时间:2019-01-08 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

peaches and cream


sour grapes


下面我们来谈谈和水果有关习惯用语。英文里"水果"这个字,也就是fruit,是来自很早以前的一个拉丁文里的动词。意思是"享受"。而事实上也确实如此,香蕉、苹果、橘子、樱桃、桃子或葡萄等水果放在果盘里看起来都十分吸引人。因此、有关水果的俗语往往是具有一种肯定和完善的含义,例如:peaches and cream。


大家知道peaches就是桃子, cream是指奶油。 Peaches and cream的意思是:一切都很美好。有人可能会问:桃子和奶油有什么关系呢?这是因为美国人在吃水果时往往喜欢把水果切成块,然后加一点奶油一起吃。实际上,美国人吃很多东西都喜欢和奶油一起吃。所以,peaches and cream就意味着完美无缺。请听下面这个例子:


例句-1: Sally and Joe had a big fight last week, but they've made up and now everything is peaches and cream again.


这句话的意思是:"沙莉和乔伊上星期大吵了一场。可是,后来他们互相谈开了,现在他们又很要好了。"


Peaches and cream还可以形容一个年轻少女容光焕发的面孔:


例句-2: Peter's sister is a lovely girl. She has a real peaches and cream complexion 1, soft and white as milk and a touch of pink like a fresh ripe 2 peach.


这人说:"比德的妹妹是一个可爱的女孩。她的皮肤真是完美无缺,柔软洁白得像牛奶,还透露出一点像成熟了的新鲜桃子的粉色。"


可是,水果在美国成语里也并不千篇一律地含有褒意,有的时候也反映了反面的意思。下面我们要讲的一个俗语就是一个例子:sour grapes。 Sour是酸的意思,grapes就是葡萄。中文里也有酸葡萄的说法,而且中英文的意思也完全相同。举个例子就能说明这一点:


例句-3: Bill was sure he'd be elected 3 class president 4. But when Mary beat him in the voting 5, he told us he was glad he didn't get the job because it was too much work. That's nothing but sour grapes!


这句话翻成中文是说:"比尔开始认为他肯定能当选为班主席。但是,当玛丽在选举中击败他以后,他对我们说,他很高兴他没有得到这个职位,因为当了班主席工作太多了。他这么说纯属是吃酸葡萄!"


下面是另一个关于 sour grapes 的例子:


例句-4: Talk about a clear case of sour grapes! When Bob's girl friend left him to marry another man, he went around telling anybody who would listen that he left her because she wasn't good enough for him.


这人说:"要说吃酸葡萄吧,这件事可是很明显的了。当鲍勃的女朋友和另外一个人结婚后,鲍勃到处去对那些愿意听他诉苦的人说,是他不要他的女朋友的,因为他的女朋友配不上他。"


今天我们讲了两个和水果fruit这个字有联系的俗语。第一个是peaches and cream。Peaches and cream是指一切都很完美。我们讲的第二个俗语是sour grapes。 Sour grapes跟中文里的说法"酸葡萄"的意思一样。



n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格
  • Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
  • Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。
adj.熟的,成熟的,时机成熟的;成年的,年高的
  • This kind of fruit grow ripe in spring.这种水果在春季成熟。
  • None of the apples are ripe.这些苹果都没熟。
v.(进行)选举( elect的过去式和过去分词 );推举;选择;决定(做某事)
  • to be elected to fellowship of the British Academy 当选为英国人文社会科学院的院士
  • the country's first freely elected president 该国第一次自由选举出的总统
n.总统;总裁;校长;院长;会(社)长;主席
  • They selected him to be president.他们选举他为总裁。
  • The president's speech lacked sincerity.校长的演讲缺乏诚意。
n.选举,投票
  • The voting was 15 in favour, 3 against and 2 abstentions. 表决结果是15人赞成,3人反对,2人弃权。
  • They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
学英语单词
8-Isoamylenoxypsoralen
acc (accidental)
airfoiled
aluminium steel conductor
analog component video
ash colour body
assuager
Babson College
backand
bimetal coil
blitzblau
bounded variable
brittle glass
Bronchus lobaris inferior dexter
buck's fizz
by walking
Byssopteria
candlewicks
capacity installed
captain's sea protest
carcinophobic
carisbrookes
castor arabia
children recreation game
cis-Nerolidol
de-atomized
Death Cross
desoxyjacareubin
drowse off
epipharyngeal wall
evincible
flying to
getting stuck in
gibbs phenomeno
gimbals suspension
gnathode
greensword
grooved needle holder
hearer
hell dusts
high sea suction
high-low control
ijcs
inner ventral terminal spinule
Internet time
isopropyls
korarfveite
laser microprobe
lattice node
leesa
liquid in metal thermometer
lomoes
lych-gate
maglev railway
management systems
mechanisers
medowort
mine detecting sonar
myvatn
new account
nomadisms
nonstick button
orphan pseudovirion
overflow trafic
overthought
patio
penis locking sensation
Petra Velikogo, Zaliv
phesarsone sulfoxylale
PHWR (pressurized heavy-water-moderated and cooled reactor)
pigmentless
polystichum grandifrons
ponkal
protected against corrosion
reflex action
registered telegraph address
ruhr valleys
run out of reactivity
sapeles
semi-permanent snow line
Siphncus
SOS inductest
spot checked
stevie nicks
sulfenyls
tacit admission
tape character
three-unit regulator
throttle valve topside
trachelomonas acanthostoma
trentepholia (mongoma) pennipes
triple clamp bolt
turf growth retardant
unrecaptured
USAO
veinify
ventilated transport
vertebral disc disease
vesnas
Voluptas
wet net
Weyauwega