十二生肖

　　1.Rat

　　smell a rat觉得可疑

　　I smelt a rat when he started beingso helpful!

　　the rat race激烈的竞争

　　Living in a big city is one big ratrace。

　　play cat and mouse with sb。欲擒故纵，(像猫抓耗子似地)欺负(折磨、虐待)某人

　　The policeman decided to play catand mouse when he saw the woman steal the dress in the store。

　　2.Ox

　　a bull in a chinashop经常闯祸的人，笨手笨脚的人

　　He‘s like a bull in a china shop,always knocking things over。

　　take the bull by the horns不畏艰险

　　You can‘t just sit back in asituation like this. You should take the bull by the horns。

　　like a red rag to a bull使愤怒

　　Any statement against the governmentis like a red rag to a bull to that minister。

　　till the cows comehome永远地，无限期地

　　If you‘re waiting for him to payyou, you‘ll wait till the cows come home!

　　kill the fatted calf热情款待，设宴欢迎

　　He welcomed me at home by killingthe fatted calf。

　　3.Tiger

　　paper tiger貌似强大而实质虚弱的敌人

　　As long as we are not afraid of thiskind of threat, the paper tiger‘s true face will come out in thewash。

　　4.Hare

　　hunt with the hounds and run withthe hare同时支持相对立的两派， 脚踩两只船

　　Which team are you going to support?Make up your mind now. You can‘t hunt with the hounds and run withthe hare。

　　5.Dragon

　　sow (the) dragon‘steeth挑起纠纷或引起争端

　　Wherever he went, he sowed (the)dragon‘s teeth by preaching racial segregation。

　　6.Snake

　　a snake in thegrass潜伏的危险或敌人，阴险而伪善的朋友

　　How could I ever trust that snake inthe grass?

　　7.Horse

　　hold your horses忍耐，克制，别急躁

　　Don‘t get so angry. Just hold yourhorses and find the appropriate solution。

　　put the cart before thehorse本末倒置

　　Surely you‘re putting the cartbefore the horse by buying all this furniture before you‘ve got thehouse。

　　flog a dead horse徒劳，浪费精力

　　You‘ll just be flogging a dead horseif you try to make her change her mind about it。

　　high horse自大，盛气凌人

　　When the president visited hishometown in the remote village, he rode the high horse among thelocal people。

　　8.Sheep

　　a wolf in sheep‘sclothing披着羊皮的狼，伪装善良的坏人

　　Mrs. Martin trusted the lawyer untilshe realized that he was a wolf in sheep‘s clothing。

　　as well be hanged for a sheep as(for) a lamb一不做，二不休；索性蛮干

　　Dad said I was to be home from thedance by eleven o‘clock, but I enjoyed myself so much that it wasmidnight before I realized it, so I thought I might as well behanged for a sheep as a lamb and stopped on till the end。

　　a black sheep害群之马，败家子

　　Every privileged class tries atfirst to whitewash its black sheep; if they prove incorrigible,they‘re kicked out。

　　9.Monkey

　　monkey about / around胡闹，恶作剧

　　The boys were monkeying about in theplayground, and one of them got hurt。

　　monkey with胡乱折腾，瞎摆弄

　　You‘ll break the TV if you don‘tstop monkeying about with it。

　　get (have) one‘s monkeyup生气，发脾气

　　Don‘t get your monkey up fornothing。

　　10.Cock

　　cock one‘s snook (snoot) to (at) sb。瞧不起某人

　　The artist cocked a snook at thecritics by exhibiting an empty frame。

　　cock up把……弄糟

　　They completely cocked up thearrangements for our holiday。

　　11.Dog

　　a dog in themanger占着茅坑不拉屎的人，自私自利的人

　　Don‘t be such a dog in the manger.Lend your bicycle to him since you will not go out thisafternoon。

　　top dog处于支配地位

　　Brazil can well be said to be thetop dog in the soccer circles of the world。

　　lead a dog‘s life过困苦的生活

　　Many new immigrants in the U.S.initially endure a dog‘s life。

　　put on thedog炫耀，摆阔；竭力表现自己，似乎自己非常重要，而事实并非如此

　　They put on the dog in front oftheir guests, but the guests were not impressed。

　　12.Pig

　　pigs might fly无稽之谈，奇迹可能会发生

　　“The management might offer us adecent pay rise。” “Pigs might fly！”

　　buy a pig in apoke(未见实物而)乱买东西(吃了亏)

　　You‘ll have to show me the car; Idon‘t intend to buy a pig in a poke。

本文选自最美六月的博客，点击查看原文。