very tragic event. I was maybe nineteen, and my girlfriend at the time was killed in a car accident. And I passed the accident, and I didn’t know it was her and I kept going and I found out shortly after that, it was her. And I was living in a basement apartment; I had no money; I had no heat, no air, I had a mattress on the floor and the apartment was infested with fleas. And I was soul-searching, I was like, why is she suddenly gone, and there are fleas here? I don’t understand, there must be a purpose and wouldn’t it be so convenient if we could pick up the phone and call God and ask these questions.

· tragic /'trædʒɪk/  adj. 悲剧的
例句：They both died in a tragic car accident.
他们俩都死于一场悲惨的车祸。
例句：Romeo and Juliet's tragic love affair.
罗密欧与朱丽叶的悲剧爱情。

· basement /'beɪsm(ə)nt/ n. 地下室
例句：we store our bicycles in the basement during the winter.
冬天的时候，我们把自行车都放在地下室里。

· mattress /'mætrɪs/ n. 床垫

· flea /fliː/ n. 跳蚤

阿男翻译：我想说的是，当我像你们这么大的时候，我真的以为我了解自己，但其实我并不了解。比如说，我当时还在和男的约会。所以我的意思是，等你们再长大些后，大多数人都会成同性恋。这点记下来了吗？家长记下来了吗？总之我当时不知道要如何过我的人生，但一件悲剧使我找到了人生目标。我当时可能才19岁，我女朋友在一场车祸中去世，我路过事故现场却不知道出事的是她，还在继续往前走，直到最后我才知道出事的是她。那时候我住在一间地下室，没钱，没暖气，没空调，只有地上有个床垫儿，房子里到处都是跳骚。我想不明白，她怎么突然就走了，为何房子里又突然有了这么多的跳蚤。我不明白，但其中一定有什么原因，要是能直接拿起电话打给上帝问个清楚就好了。　

【6】And I started writing and what poured out of me was an imaginary conversation with God, which was one-sided and I finished writing it and I looked at it and I said to myself, and I hadn’t even been doing stand-up, ever, there was no club in town. I said, “I’m going do this on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” at the time he was the king “and I’m going be the first woman in the history of the show to be called over to sit down.” and several years later, I was the first woman in the history of the show, and only woman in the history of the show to sit down, because of that phone conversation with God that I wrote.

· pour out倾诉
例句：I listened while he poured out his anger and frustration. 
我听他倾诉着他的愤怒和挫败。
例句：She poured out the whole story.
她把所有的事情和盘托出。

阿男翻译：我把心里想的写了出来，倾诉了一段我和上帝的对话，是以独白的形式展现的。写完了之后我读了一下，然后我对自己说，我要在强尼卡森“今夜秀”上表演这一段脱口秀。那时候我还没有做过任何的脱口秀，城镇里也还没有什么夜总会。强尼卡森是当时脱口秀界天王级人物，我对自己说我要成为这节目史上第一个被邀请的女性。几年之后，我成为这个节目史上第一位也是唯一一位被邀请参与的女性。这一切都始于我写的那段与上帝的对话。

【7】And I started this path of stand-up and it was successful and it was great but it was hard because I was trying to please everybody and I had this secret that I was keeping, that I was gay. And I thought if people found out they wouldn’t like me, they wouldn’t laugh at me. Then my career turned into, I got my own sitcom, and that was very successful, another level of success. And I thought, what if they find out I’m gay, then they’ll never watch, and this was a long time ago, this was when we just had white presidents. But anyway, this was back many years ago.

· sitcom /'sɪtkɒm/ n. 情景喜剧

阿男翻译：从此我开始做单人脱口秀，做得很成功，也很辛苦，因为我想讨好每一个人，同时又不让人知道我是同性恋的秘密。我想要是别人发现了，就不会喜欢我了，就不会觉得我好笑了。后来我又有了自己的情景喜剧，也很成功，我担心如果别人发现我是同性恋，他们就不会看我的喜剧了。那是很久之前，还是只有白人总统的时候，好多年之前了。

【8】And I finally decided that I was living with so much shame, and so much fear, that I just couldn’t live that way anymore and I decided to come out and make it creative. And my character would come out at the same time, and it wasn’t to make a political statement, it wasn’t to do anything other than to free myself up from this heaviness that I was carrying around, and I just wanted to be honest. And I thought, “What’s the worst that could happen? I can lose my career”. I did. I lost my career. The show was cancelled after six years without even telling me; I read it in the paper. The phone didn’t ring for three years. I had no offers. Nobody wanted to touch me at all.

· come out of the closet 出柜，承认是同性恋

阿男翻译：最终我还是决定，我再也不能这样一直带着羞耻和恐惧而活下去了，于是我决定让剧中的主角和我自己同时出柜。不是为了什么政治原因，而只是为了让我自己从背负已久的枷锁中释放出来，我只是想做真正的的自己。我想最坏的结果会怎样？我可能会失去我的演艺事业。的确，我失去了我的事业。我做了六年的节目停播了，竟然都没有人通知我，我是在报纸上才看到这消息的。家里的电话三年都没有响起过，没人联系我。

【9】Yet, I was getting letters from kids that almost committed suicide, but didn’t because of what I did. And I realized that I had a purpose. And it wasn’t just about me and it wasn’t about celebrity, but I felt like I was being punished and it was a bad time, I was angry, I was sad, and then I was offered a talk show. And the people that offered me the talk show tried to sell it. And most stations didn’t want to pick it up. Most people didn’t want to buy it because they thought nobody would watch me.

· committe suicide自杀

阿男翻译：然而我收到了想要自杀的同性恋孩子们的来信，他们因为我的出柜而最终没有自杀。我那时了解到，我在这个世上是有意义的。同性恋并不只是关于我，或者名人身份，但是我觉的我却因此被狠狠的惩罚了。那曾是一段痛苦的日子，我很愤怒，也很难过。后来有人找我做脱口秀，制作公司想卖出节目，但是大多数电视台都不愿意买，因为他们觉得没有人会想看我的节目。

【10】Really when I look back on it, I wouldn’t change a thing. I mean, it was so important for me to lose everything because I found out what the most important thing is, is to be true to yourself. Ultimately, that’s what’s gotten me to this place. I don’t live in fear, I’m free; I have no secrets and I know I’ll always be OK, because no matter what, I know who I am.

· ultimately /'ʌltɪmətlɪ/ adv. 最后;最终
例句：You're the one who faced your fears and ultimately overcame them.
你直面了你的恐惧，而且最终战胜了它们。

阿男翻译：每当我回想起这段往事时，我觉得一切就应该这样。因为失去一切对我而言太重要了，这让我发现最重要的是要做真实的自己。最终，是我当时的选择成就了今天的我。我不再活在恐惧中，我觉得自在了。我没有了需要隐藏的秘密，而且我知道我会ok的。因为无论发生什么，我知道我自己是谁。

【11】So In conclusion, when I was younger I thought success was something different. I thought when I grow up, I want to be famous. I want to be a star. I want to be in movies. When I grow up I want to see the world, drive nice cars, I want to have groupies. To quote the Pussycat Dolls. How many people thought it was “boobies”, by the way? It’s not, it’s “groupies”.

· Groupies /'ɡru:pi/  乐迷，粉丝

· boobie/'buːbɪ/ n. n. [美俚]乳房
例句：She has nice boobies.
她的胸挺好看。

阿男翻译：所以总的来说，我小的时候，对成功的定义和现在很不一样。我那时候想，等我长大后，我要出名，我要当明星，我要拍电影，要环游世界，开名车，有一群粉丝跟着。和小野猫的When I Grow Up那首歌里的歌词一毛一样。顺便问一句，有多少人听成是“咪咪”了？听错了，应该是粉丝。

【12】But my idea of success is different today. And as you grow, you’ll realize the definition of success changes. For many of you, today, success is being able to hold down 20 shots of tequila. For me, the most important thing in your life is to live your life with integrity and not to give into peer pressure to try to be something that you’re not, to live your life as an honest and compassionate person, to contribute in some way. So to conclude my conclusion, follow your passion, stay true to yourself. Never follow anyone else’s path, unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path and by all means you should follow that.

· definition /defɪ'nɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 定义, 释义
例句：What is the definition of a date?
约会的定义是什么？
例句：A week of fishing is my definition of a vacation.
我对假期的定义就是能钓一周的鱼。

· hold down抑制；压制

· integrity /ɪn'tegrɪtɪ/ n. 正直; 诚实;完整
例句：He's a man of the highest integrity.
他是一个极其正直人。
例句：Without music, the film loses its integrity.
没有了音乐，这部电影就失去了完整性。

· compassionate /kəm'pæʃ(ə)nət/ adj.有同情心的
例句：He is a compassionate person by nature
他的同情心是与生俱来的。
例句：A compassionate smile made her feels a little better.
一个同情的微笑让她感到好过了一些。

阿男翻译：但今天我对成功的看法不一样了。当你渐渐长大，你会发现成功的定义在随之改变。对你们中的很多人来说，今天的成功就是能灌下20杯龙舌兰酒。但对我来说，生命中最重要的是真实地过自己的生活！不要因为压力而不做真正的自己，做一个真实的、有爱心的、有所贡献的人。所以总结一下我的总结，追随自己的热情，做真实的自己，不要追随别人的脚步。不过除非你在森林里迷路，看到了一条路，那你可一定要跟着路走。

【13】Don’t give advice, it will come back and bite you in the ass. Don’t take anyone’s advice. So my advice to you is to be true to yourself and everything will be fine. And I know that a lot of you are concerned about your future, but there’s no need to worry. The economy is booming, the job market is wide open, the planet is just fine. It’s going be great.

· boom /buːm/ n. 繁荣 vt. 使繁荣
例句：Last year we almost had to close the store, but now business is booming.
去年我们差点关门了，不过现在生意红火。
例句：Housing construction has boomed in the past year.
去年开始房屋制造业开始火起来了。

阿男翻译：别给别人忠告，吃力不讨好，也别听从别人的忠告。所以我给大家的忠告是：做真实的自己，一切会好的。我知道在座的很多人都在担心自己的前途，其实不用担心，经济正“发展迅速”，就业机会“一大把”，地球也“好得很”，一切都会很棒。

【14】You’ve already survived a hurricane. What else can happen to you? And as I mentioned before, some of the most devastating things that happen to you will teach you the most. And now you know the right questions to ask in your first job interview. Like, “Is it above sea level?”

· survive /sə'vaɪv/ vt. 比...活得长；幸免于
例句：She survived her husband by only a few years.
她只比他丈夫多活了几年。
例句：Many businesses are struggling to survive in today's economy.
当今经济形势下，很多企业都在挣扎求生。

阿男翻译：你们都幸存过飓风了，还有什么可怕的？正如我之前说的，最惨痛的经历，教育意义也最大。现在你应该知道第一次面试，该问考官什么问题了吧，比如说 “这事儿高于海平面吗？”

【15】So to conclude my conclusion that I’ve previously concluded, in the common cement speech, I guess what I’m trying to say is life is like one big Mardi Gras. But instead of showing your boobs, show people your brain, and if they like what they see, you’ll have more beads than you know what to do with and you’ll be drunk, most of the time.

 阿男翻译：总结一下我刚才做的总结，我的“常见的水泥”演讲的结论，我想说的是，人生犹如一场狂欢嘉年华，但不要展示你的胸，而是你的智慧。而且如果大家因你的智慧而喜欢你，你一定会得到更多的珠子，而且大部分时间都会让你喝的醉醺醺的。

【16】So the Katrina class of 2009, I say congratulations and if you don’t remember a thing I said today, remember this, you’re going to be OK, dum de dumdumdum, just dance.

阿男翻译：2009年的毕业生们，祝贺你们毕业!若你们不记得我今天说过的话，那请记住这句：you are going to be OK，dun-doom-doom-doom，just dance!

[Music: Lady Gaga – Just Dance –
Just dance. Gonna be okay.
Da-doo-doo-doo
Just dance. Spin that record babe.
Da-doo-doo-doo
Just dance. Gonna be okay.
Duh-duh-duh-duh
Dance. Dance. Dance. Just dance.
Wish I could shut my playboy mouth.
How’d I turn my shirt inside out, inside out right.
Control your poison babe
“Roses have thorns,” they say.
And we’re all gettin’ hosed tonight.
What’s going on on the floor?
I love this record baby, but I can’t see straight anymore.
Keep it cool what’s the name of this club?
I can’t remember but it’s alright, alright.]

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