作者：李景莉
61. Let sleeping dogs lie.
从字面上来看,Let sleeping dogs lie. 的意思就是"不要去惹正在睡觉的狗"。该习语的意思是"别多事;别惹麻烦;莫惹是生非"。该习语也可说成"Let a sleeping dog lie." 或"Don't wake a sleeping dog."下面是一个妇女在给她的朋友提出劝告:
If I were you, I would not tell Nellie you saw her husband having lunch with another woman. They might have been perfectly innocent, so you'd let sleeping dogs lie. 要是我是你的话,我就不会去告诉内利你看见她丈夫和另一个女人一起吃午饭的事。也许他们根本就没有什么事,所以你还是别惹麻烦。
下面这个例子说明每个人在采取行动前都需要慎重考虑,要想到可能产生的后果:
Can you prove that your neighbor stole your lawnmower? If not and you call the cops, he could make real trouble for you. Better to let sleeping dogs lie! 你有证据证明你的邻居偷了你的割草机吗?要是你没有证据,又去报了警,他可以给你制造好多麻烦的。你还是算了吧!
62. Every dog has his / its day.
Every dog has his / its day. 的意思是"凡人皆有得意时;每个人总会有实现自己愿望的一天"。比如,一个公司的职员很想被提升,但是,他的愿望没有实现,而另一个同事却被提升了。回到家里,他的妻子听到这一消息后对他说:
Darling, I know how upset you are that you didn't get the promotion. But don't take it too hard-your turn will come. You know what they say-every dog has his day! 亲爱的,我知道你因为没有被提升而感到很不开心。你可别把这件事看得太重了。你以后会有机会的。就像他们说的:人人都有得意之时嘛。
下面的例子是一个作家因找不到出版商出版他的作品而感到烦恼,他的朋友劝他说:
Okay, so this publisher sent back your manuscript, there are plenty of other publishers. You'll find one who'll buy it-remember, every dog has his day! 行了,就算这个出版商把你的手稿退了回来,那还有好多出版商呢。你会找到一个愿意接受你作品的出版商的。别忘了,人人都会有机会的。
63. to put on the dog
美国人总是说:狗是人类最好的朋友。许多美国人对家里的狗就像对待家里的人一样好。有钱人还往往会出几千美元去买一只稀有品种的狗。 to put on the dog就是 "摆排场给别人看"。大概一百多年以前,一些有钱的人往往花很多钱去买一只稀有品种的小狗来显示自己很有钱。一些阔太太们经常在接待客人的时候把一只小狗抱在腿上来炫耀自己的阔气。当时耶鲁大学的学生就使用to put on the dog这一说法来嘲笑那些暴发户。请看下例:
Joe Doak is sure putting on the dog since his rich aunt died and left him 10 million dollars. He's bought the biggest house in town and a Mercedes-Benz 600, and talks about buying some riding horses. 乔?多克自从他那位富有的阿姨去世,留给他一千万美元遗产以后,可真是摆阔气。他买了城里最大的一栋房子,还有一辆奔驰600型号的汽车。他还说要买几匹马骑着玩呢。
但是有钱的人也不都是那样挥霍的。下面就是一个例子:
I had this friend in the army who was the son of one of the richest men in the country. But what I like about him was that he never put on the dog to show off his money.我在部队服役的时候有个朋友,他的爸爸是美国最有钱的人之一。我很喜欢这个朋友,因为他从来也不炫耀自己多么有钱。