作者：李景莉
58. crocodile tears
crocodile是"鳄鱼",tears就是"眼泪"。 英文里的crocodile tears和中国人常说的"猫哭老鼠假慈悲"是一样的意思。crocodile tears这个习语来自一个古老的神话,说是鳄鱼往往发出一种哭的声音来引诱那些它们要吃的动物,然后一边吃一边流眼泪。这当然不是事实,但是这个说法已经成为常用语。请看下面的例子:
The truth is that Peter never liked his rich Uncle John. But you should have seen his crocodile tears when the old man died and left him a million dollars!彼得从来都不喜欢他那有钱的叔叔约翰,这是事实。可是那老人去世的时候给他留了一百万美元,你可真该看看彼得当时那假流泪的样子。
下面这个例子说的是一位政客:
In his speeches the mayor always puts on a big show of crocodile tears for poor and homeless people, but I don't see him doing anything to help them. 这位市长在讲话时总是装得好像他对穷人和无家可归的人非常同情。但是,我并没有见到他做些什么来帮助他们。
59. sob story
sob是"哭泣"的意思,story就是"故事"。sob story的意思就是"某人编造一个令人伤心的故事来赢得别人的同情,甚至于让人给钱来帮助他"。下面是一位女士在描述她听了一个sob story以后是怎么受骗的:
Usually I don't give money to beggars. But this nice young man told me a sob story about needing money for a bus ticket to see his dying mother, so I gave him two dollars. 一般我是不给乞丐钱的。但是,这个看上去挺不错的年轻人告诉我他需要钱坐公共汽车去看他那快要死的妈妈。他说得这么悲惨,我就给了他两美元。
世界上好心人真是不少,下面这个例子又是一个人上了sob story的当:
On my way to work, a man stopped me and said he hadn't eaten for three days so I gave him a dollar. But on my way home I saw him get into a new car and drive off and I knew now he had told me a sob story. 在我去上班的路上一个人挡住了我,对我说,他已经三天没吃东西了,所以我给了他一美元。可是,我在回家的路上看见他上了一辆新车后就开走了。我这才知道他说的事全是假的。
60. hot potato
美国人很喜欢吃土豆,特别是刚从烤箱里拿出来的一个个热气腾腾的土豆。hot 的意思是"热"或"烫",potato就是"土豆"。热的土豆固然好吃,但是它会烫你的手,你会想法儿马上甩掉它。 hot potato作为习语,它的意思就是"难题;棘手的问题;难以应付的局面或人"例如:
The question of whether to raise taxes to cut the budget deficit is a real hot potato for a lot of politicians. 是否用增加税收的方法来减少预算赤字的问题,对于许多政客来说是一个棘手的问题。
下面这个例子是一位律师在给另一位律师提供建议:
If I were you, I'd drop that client like a hot potato. He's always suing somebody for something, but he usually loses and he doesn't pay his lawyer's bills. 假如我是你的话,我就把那个难以应付的顾客马上甩掉。他老是为了什么事去告别人,可是他总是输给别人,还常常不付律师费。