对话
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：如果我是罗纳德，我已经换了一份新工作。
乙：你是什么意思?
甲：这说来话长。无论如何，如果他有转工的话，他就不会跟苏珊分开了。
乙：我不同意，事情不是这样简单的。

It is a long story的story指‘事情的原委’，全句等于中文的‘说来话长’。It is a long story, but if you are interested I will tell it to you.即‘说来话长，但假如你想听，我就原原本本告诉你。’ ‘说来话长’一般不如‘长话短说’或to cut / make a long story short，例如：To cut a long story short, their affair is over.（总之，他们的那段情已成过去。）以上两句成语，一说long，一说short，还有一句long、short兼说：the long and the short of it，意思是‘总而言之’，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.) ‘总而言之’或‘简而言之’英文还有另一些说法，常见的有in a word，直译是‘用一个字来说’，只是说起来往往不止一个字，例如：In a word, Tom and Mary have fallen out.（总之，汤姆和玛丽闹翻了。）To fall out是成语，意思是‘争吵’。此外，你还可以说in a nutshell。这直译是‘在坚果壳？’，以坚果之小比喻说话之精简，例如：To put it in a nutshell, Tom and Mary have fallen out.闹翻了，可以言归于好， 这英文叫做to make it up，例如：Tom has made it up with Mary.（汤姆已经和玛丽言归于好。）

作者：古德明（香港）