时间:2019-01-14 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

to pull no punches


straight from the horse's mouth


大多数人都认为诚实和坦率是一个很好的品质,尽管我们不见得每时每刻都能够做到,美国人也不例外。在美国的日常用语里有各种说法来形容这种品质。我们在今天的[美国习惯用语]里要给大家介绍四个和这一主题有关的习惯用语。


第一个是:to pull no punches。 To pull no punches,这是指毫不保留地告诉别人你的看法。Punch 这个字的一种解释就是拳击。 To pull no punches 这个俗语使人脑子里顿时出现一个拳击场里两个拳击手扭成一团,互相攻打对方,而对方设法回避的形像。但是 to pull no punches 这个俗语并不是用在拳击方面的。下面的例子说明在日常生活中怎么用这个俗语:


例句-1: When I saw my brother Joe, I didn't pull any punches -- I told him to stop drinking and go out and find a job.


这句话翻成中文的意思是:"当我见到我哥哥乔伊的时候,我毫不保留地对他说,不要再喝酒了,还是出去找个工作吧。"


人们要想毫无保留地对对方讲心里话的时候往往会很犹豫,怕伤害别人。但是,在有的情况下,你绝不会犹豫,就像下面这个例子里的这个人:


例句-2: I pulled no punches when I went to see the auto 1 dealer 2 who sold me such a lousy car. I told him he ought to be ashamed to charge so much for a car that had so many things wrong with it. No, he didn't give me my money back, but I sure felt better afterwards.


这个人说:"那个汽车商卖给我的这辆汽车毛病太多了。我去看他的时候毫不客气地对他说,卖这么次的车给我还收我那么多的钱,你自己应该感到害臊。虽然他并没有把钱还给我,可是,说了这些话我感到痛快多了。"


今天我们要讲的另外一个俗语是:straight from the horse's mouth。 Straight from the horse's mouth,从字面上来解释它的意思是:直接来自马的嘴巴。可是,这个俗语的真正意思是:你听到的消息是真实的,因为这消息来自可靠的来源。马和消息可靠又有什么关系呢?你要知道,远在人们还没有使用汽车的年代,人们是依靠马作为他们主要的交通工具,认为马是十分可靠的。现在,汽车已经早就代替了马,但是这个俗语仍然被广为使用。现在我们再来举个例子:


例句-3: I tell you I know for certain that Lisa will be promoted to manager. The boss told me himself, so it's straight from the horse's mouth!


这个人说:"告诉你,我知道莉沙肯定会被提升为经理的。这是老板亲口告诉我的,这个消息是绝对可靠的!"


我们再来举个例子:


例句-4: Say, did you hear that Sally and Bob are going to get married. Honest, I'm not joking. I heard it from Bob himself, so it's straight from the horse's mouth!


他说:"喂,你听说了没有,萨利和鲍勃要结婚了。我可不是开玩笑,我说的是实话。我是听鲍勃自己讲的,因此这消息是完全可靠的!"



n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车
  • Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
  • The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。
n.商人,贩子
  • The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
  • The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。
学英语单词
abstractify
acnemia
additional tax
amphigamy(renner 1916)
Amsil silver copper
Bacab
baggable
base64
centrifugal pump performance
cephalin-cholesterol flocculation
chaff dispensing device
charmphysics
colour fastness to perspiration
conducting fire back to its origin
contextual discourse
cosmicism
dams
Davidstow
dead beat instrument
Deliva
demur the instance
diaphragm cylinder
discalceated
draw up a list
drawgate
E.S.A.
ecological validity
esthetes
feather-light
floor plan graph
fluidized-bed gasification
forebodement
freeish
fringed geckoes
fully directional submersible vehicle
general call to all stations
give one's regards
glucocentric
half-off
hammer stalk
have one's an ear to the ground
head the list
herpeses
Holzknecht's scale
honourary chairman
imbroglii
inculcating
index correlation
interlandi
iPhone SDK
Japanese spindle
jetplanes
lel
lepery
maximum transfer
Maxine taffeta
minimum temperature prediction
monovalent sera
morbus ecdemicus
mutational delay
non-recurring item
nonfatal trauma
not be born yesterday
oculudato
oil-ring retainer
Patricios
perforatorium
Periclor
philipstadite
position-sensitive
quasi logical
resalue
rosined soap
S-code
San Vicente, C.
sanitary wares
say hi to
short-run trend
similar permutation
spizofurone
steam ejector gas-freeing system
steam pocket in water tank of radiator
sublethal heat stress
sulfuric acid cooler
teutonomania
the Post Office
tidal pressure ridge
times-standard
tommy bar nut
torsion indicator
transgentleman
transrectus incision
tripalmitates
tsiranana
two-time someone
tyret
Upper Triassic
vocalistic
war supplies
welding up
wreck mark
zigzag rule