英语实用口语之老外的习语

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"bite the bullet"or doing something unpleasant, comes from when soldiers would bite a bullet when they were being operated on without anesthetic.

“咬子弹”(bite the bullet)，即做令人不愉快的事。这一习语来源于过去士兵们做手术不打麻药，只能咬子弹忍痛。

There is some debate over whether or not this is true. Thephrase has been in use since 1796 and has always meant to have a "stiffupper lip" before doing something you don't want to do.

关于这一来源是不是真的还存在争议。这一短语从1796年就开始使用了，总是用来指在做不愿做的事情时咬紧牙关(have a stiff upper lip)。It may have come from a

belief that people can derive couragefrom biting a bullet, according to researchers.研究者称，这也许来自于一种信仰，认为人们能从咬子弹中获得勇气。

【例句】Many economists argue that China still needs to bite the bullet and let the Yuan appreciate so itseconomy depends less on exports and more on domestic demand.

很多经济学家说，中国仍需要咬紧牙关让人民币升值，这样中国的经济就可以减少对出口的依赖，而更多地依靠内需。

Judas’s kiss

According to the Synoptic Gospels, Judas identified Jesus to the soldiers by means of a kiss.This is the kiss of Judas, also known (especially in art) as the Betrayal of Christ, which occurs in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper, and leads directly to the arrest of Jesus by the police force of the Sanhedrin (Kilgallen 271). More broadly, a Judas kiss may refer to "an act appearing to be an act of friendship, which is in fact harmful to the recipient.

根据马太福音的记载，犹大跟警察约定，他亲吻谁，谁就是耶稣。犹大之吻在基督教中意味着“背叛”说明一个背叛朋友而又假装得十分亲热的叛徒嘴脸,比喻可耻的叛卖、变节行为

【例句】 People considered that what he had played on that occasion was no more than a Judas kiss .

人们认为他在那种场合所表演的不过是犹大之吻──居心险恶。

Pandora's Box

A "Pandora's box" has come to signify the source of endlesscomplications or trouble, one whose genesis is deceptively simple. The phrasecomes fromancient Greekmythology, specifically a set of epic poems by Hesiod, theTheogony and Works and Days, from the SeventhCentury B.C. The poet relates the creation of Pandora, the first woman, and agift given to her by Zeus, which ultimately ends the Golden Age of humankind.

“潘多拉的盒子”用来代指惹事的根源，也指罪恶的来源，也指灾难的来临。希腊神话中宙斯用黏土做成的地上的第一个女人，作为对普罗米修斯盗火的惩罚送给人类的第一个女人。众神亦加入使她拥有更诱人的魅力。根据神话，潘多拉出于好奇打开一个“魔盒，释放出人世间的所有邪恶——贪婪、虚无、诽谤、嫉妒、痛苦等等，当她再盖上盒子时，只剩下希望在里面。

【例句】Money brings us happiness but sometimes it is a Pandora's Box.

金钱给我们带来了快乐,但有时候它也是灾祸之源.

win hands down

If you"win hands down," you're winning without a great effort.

如果你“垂着双手取胜”(win hands down)，说明你轻而易举地赢得了胜利。

In horse racing, a jockey who's winning by a wide margin doesn'tneed to whip his horse to go faster, and can win with his "hands down."The phrase soon caught on outside the sporting world.

在赛马中，如果一名骑手觉得自己胜券在握，就不需快马加鞭，而是可以“垂着双手”就赢得胜利。这句习语迅速在体育圈之外流行了起来。中文中也有“唾手可得”的成语，某种程度上，中西方想到了一起~

【例句】I'm sure you can win the game hands down.

我确信你能轻而易举地赢得这次比赛。

kangaroo court

A"kangaroo court" means that there has been a fast and unfair legalprocedure. It likely comes from during the Gold Rush when American courts wouldskip procedures for quick sentencing.

“袋鼠法庭”(kangaroo court)指的是美国潦草而不公正的审判程序。这句话有可能来源于淘金热时期，因为那个时期的法庭为了快速判决会省略掉一些程序。

Even though Kangaroos are native to Australia, this phrase datesback to the 19th century Gold Rush in America.

尽管袋鼠是澳大利亚独有的动物，但这句话始见于19世纪美国淘金热时期。

The most likely origin of the phrase, according to researchers,is that people who saw the quick sentencing in American courts during this timelikened it to kangaroos hopping or skipping.研究者称，在淘金热时期，人们在法庭上会经常见到快速潦草的审判，而袋鼠是蹦跳着走路的，因此人们把袋鼠的蹦跳比作法庭省略程序的做法。

【例句】The office looked like a kangaroo court.

这间办公室看起来像是一个私设的公堂。

separate the wheat from the chaff

If you're "separating the wheat from the chaff," you're distinguishing between quality and worthlessness. The phrase actually comes from the Bible.

如果你在“把糠从小麦里筛出来”(separatingthe wheat from the chaff)，那么你就在甄别精华和糟粕。这个习语其实来源于《圣经》。

Chaff is the protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain.Humans can't eat it, but livestock can. It's not as important as, say, wheat.

糠是保护谷物种子的外壳，人不能吃，但牲畜可以。它只是没有小麦等谷物那么重要而已。

In Matthew 3:12, John the Baptist says, "His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

在《马太福音》第三章第12节中，施洗约翰说道：“他手里拿着簸箕，要扬净麦场，把麦子收进仓里，却用不灭的火将糠秕烧尽。”

【例句】It can be

hard to separate the wheat from the chaff when the qualifications for a social mediamanager are so nebulous.

那么，合格的社交媒体管理员应具备哪些资质? 这实在很难界定，因此，要慧眼识珠，实在是件很难的事。

carry your heart on your sleeve

We can thank Shakespeare for committing the phrase "Carry your heart on your sleeve" —or being transparent — to paper. Iago famously says itin "Othello."

我们应该感谢莎士比亚，因为是他将“把心戴在袖子上”(carry your heart on your sleeve)写在纸上，意思是轻易表露感情，是《奥赛罗》中伊阿古的名言。

In Othello Act 1 Scene 1, Iago says “But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve…”meaning he would be exposed.

《奥赛罗》第一幕第一场，伊阿古说：“但是我会把心戴在袖子上”，意味着他会敞开心扉。

Aside from Shakespeare's genius brain, other possible originsinclude the tokens knights would wear from ladies during jousting matches

and amarriage festival from the Middle Ages.

除了天才的莎士比亚，这句话还有可能来源于中世纪马上长矛比武中贵妇赠与骑士令牌，或婚礼场合，等等。

【例句】He always wears his heart on his sleeve so that everyone knows how he feels.

他总是毫不掩饰地吐露心声，所以所有人都知道他是怎么想的。

skin of your teeth

If you do something by the "skin of your teeth," you're barely managing todo it. One of the first recordings of this phrase is from the Bible.

如果你通过“牙齿的皮肤”(skin ofyour teeth)来做某件事，这说明你勉勉强强有能力做这件事。这个短语最早出现在《圣经》中。

In Job 19:20, Job says, "My bone clingsto my skin and to my flesh, / And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth."

在《约伯记》第19章第20节中，约伯说：“我的皮肉紧贴骨头，我只剩牙皮逃脱了。”

Teeth don't have skin, so it was likely an allusion to somethingsmall or so thin that it was

insubstantial.

然而牙齿并没有皮肤，所以这一说法可能代指小、纤薄而不重要的东西。

【例句】I woke up late and I had to run to the station. I made it by the skin of my teeth.

我睡过头了，跑着去车站，差一点就赶不上火车了。