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英语中的俚语、口语或“顺口溜”很多,它们的意义,往往与字面意义不同,有时也不合文法的结构,所以正确了解和灵活使用,是学习英语者的难题之一。下面即是常见的一些,供读者参考。
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<br>1. to be (或 become) fed up with (someone 或 something): 意思是对某人或某事感到讨厌或厌倦(to get tired of; to be disgusted or to get sick of);
<br>例如: I am fed up with his constant complaints.(他常常的抱怨令我厌烦。)
<br>We all became fed up with his long speech.(他的长篇演说我们都觉得讨厌。)
<br>The huS*and has been fed up with his wife's nagging.(老公对老婆的唠叨感到厌烦。)
<br>如果只用「to be fed up」也可以:
<br>I will not wait for her; I am fed up. (我不想再等她了;我厌了。)
<br>(动词时态是:feed, fed, fed) 可见这句俚语似乎有「被动味道」,如果用 feed,意思又不同了。
<br>例如: The mother will feed the baby with milk.(母亲喂婴儿牛奶。) (feed 是及物动词)
<br>The cattle feed on grass (牛以草为生。)(feed 是不及物动词)
<br>但是 The cattle were fed with the grass by the farmer.(农夫用草喂牛。)
<br>(cattle 是复合名词,意为复数);
<br>可以说: I am fed up with him. (我讨厌他)
<br>(但不能说:I feed up with him.)
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<br>2. to be in a rut:是指对每天同样的工作或是墨守成规一成不变的习惯,感到单调乏味
<br>(to be tired of routine job; nothing new or excited) (rut 这个字本意是惯例或老套)。
<br>例如: He has not been promoted for 20 years; he must be in a rut.(他廿年未获升级,一定感到单调枯燥。)
<br>After thirty years of the same job, he feels he is in a rut.(干了卅年同样的工作,他觉得枯燥乏味。) 所以要放弃单调枯燥的生活方式,就是 to get out of the rut.
<br>例如: If you hate your old job, you need to get out of the rut.(假如你不喜欢你的老工作,你就要走出乏味的日子。)
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<br>3. to cut the cord: 意思是父母要让儿女离家过著独立自主的生活
<br>(let your children leave home and become independent) (只用於父母与儿女间的关系);
<br>例如: When your children are old enough to take care of themselves, you have to cut the cord.(当你的孩子长大可以照顾他们自己时,你就应该让他们自力更生。)(即切断依赖父母的脐带。)
<br>It is very difficult for many Chinese parents to cut the cord with their children.(许多中国父母很难让儿女完全独立自主。) (注:这里的 cord,是指 umbilical cord 即脐带。)
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<br>4. to start from square one: 意思是上次没有成功,必须回到起点从头做起
<br>(something did not succeed in the first place, have to start over again) (这与 to be back to square one 意义相同);
<br>例如: He has to start from square one because his computer destroyed (crashed) his homework. (由於电脑搞坏了他的作业,他必须从头做起。)
<br>The search committee for the new college president will have to start from square one.(选拔新校长委员会上次没有成功,现在又要从头做起。)
<br>We are back to square one. (我们又从头做起。)
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<br>5. to paint (someone) a picture:意思是解释某种情况,使人更加明白。
<br>(to explain the situation; to make things more clear);
<br>例如: In order for you to understand better, I will paint you a picture. (为了使你更能明白,我愿加以解释。)
<br>He will try to paint us a picture when he gives a speech.(他演讲时,尽量想法使我们明白。)
<br>When I write an article for a newspaper, I will paint my readers a clear picture.(当我为报纸写文章时,我尽量让我的读者充分了解。)
<br>但是 to paint a picture,意思又有不同了。
<br>例如: The artist will paint a picture of me.(画家为我画像。)
<br>The artist painted a picture for his interior decoration.(画家为了他的室内布置而画了一幅画。)
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<br>6. to take a (或 its) toll:意思是造成损失或有不良的影响
<br>(to have bad effect);
<br>例如: His hard work will eventually take its toll on his health. (他的辛劳工作,最後对他身体会造成伤害。)
<br>Inflation has taken its toll everywhere.(通货膨胀对各地都有不良影响。)
<br>The storm took a heavy toll. (暴风造成重大损失。)
<br>The severe earthquake may have taken its toll on the economy of Taiwan. (或 Taiwan's economy) (强烈地震对台湾的经济造成损失。)
<br>The boss eliminated several senior positions to save money;it took a personal toll on him.(老板为了省钱删除了几个资深职位,对他个人倒有不良影响。)
<br>(注:to take its toll 较为常用)
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<br>7. to have the floor:指在开会时取得发言权,有人发言时,其他与会者应该注意听。
<br>(Everybody at the meeting should keep quiet and listen carefully when someone speaks to the audience.)(floor 本意是全体议员或全体与会者。)
<br>例如: Will you mind letting Miss Wang have the floor? (王小姐发言时,请大家安静注意听好吗?)
<br>Everybody should be able to have the floor during the meeting. (开会时,每个人都应该有发言权。)
<br>Let Mr. Chen have the floor for ten minutes. (让陈先生发言十分钟,大家注意听。)
<br>He was given the floor by the chairperson. (主席让他发言。)
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<br>8. to hold water:意思是站得住脚,禁得起考验或有足够的证据可证明一件事的可靠性
<br>(to have evidence to prove something) (反之,「hold no water」就是没有足够的证据,站不住脚。)
<br>例如: I think his statement does not hold water.
<br>(我想他的声明是站不住脚的)
<br>也就是: There is no enough evidence to prove what he has said.
<br>(可见「hold no water」=「does not hold water」) His theory holds water.
<br>(他的理论是有足够证明的)
<br>Her constant excuses for being tardy holds no water.(或 does not hold water)
<br>(她时常的迟到藉口,没有足够的理由。)
<br>The U. S. bombing excuse did not hold water with China.
<br>(美国轰炸理由不足取信中国)也就是:
<br>China feels that the reason given by the U.S. for bombing the Chinese embassy does not hold water. 所以: The argument does not hold wate r= The argument holds no water. (这争吵是没有足够的理由)
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<br>9. to tighten (one's) belt:意思是束紧裤带,省吃俭用或缩紧预算(to cut the budget)
<br>例如: The government has to tighten its belt due to a large deficit. (由於庞大的赤字,政府必须缩紧预算。)
<br>He tried to tighten his belt after he lost his job. (他失业後,想办法省吃俭用。)
<br>但也可指真正的束紧腰带: Mrs. Chen has tightened her belt because she lost twenty pounds. (陈太太缩紧了腰带因为她瘦了廿磅)
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<br>10. to put (one's) best foot forward: 意思是全力以赴,给人以尽可能好的印象,包括礼貌、举止、说话、外表等等
<br>(to get first good impression including manners, speech, appearance, etc.)。
<br>例如: When you go for a job interview, put your best foot forward.
<br>(当你求职面试时,首先要尽量给人良好的印象。)
<br>We all have to put our best foot on this project.
<br>(我们对这个计画要做得好才能给别人一个好印象。)
<br>(注:通常不用复数 feet,因为同时伸出两只脚,一定会跌倒,即使主词是多数,也是如此。)
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<br>11. to miss a trick: 意思是不了解全部实况或不能细心察看
<br>(not to figure out a situation; don't know everything that is going on;not very perceptive of every situation.)
<br>(反之,does not miss a trick 就是对全部情况非常了解。)
<br>例如: He states emphatically that he never seems to miss a trick with his staff.
<br>(他强调他对下属是明察秋毫,无所不知。)
<br>We can not pull the wool over his eyes because he does not miss a trick.
<br>(我们瞒不过他,因为他对所有的事,都很清楚。)
<br>Parents should not miss a trick regarding what their children are doing.
<br>(父母对儿女所做所为,应该细心察看,不可忽略。) He was fired because he missed all the tricks.(由於他对事不能细心观察而被解雇。) (有人认为:如果说一个人十分「精明」,事事「明察秋毫」,似乎有点「spy」的味道,所以不是恭维话,读者以为然否?)
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<br>12. to nickel and dime (someone):意思是一点一滴的小事或微不足道的服务,都要收费
<br>(to charge someone for every little thing or service)(既不是诈骗也非违法。)
<br>例如: Sometimes the lawyer will nickel and dime you for every service he (she) provides.
<br>(有时律师为了微不足道的服务也要向你收费。)
<br>Many people were nickeled and dimed by their lawyers. The phone company is continually trying to nickel and dime us.
<br>(电话公司为了琐屑细节的服务,不停地向我们要每一个铜板。)
<br>(注:本来 nickel 是五分钱,dime 是一毛钱,现在当做动词用,过去式和过去分词是:nickeled, nickeled; dimed, dimed)
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<br>13. to throw (one's) weight behind(someone or something):意思是支持某人或某事
<br>(to support someone or something)例如: The governor of Maryland threw his weight behind Mr. Gore for the presidential election.(马里兰州长支持高尔先生竞选总统)
<br>He has thrown his weight behind the foreign policy toward China.
<br>(他支持对中国的外交政策。) 但是,to throw (one's) weight around 又有仗势欺人,耀武扬威或炫耀自己的重要性,想要去影响别人和情况之意。
<br>例如: He always tries to throw his weight around.(他老觉得自己了不起,想要影响别人。)
<br>Mr. Lin is trying to throw his weight around in his office.(林想影响办公室里所有的人。)
<br>He throws his weight around her.(他想控制她)
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<br>14. to put teeth in (或 into) (something):意思是说话时,带著慎重其事的语气,使能有效的实施(fo be very firm in speaking)
<br>例如: If you tell your children to do something, be sure to put some teeth in your decision.
<br>(假如你要孩子做事,必须表明你认真肯定的决定。)
<br>When you become a manager, you need to put teeth in(into) the decision-making process.
<br>(当你是总经理时,你对决定事物,必须以肯定语气表达,才能有效实施。)
<br>Put some teeth in your position when you speak to the teen-agers.
<br>(对青少年说话时,必须表明你认真的立场。) I have to put teeth in my conviction that capital punishment is wrong.(我坚信我的立场,死刑是错误的)
<br>(注:put teeth in 的後面多半跟 decision, position, stand, conviction 等单字,尤其 decision 最常用。)
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<br>15. to have a heart-to-heart talk:意思是诚恳的谈论
<br>(fo discuss something sincerely)
<br>例如: Let's talk heart-to-heart about heart problem.(让我们诚恳地讨论有关心脏问题)
<br>Let's have a heart-to-heart talk about this topic.
<br>(让我们诚恳地讨论这个议题)
<br>I have had a heart-to-heart talk(或 conversation)with my department chairperson.
<br>(我与系主任有个真诚坦率的交谈)(形容词用)
<br>We had a nice heart-to-heart.(我们有个倾心的交谈) (当名词用)
<br>(所以heart-to-heart 可当名词或形容词)
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