酷兔英语

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  对美国的州长竞选,我唯一还能记得的就是马克吐温笔下的丑陋而尴尬情形。不过一直比较喜欢看施瓦辛格主演的各种电影,他那发达的肌肉更是对自己最大的吸引,所以获悉他要竞选州长,心里也能坦然接受,不过当他当众发表演讲时,也没有逃过被鸡蛋击中的那一幕精彩演绎。对了,在英文中就是由于竞选者在演说活动中被鸡蛋击中这一现象而出现了一个比较传神的片语:have egg on one's face:


  Gerry claimed to be the best worker in the office, but that time, he failed to work out the task. He really had egg on his face.


  (Gerry声称是办公室里最好的,但那次他却没有完成任务。真是极为丢脸。)


  have egg on one's face:意思是"极为丢脸,狼狈不堪"。美国人在竞选时,有些反对候选人的人在候选人进行公开演讲时,为使其当众出丑,常向候选人扔鸡蛋,使其狼狈不堪,久而久之,这种行为就演变为一个片语:have egg on one's face.英文解释是: If someone, especially someone in authority, has egg on their face, they have been made to look stupid by something embarrassing:


  He had got 40 points himself during a basketball match. He thought that he would become a great hero in his team, but he ended up having egg on his face.


  (他在一场篮球比赛中独自获得40分,他想他将成为队中的英雄,结果却以狼狈收场。)



  你遇到过一些狼狈的场面吗?昨天下班感觉累极了,去做了一下头部按摩,临走前却发现自己居然没有带上一分钱?我对人家讲我立刻回家把钱带上,那老板也挺豁达,相信我不会违背自己诺言的,就让我走了。对了,这里"违背诺言"在英文中我们常用breach of faith来表示,但今天我们要向大家介绍另一个表达方法:fly in the face of something.


  I don't believe everything he says because what he says flies in the face of all the evidence.


  (我不相信他说的所有话因为他说的全都违背所有的事实。)


  片语fly in the face of something意思是"违背",fly有飞越、逃脱的意思,用以加强语气,所以这个片语又常含有"公然违抗、悍然不顾"的意思。It means to be the opposite of what most people think is reasonable, sensible, or normal.


  I find this hard to believe since it flies in the face of all the principles of game.



  (我发现这真难以置信,因为它违痛了所有的游戏规则。)



  结束语:今天路过新华书店时参与了一项万人拒绝盗版的签名活动,平生最痛恨的就是盗版的东西了,这些制作盗版的人们简直违背(fly in the face of something)了最起码的良心。所以每当看到他们被打击得狼狈不堪(have egg on one's face)的时候,心里就痛快多了。


 




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