低头无语,唯有泪千行 |
http://www.sina.com.cn 2003/10/17 13:04 世博英语 |
作者:lifubingg 人人都懂得谦虚使人进步的道理,所以每当他们完成一件很重要的任务或获得一些成功时,他们总是说this is nothing to write home about.你知道这是什么意思吗?home是大家都比较熟悉的,如果叫你写一篇关于home的文章,你一定能大书特书,发挥得淋漓尽致。正好,在英文中,write home about就可以理解为大书特书,从而可理解到片语nothing to write home about的意思为“没有什么值得大书特书的,太微不足道而没有什么可写的或可说的”,中文中的不足挂齿意思与之接近。。If you say that something is nothing to write home about,you mean that it is not very interesting, exciting, or special.先看个例句: Yes, there is cheese, bread in the supermarket, but the taste is nothing to write home about. (译文:是的,这个超市有干酪、面包,但味道却不足称道。) 从上面这个例句可以看出,片语nothing to write home about可以直接译为“不足称道的,不足一提的”,用英文解析就是:something that is not particularly good or special, or too insignificant to tell about.好的,再来看一个例子: Although he had tried his best to perform on the popular TV show, his performance, however, was nothing to write home about. (译文:虽然他已经尽力在受欢迎的电视秀上表演,但他的表演却是不足称道的。) 大千世界,花花绿绿,充满着诱惑。同事小张本科毕业,准备考研,本不足称道,单位考研跳槽大有人在。但他受不了外面的诱惑干起了传销,这下就值得大书特书了。后来,他放弃考研不说,辛苦存下来的积蓄只换来几袋从来没有听说过的过期产品。这时,我们就问他说你怎么就那么容易上当呢?他低头无语,唯有泪千行。对了,这里我们说的“轻易上当”在英文中有一个相应的说法是:jump at the bait. Bait本来的意思是指“钓鱼用的饵”后引申为诱饵,诱惑物,引诱物。jump at指“扑向…”,所以片语最初的意思是“鱼吞食鱼饵”,后引申为“人入圈套”。举个例子: He jumped at the bait when he heard the bastard’s sweet words. (译文:在那个浑蛋的花言巧语下,他就入了圈套了。) 从用词jump at上可以看出入圈套的人那种迫不急待,毫不慎重思考的情形,所以后来人们干脆把这个片语直接译为“轻易上当”。If you jump at the bait, then you swallow the bait quickly without thinking seriously. Some people who always want to get enough money within one night often jump at the bait. (译文:一些想一夜暴富的人常轻易上当受骗。) 结束语:今天我们学习了两个片语:一个是nothing to write home about,也可以写作not much to write home about意思为“不足称道的”,如果把nothing换为something,那么片语something to write home about,意思正好相反,表示“很值得一提的事”。另一个片语jump at the bait意思是指“人入圈套,轻易上当”,正如例句所言,如果不是贪心不足,怎么会那么容易就jumpt at the bait呢? 本栏目是由世博英语(360abc.com)lifubingg原创编写,取材新颖,所讲习语全部选自最流行最时尚的美语.世博英语保留一切权利!未经书面授权,请勿转载! |
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