英语词汇趣谈.docx

英语词汇趣谈.docx

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英语词汇趣谈

英语词汇趣谈

Iamallears洗耳恭听

Oneday,wehiredacarpentertorepairourhouse.Idwelton（详细讲述）allthedetailsthatneededrepairingtohim.thenIaskedhim,"Areyouclear?

Canyourememberallthat?

""Yes!

"thecarpenterreplied."Iamallears!

"Ifeltpuzzledanddidnotknowwhathemeant.Latermyeldestsonexplainedtomethathemeant,"Iamlisteningattentively!

".

Iambroke我没钱了

OnedaywhenIwaswalkingintheschoolcorridor,Annaranovertomeandsaid,"I'mbroke.MayI...?

"Ithoughtshemighthavefallensomewhereandwasinjured,soIhurriedlysupportedherwithmyhandsandaskedher,"AreyouOK?

Doyouwantmetosendyoutotheclinic?

"Shefeltalittlepuzzled,butthenshesaid,"I'mok.I'mbroke.MayIborrowsomemoney?

"

Iassumedthatshewantedtoborrowmoneytogotohospitaltoseeadoctor,soIrespondedquickly,"Letmehelpyoutocallanambulancetothehospital."

NotuntilthendidsherealizethatIhadnotunderstoodwhatshemeant.Shetoldmethat"I'mbroke"meant,"I'mpenniless."Isuddenlysawthelighttoo.

Haveanaffairwith...与...有暧昧关系

Thepresidentwasforcedtoresign,forhishavinganaffairwithafilmstarwaslikeatime-bombthatwouldsoonerorlaterruinhisfame.

ItwasreportedthatPresidentClintonhadanaffairwithagirlcalledMonica.

五官与英语习语

eye

　　Theeyesareextremelyprecioustous.Thatiswhywesay“Mindyoureye（当心）!

”whenweremindingsomeonetobecareful.

　　Notonlyhumanbeingsandanimalshaveeyes,manythingsalsohave“eyes”-theeyesofaship,theeyeofaneedle,theeyeofatyphoon,andsoon.

ear

　　Theearistheorganofhearing.Apieceoflightmusiciseasyontheear.（悦耳动听）.Weareusuallyallears（专心聆听）forbitnews.

　　Whentheythinksomebodyisoverhearing,Englishpeopleuseeitherofthetwoproverbs:

Wallshaveears（隔墙有耳）andPitchershaveears（壶罐有耳）.Theyalsothinkthatlittlepitchershavebigears（小孩子耳朵尖）.Niceboysandgirlsrespectotherpeople.Theywillnotsecretlylistentoothers'privateconversations.

nose

　　TheEnglishphrase"facetoface（面对面）"anditsChinesecounterpart（对应）areexactlythesame.ButEnglishpeople,toexpressthesameidea,cansaynosetonoseinstead.ThereisnosuchsubstituteinChinese.

　　Thewordnoseappearsinmanyidioms.HerearetwowhicharequitesimilartotheirChineseequivalents:

leadsomebodybythenose（牵着某人的鼻子走）andturnupone'snoseatsomebodyorsomething（对某人或某物嗤之一鼻）.

lip

　　Wehavetwolips:

theupperlipandthelowerlip.Ifone'stwolipsareclosed,onecannotspeak.Soitgoeswithoutsayingthat"don'topenyourlips（不要开口）"means"don'tspeak".

　　Hislipsaresealed.Arehislipsreallystucktogetherbywaxorglue?

No,hislipsaresealedwhenaskedaboutsomethingthathemustkeepsecret.Sometimesatopsecretisbetrayedbecauseithasescapedsomeone'slips（脱口而出）.Thentheincidentmaybecomeapieceofnewsthatisoneverybody'slips（众口相传）.

tongue

　　Weallknowwecannotspeakwithoutthetongue.Sothetongueiscloselyrelatedtospeech.Toholdone'stongue（保持沉默）means"tokeepsilent".Apersonwhohastoomuchtongue（太多嘴）isdislikedbyall,forheistootalkative.Mothertongueisnotthetongueofamother:

itisaperson'snativelanguage.

　　"Don'tyouhaveamothbelowyournose（你鼻子底下不是有张嘴吗）?

"TheChinesesaysotoblameapersonwhodidnotsaywhatheshouldhavesaid.ButthisnottherightwaytoexpresstheideainEnglish.Englishpeoplewouldsay,"Youhaveatongueinyourhead,haven'tyou?

"

与动物有关的谚语

羊　

　　sheep，羊,绵羊,也用来表示羞答答的人，及作“胆小鬼”、“信徒”之意。

　　aswellbehangedforasheepasforalamb

一不做二不休（偷大羊或偷小羊反正都得挨绞刑。

）

　　Onescabbedsheepinfectsthewholeflock.

　　一只羊生疮整群羊遭殃。

　　Thereisablacksheepineveryflock.

　　到处都有害群之马。

　　sheepthathavenoshepherd

　　乌合之众

aimhigh胸怀大志

Frankaimedhigh,butachievedlittle

Dialogue:

Sue:

Youseemtobeworriedaboutsomethingthesedays

Bob:

Yeah.I'mrunningaroundincircles（忙得团团转）withoutachievinganything.

Sue:

Runningincircles?

Maybeyouaimtoohighandyou'vetakenmorethanyoucanchew.

Bob:

Maybe.butIcan'ttoleratedoingnothing.

Sue:

Youmaytakeabreakbeforebucklingdownon（开始认真地干）yourtargets.

猫

　　cat,猫、猫科的动物；也用来指坏心眼的女人；（爱用指甲）抓人的孩子。

　　Thecatshutsitseyeswhenstealingcream.

　　掩耳盗铃:

猫偷吃奶油的时候,总是闭着眼睛。

（观察一下）

　Thescaldedcatfearscoldwater.

　　一朝被蛇咬,三年怕井绳。

（被烫过的猫,连冷水也怕）

　　Whenthecat'saway,themicewillplay.

　　猫儿不在,老鼠成精（大王外出,小鬼跳粱）。

goape神魂颠倒的，发疯

Hewentapeassoonashelearnedthathegotthefirstprize.

Dialogue

Mary:

Jackwentape.What'shappened?

Lora:

Hemadeabomb（赚大钱）inhisbusiness.

Mary:

Howcome?

Hetoldmethathisbusinesshadalmostlandedontherocks（没有前途，没指望了）onlyacoupleofdaysago!

Besides,hedoesn'tseemtobecutoutfor（天生适合干...）doingbusiness.

Lora:

Foolsmayhaveafortune.Andthisiswhyhewentapewhenhemakebundles（发大财）.

狗

　　dog,狗；雄狗；（狐、狼等的）雄兽；【口】家伙。

　　Scornful（Hungry）dogswilleatdirtypuddings.

　　急不暇择,饥不择食。

　　loveme,lovemydog.

　　爱屋及乌。

　　Giveadogabad（anill）name（andhanghim）.

　　人言可畏。

　　Everydoghashisday.

　　凡人皆有得意日。

　　Bewareofasilentdogandstillwater.

　　提防不吠的狗,小心静止的水。

　　Astaff[stick]isquickly[soon]foundtobeatadogwith.

　　欲加之罪,何患无辞。

　　Barkingdogsseldombite.

　　爱叫的狗不咬人。

（咬人的狗不露齿。

）

　　Everydogisalionathome.

　　狗是百步王,只在门前凶。

世界各国及城市雅称集锦

Athens（雅典）——thecityofjasmines（茉莉花城）

　　Berne（伯尔尼）——thecityofclocksandwatches（钟表城）

　　Brazil（巴西）——thecountryofcoffee（咖啡国）

　　Canada（加拿大）——thecountryofmapleleaves（枫叶国）

　　Ecuador（厄瓜多尔）——theequatorialcountry（赤道国）

　　Ethiopia（埃塞俄比亚）——thebarefootcountry（赤足国）

　　Egypt（埃及）——thecountryofthepyramids（金字塔国）

　　Ghana（加纳）——thecountryofcocoa（可可国）

　　Guba（古巴）——thecountryofsugarcane（甘蔗国）

　　Japan（日本）——thecountryofCherries（樱花国）

　　Jerusalem（耶路撒冷）——theholycity（圣城）

　　Lusaka（卢莎卡）——thecityofcopper（铜城）

　　Lima（利马）——thecityofdrought（干旱城）

　　London（伦敦）——thecityoffog（雾都）

　　Malaysia（马来西亚）——therubbercountry（橡胶国）

　　Mexico（墨西哥）——thecactuscountry（仙人掌国）

　　MexicoCity（墨西哥城）——thecityoffrescoes（壁画城）

　　NewYork（纽约）——BigApple（大苹果城）

　　Panama（巴拿马）——thebutterflycountry（蝴蝶国）

　　Singapore（新加坡）——thecountryofgardens（花园国）

　　Tunisia（突尼斯）——theolivecountry（橄榄国）

　　Venice（威尼斯）——thecityofwater（水城）

　　Washington（华盛顿）——thecityofsnow（雪城）

　Wellington（惠灵顿）——thecityofwind（风城）

arguesomeonedown驳倒某人

Hehasaglibtongue.Fewpeoplecanarguehimdown.他有三寸不烂之舌。

几乎没人能把他驳倒。

Frankarguedthemanagerdown,thoughhecouldhardlybeconvincedbyanyotherpeople.

Mostpeoplepresentatthemeetingarguedagainstthemeasurestobetakenbythelocalgovernmentindealingwithtrafficjams.

Jackwaspunished,butmostofhiscolleaguesarguedfrohisactions.

Iamtheonewearingpantsinthehouse我当家

OnedayweinvitedourAmericanfriends,acouple,toourhome.Wehadapleasantchat.Duringthechat,Iaskedthemwhowasincontroloftheirfamily'sfinance.Myfriend'swifeanswered,"Iamtheonewearingpantsinthehouse."BothmywifeandIwereveryconfused.WewerewonderingwhyshetoldmethatonlysheworetrousersinherhousewhenIaskedwhowasinchargeofthemoneyItheirfamily.Afewpointers（指点，暗示）frommyfriendmadeussuddenlyseethelight.Itturnedoutthatwhatshemeantwas"Iamincharge."

It'supintheair尚未确定

OnceImetanoldfriendofmineattheschool'scelebrationmeeting.Henceitwasquitenaturalthatwehadatalk.

"Iamgoingtobetransferredtoanotherschool,"saidmyfriend.

"When?

"Iasked.

"It'supintheair,"sheanswered.

Ifeltratherconfusedandwonderedwhyshesaiditwas"upintheair".

FindingIlookedpuzzled,myfriendknewthatIdidnotunderstandwhatshemeant.Sosheexplainedtomewiththehelpofgestures.

FinallyIgotthepointthat"It'supintheair"meant"Itisuncertain".

costanarmandaleg付出过高的代价

Eatingintherestaurantsinthisstreetwillcostyouanarmandaleg.

BuyinganapartmentinBeijingwillcostyouanarmandaleg

Dialogue

Sandra:

Isay,Frank.Haveyouthoughtaboutchangingthebedsets（床上用品）？

Frank:

Well,I'veactuallybeenthinkingofdiscardingthem.

Sandra:

Andhaveyouthoughtaboutwhereweshouldgoforthenewsets?

Frank:

Well,IneedtoshoparoundabitbeforeIcandecide.

Sandra:

HowabouttheJohns'intheFifthStreet?

Frank:

TheJohns'?

Theywillcostyouanarmandaleg.Youhavetopaythroughthenose（为买...付出过高的代价；被敲竹杠），youknow?

Sandra:

Buttheirqualityisfirstrate.

Frank:

Iknow.Andtheirpriceisfirstrate,too.

keepsomeoneatarm'slength与某人保持距离

Shesaidthatshecouldn'tputherfingeronwhyeveryoneinthecompanyshouldkeepheratarm'slength.她说他搞不清楚为何公司里的人都不愿已接近他。

Ifyou'vekeptheratarm'slength,shewouldn'tbeabletoetholdofyourweaknessandtakeadvantageofyou.

touchsomeoneontheraw.触及某人的痛处

ThequestionaskedbytheJapaneseladyseemedtohavetouchedthepresidentontheraw,andithadalmostdrivenhimonthewall.

那位日本妇女向总统提出个问题，这一问就好像触及了总统的痛处，并把他逼上了绝境。

Whenwithfriends,peoplealwaystrytoavoidthetopicsthatwouldpossiblytouchthemontheraw.

Youracidcommentmadehimlosefaceandthequestionyouraisedhadtouchedhimontheraw.

Youshouldavoidoffendinghimbytouchinghimontheraw.

Childlikeandchildish天真和幼稚

IhadbeentoAmericaforonlyafewyears,asIdidnotunderstandtheactualmeaningsofthetwowords"childlike"and"childish".Aminormisunderstandingwastheresult,andInearlyoffendedmysupervisingprofessor.

OnedayIhadachatwithsomeprofessorsandpostgraduatesintheoffice.thesubjectcametothecharacterofmysupervisor.Shewasaseniorprofessorwhowasalwaysverycheerfu