一日一成语【67】upset the applecart

upset the applecart

这是个比较古老的成语，因为其中的applecart如今已很少见了。Cart是由牲口拉的两轮大车，applecart则是载运苹果的大车。把一车苹果拉到市场上卖掉，换几个钱买些自己想要的东西，多美啊！赶车的正打着他的如意算盘呢！可惜，不知怎么搞的，苹果车翻了，他的小算盘也就完了。这便是upset the applecart的意思。它用以泛指任何“计划受挫、美梦破灭”的情况：

We thought we would give him a pleasant surprise by giving him our present on his birthday, but Mary leaked out the secret and upset the applecart.
我们本来想在他生日那天把礼物给他，让他惊喜一番，但玛丽所秘密泄漏了，打乱了计划。

For the past three weeks we have been carefully planning the garden party, but the continual rain has upset our applecart.
在过去的三周里，我们一直在安排这次游园会，但雨下个不停，把我们的计划全搅乱了。

He thought of going to study in Oxford after finishing high school here. But his father’s sudden death upset his applecart.
他原来想在这里读完中学后到牛津去读大学，但他的父亲猝然故世，他的美梦也随之破灭。