分类： 英语习语趣谈

本栏目由李福兵原创编写，Eyre绘图。

几年前母亲就去世（pass away）了，每当看到别人一家团聚时，对她的怀念就越来越深。母亲辛辛苦苦养育了我们三姊妹，还没有来得及享享清福呢！失去的才知道珍惜，很后悔她老人家在世时自己尽孝不够啊！

We have been missing my mother deeply since she had passed away.
(译文：自从母亲过世后我们一直深深的怀念着她。)

片语pass away意思是“去世，逝世”。Pass本来有“过去，经过，传递”的意思，away有“离开”的意思，所以pass away就表示“过世，去世”的意思。不过这个片语常用在某人的去世是可以预见的情况下，比如重病住院许久不治而逝世等。看看英文解释：
If someone has passed away, then they have died. To say passed away is more polite than to say died. In addition, to pass away also has the sense that their death was a process. For example, they died of old age or had been ill for a long time, and so their death was not sudden or unexpected. Therefore, we do not say my friend passed away in a car accident last night. When you mean he died in a car and never made it to the hospital, in this situation, we would say he died in a car accident last night. However, we can say my friend was in a serious car accident last night, he passed away this morning in the hospital.

很清楚吧，再看一个例子：

My grandpa had passed away before I was born. So I don’t know what he looked like.
(译文：爷爷在我出生前就去世了，所以我不知道他长的什么样。)

思念故然令人伤感，可面对迷茫的未来，自己何尝又不伤感呢？谁知道什么样的生活在等待着自己呢？自从毕业参加工作以来，饿不了也饱不了，生活几乎失去了激情。

I graduated from university five years ago. Up to now I haven’t been sure what life has in store for me.
(译文：五年前我就大学毕业了，直到现在我仍不知道什么样的生活在等待着我。)

这里，片语in store for someone的意思是“等待着某人”。Store有贮存、储备的意思，in store for someone的字面意思是“留给某人(去处理)”，不就包含“等待着某人(来处理、经受)”的意思吗？If something unexpected such as a surprise or problem is in store for someone, it is about to happen to him or her，如：

There’s a pleasant surprise in store for you.
（译文：这有一件令人愉快的事在等着（或要告诉）你。）

结束语：母亲去世（passed away）后，全家人都很伤心。真不知道会有什么样的未来在等待着我们(in store for us)。

本栏目由李福兵原创编写，Eyre绘图。

不知道朋友们有没有怯场的毛病？有些人平时和朋友聊天时无所不谈，而且头头是道，可是一旦要求他们在一些正式场合发表演讲，他们就吞吞吐吐，理不出个头绪来。下面这句话就是笔者的一位朋友向我请教如何克服怯场毛病时说的话，里面包含了今天我们要给大家介绍的第一个片语：

I’m about to give a speech. Could you tell me how to bring the curtain down on stage fright?
(译文：我要进行一次演讲，你能告诉我如何才能结束我怯场的毛病吗？)

在这句话中我们看到了片语bring the curtain down on something，它的意思是“让某事落幕，结束某事”。Curtain是“窗帘、幕布”的意思。在戏院，幕布拉下来了，不就是结束了吗？The idiom means to cause or mark the end of a situation or period of time, for example：

It’s time to bring the curtain down on her acting career. Her acting skills become worse and worse.
(译文：现在是结束她的演员生涯的时候了。她的演技越来越差。)

昨天，女友约了我和我们的几个好朋友在星级饭店里大吃了一顿，别人以为我们要宣布什么重要事情如结婚之类的。万没想到的是，她在众所瞩目的焦点下(be in the limelight)告诉我要与我结束一段为期几年的恋情（bring the curtain down on）。这里，我们看到一个片语：be in the limelight, 它的意思是“在众所瞩目的焦点下”，如：

Living in the limelight made his dream a nightmare.
(译文：在众所瞩目焦点下的生活使他的梦想成为了恶梦。)

limelight意思是“引人注目的中心”，从字面上理解，位于引人注目的中心，就是“在众所瞩目的焦点中”的意思了。If someone is in the limelight, then lots of people pay lots of attention to him or her. 因为那些讨厌的狗仔队（paparazzi）成天想曝光一下名人的私生活，所以有些名人并不喜欢在众所瞩目焦点下的生活。下面这个句子中提到的Jill就是这样一个人：

Jill is a shy, quiet person. He doesn’t like being in the limelight.
（译文：Jill是一个害臊和文静的人。他不想生活在众所瞩目的焦点下。）

结束语：今天我们学习了两个片语。一个是bring the curtain down on something，意思是“让某事落幕，结束某事”。第二个片语是in the limelight，意思是“在众所瞩目的焦点下”，注意，at the center stage表达的意思与之相近。

本栏目由李福兵原创编写，Eyre绘图。

在去年的同学会上，读大学时本不起眼的小张，虽然和我们一样才工作几年，却开辆宝马跑车来聚会。那些结婚的没有结婚的女生一个劲儿的向人家套近乎，他可谓出尽了风头。在英文中 “出尽风头”该怎么说呢？今天我们就给朋友们介绍一下，首先来看个例句：

The salesman told me that this type of car was stealing the show in Europe.
(译文：推销员告诉我这款小车在欧洲正出尽风头。)

在这个句子中我们看到一个片语steal the show, 它的意思正是我们常说的“出尽风头”。Show指电影或电视里的场景，如果有人在戏中占完了整个场景，你说他重不重要？是不是出尽了风头？To steal the show means to do something, especially when you are acting in a play that makes people pay more attention to you than to other people. 下面的例句是说有的人在足球比赛中笑傲江湖，大放异彩，出尽风头。

He likes to play football with his friends. And he is very glad to steal the show on today’s match.
(译文：他喜欢和朋友们一起踢足球，并且使他高兴的是他在比赛中出尽风头。)

前面说到小张开同学会出尽了风头，这不，今年有同学结婚，他也去参加，也因为那辆车而成为主角。这不就抢了人家新郎的光彩了吗 (steal the spotlight) ？

At Wanghong’s wedding ceremony, John stole the spotlight with his beautiful new car.
(译文：在王红的婚礼上，因为漂亮的新车，John抢了光彩。)

这里的片语steal the spotlight意思是“抢了别人的光彩”。Spotlight是聚光灯的意思。在聚光灯下可谓光彩夺目，可是有人偷过去放在自己头上，不就抢了光彩？The idiom refers to a situation in which someone receives a lot of attention than others. Sometimes it expresses a derogatory sense. For example:

 I don’t appreciate the actress. Though she was the leading female character, she was still trying to steal the spotlight from the other actors.
(译文：我不喜欢这个女演员。虽然她是主角，但总是想办法抢别的演员的光彩。)

结束语：以前韩国电视剧在我们国家可谓势如破竹，出尽了风头(steal the show)。自从央视重拍了《笑傲江湖》和《射雕英雄传》后，现在的武侠剧就抢占了其风采(steal the spotlight)。注意，Steal the show 与Steal the spotlight意思有点接近，区别是前者带有褒义而后者略带贬义。