时间:2018-12-01 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

to hold water


water off a duck's back


it makes my mouth water


这一课里我们再要讲两个和水,也就是和 water 这个字有关的词汇。第一个是 to hold water。


To hold water 按字面解释当然可以说是"不让水漏出来"。但是,它的另外一个意思是指某一个人找的借口、提出的理由、或说的话是确实的,站得住脚的。美国人经常说:"That excuse simply doesn't hold water."意思是:那个借口根本站不住脚。我们来举个例子:


例句-1:"The accused man claimed that he'd been in another city the night of the murder. But his story didn't hold water after three different witnesses testified 1 in court that they had seen him running from the scene of the crime."


这句话的意思是:"这个被控告的人说,发生谋杀案的那天晚上他出门去了,不在当地。但是,有三个不同的证人都出庭作证说,他们看见他从作案的地点逃跑。因此,他说出事那天他不在当地的说法根本是靠不住的。"


今天要讲的另外一个和water这个字有关的习惯用语是 water off a duck's back。


鸭子身上的毛就像雨衣一样,水在上面呆不住,一下全滑掉了。因此,water off a duck's back 是指毫无作用。就像下面这句句子所说的:


例句-2:"I keep telling my friend it's foolish to gamble 2 all of his money, but it's like water off of a duck's back."


这是说:"我一直告诉我的朋友,不要那么傻,把所有的工资都用在赌博上。可是,我的话对他全然不起作用。"


另外一个例子是:


例句-3:"The doctors tell us it`s dangerous to smoke, but such good advice rolls off of some people like water off of a duck's back."


这是说:"医生都告诉我们抽烟对身体是有害的。可是,这种劝告对于有些人来说就像耳边风一样,毫无作用。"


水对人的身体来说是非常重要的。可是,在英语里,这些和water有关的成语都含贬意好像有点奇怪。不过,至少有一个和water有关的习惯用语是让人高兴的。那就是:to make my mouth water 顾名思义,这个说法的意思是"让我流口水"。


例句-4:"The roast duck that restaurant serves is my favorite dish. Every time I think about it, it makes my mouth water."


这个人说:"我最喜欢吃那个饭馆的烤鸭。每当我想起它我就会流口水。"


今天我们讲了to hold water,water off a duck's back和 it makes my mouth water这几个同water有关的习惯用语。


好,「美国习惯用语」第五讲就到里。欢迎下次再一起来学习美国习惯用语。再见。



1 testified
作证,证明( testify的过去式和过去分词 ); 证明,证实; 炳炳凿凿
  • His look testified his guilt. 他的神态表明他有罪。
  • Her red face testified to her guilt. 她脸红证明她内心有愧。
2 gamble
n.冒险;v.赌博,孤注一掷
  • Setting up this business was a bit of a gamble.开办这样的公司有点冒险。
  • Drive carefully and don't gamble with your life.小心驾驶,别拿你的生命冒险。
学英语单词
.fng
accept a bill of exchange
ad agencies
aerodynamic
agentive roles
Albareto
allergic granulomatosis
amelia earharts
arthrosteitis
Automatisme
bar code character set
basic processing unit
bed-head
blisses-out
bondable
British National Committee for Ocean Engineering
bush wren
cantleyi
caught in the middle
cellulose methyl ether
coaxial waveguides
colombite ore
colourblindness
conductor strand
content unknown clause
contra bossing
coprostene
crack a bottle
desk checks
diglycol aldehyde
diplazium wichurae (mett.) diels
dithiosulfo
east newark
electromagnetic unit
endopleura
entrance location of sorting processing
equine therapy
ethylene-acetic acid
external shoulder turning
fast freight traffic
finned tube condenser
flame scaling
formaldehyde sodium sulfoxylate
full lead crystal glass
full-wave
gas bubble pump
Gibbs relation
have a mind like a steel trap
Hoesch synthesis
Homerid
i-pend
imbounding
ineo
interhemispherical
Ivano-Frankove
lamp room
left hand turnout on similar frexive curve
long-weekend
magnetic strip accounting
martynia fragranss
matching of blood
mollifying
non local interactions
nonmutilative
one-dimension Borel set
overcontact
pancreatic islets transplantation
party-pieces
personal-prejudice models
piccolomini
pool based variable-rate tending system
portable cable reel
prairieteks
price deflation
pseudaulacaspis brideliae
push-off moulding machine
put ... down for
radwaste boiler
rate agreements
returned fold
Rosswein
sengstock
service and administration expense
servo-driven bellows
shafting bearing
solid centre
sophronist
spheric angle
steerercomponent
Sǒhǔngho
telemetry observation
Thor's beard
throw the cap over the mill
trolley jib tower crane
varder
Venezuelan crude oil
ventral cartilage
westest
white-led
work piece material
worship the ground sb walks on
yard stick standard cost