时间:2019-02-08 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

我们上次讲了两个由house发展而来的习惯用语。今天继续学两个。第一个习惯用语有两种略有差异的形式。它们是:bring down the house or bring the house down。 Bring down the house和bring the house down,尽管形式不同但是意义完全一样。 Bring down意思是“使...倒下,” 可能有人因而以为bring down the house 就解释“推倒房子”了。这想法也有点道理。


一百来年前有个滑稽演员在剧场说了个笑话,但是全场观众却无动于衷,于是他只得自我解嘲地这样说:Don't laugh so hard! You'll bring the house down - it's an old building, you know。他说:可别笑得太厉害了。要知道这是栋老房子,笑声太大会把它震坍的。这也许是bring the house down这个习惯用语的出典,但是久而久之bring the house down有点偏离原意了。它解释赢得雷鸣般的掌声和震耳欲聋的喝彩声;总之是得到了高度赞赏。


既然这个习惯用语出自剧场,我们就先来听个有关纽约百老汇剧场歌舞喜剧的例子吧,里面number这个词有特殊意思,解释歌舞剧的部分。


例句-1:That musical 1 number at the end of the first act always brings down the house -- the dancers wear beautiful costumes 2, the song itself is really catchy 3 and the singer has a terrific 4 voice.


他说:在第一幕结尾的歌舞场面总是让全场观众为之倾倒:舞蹈演员穿着漂亮的服装,歌曲本身已经够迷人的了,而歌手又有一付美妙的好嗓子。


这里的brings down the house意思是令观众为之倾倒。


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Bring down the house不仅用来说艺术表演引起轰动,也可以指精彩的运动比赛。下面就有个例子。这段话说的是一次扣人心弦的网球锦标赛。


例句-2:The match lasted three hours and it was the best tennis I've ever seen. It brought down the house: after the last point the crowd stood up to applaud 5 both players as hard as they could.


他说:比赛延续了三小时。这是我有生以来看过的最精彩的一次网球赛。它令全场轰动。在最后一分之后观众都起立竭尽全力地为两位选手鼓掌。


这里的bring down the house意思还是令人倾倒。


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我们再学个也有house这个词的习惯用语:like a house on fire。 习惯用语like a house on fire已经有两百多年的历史了。归根溯源,它是来自早年美国西部的拓荒生活的。当年垦荒的人们砍伐树木开辟农场,并就地取材用伐下的原木搭房子。


这些原木没经过木材处理还带着树脂所以一点就着。原木造的房子一旦着火,那就来势迅猛,一栋房子一眨眼就化为灰烬。


奇怪的是人们却没在意这种意外事件的灾难性后果,倒是对这种迅雷不及掩耳的火势印象深刻,于是就采用like a house on fire来比喻迅速地一举成名。我们来听个例子,说的是一部杰出的新电影。


例句-3:This movie has everything: an exciting story, fantastic special effects 6 and top popular stars. So it's going like a house on fire: the first week it was out it took in 25 million dollars.


他说:这部电影万事俱备:扣人心弦的故事情节,奇妙逼真的特技效果,再加上光彩夺目的明星阵容,所以这部片子立即引起轰动;上映第一周就创收二千五百万美元。


这里的like a house on fire用来比喻迅速成名。


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Like a house on fire也可以带有浪漫情调。下面就有这么个例子。说话的人把Sallie小姐介绍给了弟弟Joe。我们来听听进展怎样。


例句-4:I was worried that Joe and Sally are so different they wouldn't like each other. But they're getting along like a house on fire and tonight Joe says he's going to ask her to marry him.


他说:我起先担心Joe和Sally全然不同,可能不会相互爱慕,但是他们的爱情却如同野火春风般地迅速发展。Joe说今晚他要向 Sally 求婚了。


这里的like a house on fire用来描述爱情的迅速发展。

 



adj.音乐的,爱好音乐的;悦耳的;有音乐才能的
  • He is a musical child.他是一个爱好音乐的孩子。
  • The piece of bamboo makes a musical sound.这块竹片能发出悦耳的声音。
n.服装;装束
  • The costumes and lighting in the play were restrained. 这出戏的服装和灯光都很朴实。
  • The waitresses are all done up in costumes. 女服务生都穿着制服。
adj.易记住的,诡诈的,易使人上当的
  • We need a new slogan.The old one's not catchy enough.我们需要新的口号,旧的不够吸引人。
  • The chorus is very catchy to say the least.副歌部分很容易上口。
adj.可怕的,极好的,非常的
  • The game was terrific.那场比赛棒极了。
  • Darren drove at a terrific speed.达伦以惊人的速度驾车。
vt.鼓掌欢迎,赞同;vi.鼓掌欢迎,欢呼
  • The pupils that had been watching started to applaud.一直在一旁观看的小学生们开始鼓起掌来。
  • Please don't applaud until everyone has performed.请在每个人表演完毕后再鼓掌。
n.动产,财物,家财;结果( effect的名词复数 );效果;感受;个人财产
  • the accumulative effects of pollution 污染的累积效应
  • I was a little apprehensive about the effects of what I had said. 我有点担忧我说的话的后果。
学英语单词
accessible singularity
Agapetes angulata
aporphine
arenaemyein
atavism reversion
auto-exciting
bacterial enteritis
basalt-plain
be unschooled in sth
building damage statistics
C. of E
cabinet radiation
cadavid
case mould plaster
center cracked tension specimen
chloropropanol
Consolidated Natural Gas
contextual effect
customer setup
damage water
deisidaimonia
dofetilide
doubletube plate condenser
durational verb
earthquake proof construction
electron configuration
Emiratizing
epoxy glass laminated sheet
Eraverm
F-format
failed broker
fellaheen
flame cut(ting)
foreign workers statistics
fusion warhead
Georgia Institute of Technology
honorablenesses
hydraulic classifier
hypoprogestinism
immunity from suit
incrust
indian-american
infrared remote control
isostearate
isotopic molecule
johnny bags
Kawaura
keep out
knight of the community/parliament
lead-acid storage battery
lockstitch
Lunache
lunar seismograph
machining constant
Macrosolen robinsonii
MediaFLO
mesalamine
Mglin
Mindanao
Mohembo
nova sofala(sofala)
oil production engineering
oncotrephin
one's bump of locality
out of door
pedia-gastrofiberscope
pigeon hawks
place utility
playpipe
police launch
power handling capacity
preexponential factor
primary current of a current transformer
quasi-two-dimensional
Quelpart I.
radio-electroencephalograph
read-write random-access memory
refering
representative rates of exchange
Rokitansky-Aschoff ducts
rubber anti-icer
sastre
selective electrode
separator-spatula
set afoot
ship control centre
Short Circuit Rating
Silver-grain
spidergrams
spring vegetable
start stop self-phasing code
stream layer
summission
three-tined
thrush breast
titrated
total labour force
triethyleneglycol
triple-screw steamer ship
urinary catheter
USAB
water beetles