本栏目由李福兵原创编写,Eyre绘图。
朋友们一定遇到过那种说起话来滔滔不绝,没完没了的人吧! 如果他们谈论的是别人的闲话,英文中就说他们是gossip或gossipmonger. 然而他们有时候是为了说服某人去做某事而不断的进行游说,这种人在英文中有相应的表达。如:
Sally talked with that boy until she was blue in the face, but the boy still did what he wanted.
(译文:Sally与那个男孩谈话谈到脸色都变了,但这男孩仍然做他想做的事。)
在这个句子中我们看到一个很复杂的表达:talk until one is blue in the face. 它的意思是“交谈到脸色都变了”。朋友们可能观察到,当人们谈话谈得太多时,有时连呼吸都调整不过来,这时就有可能导致脸色变绿,所以当有人长时间的谈论过后,人们就会用“blue in the face”来描述他。注意,这个片语暗含的意思是说某人谈话谈个不停,一直到非常疲惫,但却没有达到应有的效果。To talk until one is blue in the face refers to someone who talks something a lot. Although he or she is exhausted, they don’t achieve what he or she wants. For example:
Our parents talked until they are blue in the face, but all of us didn’t changed our mind. We still decided to take part in an important race across the Atlantic.
(译文:我们的父母谈话谈得精疲力竭,但我们全都没有改变我们的主意。我们仍然决定参加一个重要的横跨大西洋的比赛。)
现在的年轻人也许叛逆情绪比较突出,喜欢刺激与冒险,这不得不令父母头痛。但这并不足以使他们成为家庭中最不受喜欢的人。家庭中最不受喜欢的人在英文中的表达是:black sheep. 如:
Although we don’t follow our parents’ advice and sometimes, we even do what our parents oppose, they don’t consider us as the black sheep.
(译文:虽然我们不听从父母的意见,有时甚至做他们不愿意我们做的事,但他们并没有把我们看作是家庭中受人喜欢的人。)
black sheep本来的意思是“黑色的绵羊”一般地,白色的绵羊比黑色的绵羊有价值,因为黑色绵羊的毛很难染成其他颜色,实用价值相对就低些,所以黑色绵羊一般不太受主人的喜爱。后来,人们就用这个片语来比喻“在家庭中不受喜欢的人”。The idiom refers to someone who is regarded by other members of their family or group as a failure or embarrassment. For example:
Sometimes, I was considered the black sheep of the family, the weirdo in the group. I want to change myself.
(译文:有时家人认为我古怪,我被认为是最不令人喜欢的人。我想改变一下自己。)
结束语:如果一个家庭中有一个人很固执,他总是谈话谈得精疲力竭(talk until one is blue in the face)以说服别人听从他的意志,那么他可能就会成为家庭中最不受人喜欢的人(black sheep)。