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
abattage
abdominal ganglion
Aconitum paniculigerum
aeromodellings
antisparticles
Arthropteris
asset bubbles
associationists
avernal
Bakonyszentkiraly
basic set
bending die
bitun
boohooing
breaks of day
brush position
cancer of glans penis
candy thermometer
Cardboard Box Index
classical rectification
clipper service
commercial zine
concludent
concussation
constant, force
converter short circuit protection
cut planning
demi mondaine
desilverized
device control unit
divinifying
eastlund
edemo
El Nispero
electro-beat
encasketed
epidemic hepatitis, epidemic jaundice
ermenegildoes
Erymanthus, Mount
Eumungerie
false alarm number
ferro-silico-manganese
finably
four-jaw independent lathe chuck
frequency meter of network
friction trip
funfests
gennie
harbord
hessian bag
higher differentiation
hogarth's
hook nail
i-witness
income tax reture
iodoformized
last pass own coding
licorice root
master processor program
medullary stele
medullectomy
mineral lease
moreen
motherboards
nitrogen trifluoride
nonsynchronic
Notrees
number of cycles
paretic neurosyphilis
partial elements
portliness
power wheeling
probers
quadruple bond
realized compound yield to maturity
reprives
reverse cascade
ringing repeater
rotary planing
round nose plier
sensational journalism
shaker cooling
shellful
sperrschicht cell
statistical demand analysis
straight tendon
task center
texturizable
thunderbirds
transformation of inverse hyperbolic tangent
transistor resistor circuit
van der waals' bond
Vandellia diffusa
Vanderbilt University
vesiculation
warm the cockles of someone's heart
Waskia
water cooled reactor
wax cutter
waywods
Welsh vault
wheat meal