时间:2019-01-16 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

今天我们还要讲几个由 shoot 这个词发展而成习惯用语。第一个是: shoot from the hip 1。Hip是臀部也是髋关节的部位。这个习惯用语让我们想起当年粗旷甚至野蛮的美国西部生活。


当时人不离枪、枪不离人,多数人除了睡觉,腰带上都插着枪。而那些老练的枪手在急于射击时根本不把枪举到齐肩高来瞄准。他们拔出手枪在腰下髋关节的部位就发射了,就是shoot from the hip。只是这样射击准确度难免受影响,往往不能命中目标。这就让敌手足以能举枪瞄准狠狠还击了。


当然这样的生活早已成为电影的镜头,所以shoot from the hip如今也不再指开枪射击。我们来听个例子。这是一名律师找不到一些文件而鲁莽地斥责秘书,之后发现是自己的错,于是他正在窘迫地向秘书道歉。


例句-1:Miss Lee, I have to apologize for shooting from the hip and yelling at you for losing the papers. I was in a big hurry and forgot I left them right here in my drawer.


他说:李小姐,我必须向你道歉。我由于找不到文件而对你发火太鲁莽了。当时我实在着急,没想起是我自己把文件放在这儿抽屉里的。


可见shoot from the hip这里是指鲁莽仓卒地说话行事。


******


我们要学的第二个习惯用语是: shoot off one's mouth。 Shoot off原意是发射子弹、炮弹。所以shoot off one's mouth按字面意思就是从咀里里发射炮弹、子弹。那岂不相当于中文的说法: 连珠炮似地讲话。这个习惯用语也带有信口开河、夸夸其谈的意思,意思是那些哇啦哇啦像连珠炮似地发表意见的人似乎振振有词,实在是在放空炮,不懂装懂。让我们来听个例子:


例句-2:The one guy I definitely won't invite to our big party is Harry 2. He's always shooting off his mouth about things he knows nothing about and I can't stand that loud voice.


原来他唯一不想请来参加大型宴会的人是Harry,因为Harry老是对自己一无所知的事情高谈阔论,而且他也受不了Harry那大嗓门。


可见shooting off his mouth意思是言无其实地高谈阔论,或者是大声地夸夸其谈。


******


我们还要学一个习惯用语: shoot the breeze。Breeze是令人清新、合人心意的微风,几乎人人都时常会shoot the breeze,也就是和一两位知己清清静静地坐着闲聊,正好比享受微风吹拂一般地轻松如意。


这里有个例子,说话的人是刚上完课的学生看看时间还早。我们来听听他对同学怎么说。


例句-3:Tom, we don't have another class until 11:30. Let me buy you a cup of coffee and we'll sit down and shoot the breeze for a few minutes. What do you say?


他说:Tom,下堂课要到十一点三十分才开始。我来请你喝杯咖啡,让我们坐下来聊一会儿。你觉得怎样?


所以shoot the breeze意思就是清静地闲聊。


******


我们再学一个习惯用语: shoot oneself in the foot。 Shoot oneself in the foot按照字面意思是开枪打中自己的脚。想象一下一个粗心大意、笨手笨脚的牛仔正从腰上拔出手枪,却不留神扳动了扳机。他什么也没射中,就是打中了自己的脚。这个习惯用语现在是用来比喻什么样的情况的呢? 让我们来听个例子。


例句-4:Bob tried to hire two guys he met in a bar to beat up the man he hated. But he shot himself in the foot; one of the two was an undercover cop who sent him to jail.


Bob雇用了在酒吧碰到的两人,要他们去把他的眼中钉揍一顿。但是没想到两人中的一个竟是便衣警察。这就惹上麻烦了,结果Bob想害人不成,自己反倒被这警察送进了监狱。


这儿shot himself in the foot意义很像中国俗语“搬起石头砸自己的脚。”换句话说是,由于粗心笨拙而打击别人不成反给自己惹来麻烦。

 



n.臀部,髋;屋脊
  • The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
  • The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
学英语单词
'Uwaynāt, Sabkhat al
aberration constant
Alexander disease
amphibious operations
anthemis cotulas
arep
at stated periods
ausrolltempering
azulin
Barkhamsted Reservoir
beacon message
Bouyoucous hydrometer
braggadocii
calibrations
cataclysmatist
color encoding
composite container
congruent array
cormetasone
country doctor
cunthood
daggering
decaplets
deck-chair
defibrates
Degeneriaceae
digit puncher
document transaction
draw in your horns
electron beam parametric amplifier
engano
ensilver
enterolignans
fast-time scale
finickety
flat-size
frequency divider stage
Garvey, Marcus Moziah
glabranin
grammaticizable
HVGR
Hällesjö
insurance-policy
isoprofit curves
knock an article down to a bidder
Lamotrek Atoll
lesser sciatic notch
lower temperature
lrcp
lubricating oil pump cover
lutecite
madines
make into
male pronucleus
marine molysmology
Mastotermes electrodominicus
Maud Rise
megacells
microrefrigerator
Modern Korean
nap distance (bridges 1932)
nelia
nikischerite
objectionabilities
optically active polymer
orke
Orvalho
outer cylinder
oysterishness
palm leaves
peppering
periodic audits
planthouse
population demography
primary prostaglandin
pterines
quoin bead
resolution of impulse wheel speed sensor
reythroplakia
right to self-determination
roller contact
Rudder amidship!
ruthenium(iii) acetylacetonate
sail training vessel
Salter-Harris fracture
saturnious
semi-duplex operation
sentence coding
Shit Scared
sliped
sound alphabets
stream dynamics
submissives
sumas
tactical call signs
taylerson
ventral median lymph vessel
was present in
wesse
wool classer
Zonikha
zoonomist