时间:2019-02-12 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

  上次我们学了几个由hair发展而来的习惯用语: win by a hair, lose by a hair, hair-raising。今天我们再要讲两个。第一个是:split hairs。 Slit 1意思是剖分。头发原本就相当纤细,再去剖分,那就不知有多繁琐了。

Split hairs作为习惯用语当然有它的比喻意义。我们听个例子来体会它的含义。这是个不耐烦的企业主管在开导正跟他谈一笔百万元大生意的另一方,劝他别再为细枝末节问题纠缠争辩,赶快在双方律师争论个没完的合同上签字吧。我们听听他是怎么说的:

例句-1:Look, let's tell our lawyers to stop splitting hairs on things like whose name comes first in our ads. I don't care! I'm ready to sign the contract right now if you feel the same.

他说: 哎!我们去跟各自的律师说说吧,别再纠缠广告上把谁的名字排第一之类的细枝末节的问题了。我才不在乎呢!要是你同意我的看法的话,我现在就准备在合同上签字了。

广告上名字排前排后跟这笔百万元的交易相比只是枝节问题,而双方的律师却在诸如此类的问题上争论不休,所以这里的splitting hairs含义就是缠住细枝末节问题不放。

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我们再听个例子。这段话说的是全家人在老奶奶去世后聚在一起商量不再保留奶奶的住房;大家公分她屋子里的遗物。某些家庭成员开始为自己喜欢什么,想得到奶奶的哪些纪念品而争论起来了,于是一个家庭成员为了避免争吵提出一条合情合理的建议。我们听听他觉得怎么做才公平。

例句-2:Look, Granny would be upset to hear you arguing like this. Let’s not split hairs. We'll take turns putting our names on plates, books, pictures. That's the fair way.

他说:诸位!奶奶要能听到你们这样争吵也会生气的。我们别为这些小事争来争去纠缠不休了。还是大家轮流把自己的名字贴到自己想要的盘子,书和照片上吧。这样分才公平。

奶奶留下的是盘子之类的日用杂品或者书本照片等东西,听来并非贵重物件,而那些亲戚为了分这些东西而争吵,这近乎split hairs。所以这里的split hairs意思也是为区区小事斤斤计较。

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我们再学个由hair这个词发展而来的习惯用语: bad hair day。 Bad hair day从字面解释是发型糟糕的一天。我们知道特别潮湿,或者刮大风又非常干燥的气候会破坏女士们的发型美观,于是人们就把这样的日子称为bad hair day。这就是这个习惯用语的出典。

Bad hair day近年来流传应用到和发型毫无关系的其它场合,并且也不限于说女性,也能说男性。我们要听的例子就是关于一位男士的。我们通过这个例子来体会bad hair day是什么意思吧。说话的人在一家企业工作。我们听他说说自己一个典型的bad hair day。

例句-3:Did I have a bad hair day! First, my car wouldn't start so I was late for work. Next my computer crashed. Then I forgot a lunch date with an important client. So I went home with a terrible headache.

他那天真是处处碰壁。第一件倒霉事是车子发动不了,于是上班迟到了。接着他的电脑出了故障。随后他又忘了跟一位重要顾客有午餐约会,所以回家时他头疼得要命。

听到他一天的倒霉事儿接二连三,你一定明白bad hair day是什么意思了,就是事事不顺遂的一天。

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Bad hair day可以说各种年龄身份的人,也包括年轻的学生。这就是接下来要听的例子。

例句-4:I knew it would be a bad hair day when I learned I'd failed my English exam. In history class I found I'd left the paper at home that was due today. At lunch I spilled a cup of coffee all over myself with no time to go back and change.

他说:当我听说自己英文考试不及格的时候,就知道今天是个倒霉的日子。在历史课上我发现把今天得交的作业拉在家里了。吃午饭的时候我又打翻了一杯咖啡,溅得满身都是却没时间回家去换衣服。

这段话里的bad hair day意思还是不顺利的倒霉日子。



n.狭长的切口;裂缝;vt.切开,撕裂
  • The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
  • He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。
学英语单词
absorption reaction rate
abuse of law
acrobatic show
Aleksandrinka
Allo-PBSCT
application workspace
arbitrally
blinking method of stereoscopic viewing
brass watch case blank
Chilean tinamous
cixiid
clap-hand
common laburnum
compartment hot well
compartmentalised
conductivity
contra-cyclical measures
Coquimbo owl
cross platform
cyclotheric sedimentation
dc data set
determinable freeholds
diacetylurea
dicumarols
elasto-aerodynamics
erosional vacuity
erotematic
final thermomechanicaltreatment
Gamu
general most favoured nation clause
glory of the snow
green goodss
gyroso-
hally
haylee
hofners
hydrated stock
hyperthite
idiologism
in the jug
incidental cost
ioduretted
items sample
keep on trucking
kindjals
koevoets
laminated clay
Lasianthus formosensis
leveling off
macro-observation
magmatic circulation
marine windscreen
mGal, mgal
moisture measurer for sand and stone
muscle scars
N.C.
nbcc
nobeliums
nuclenoic
NuLab
on-state characteristic
peritoneal tap
phthioic acid
plate mangle
prends
prevention of collision
prolmon tablet
pyramidal cells
raw mast
reactor coolant system cold leg isolation valve
Regranex
relative-entropy
reliability index of generating system
risto
Rubus chiliadenus
sit down to
solti
standard reference materials
starch ester
static stability margin
stochastic procss
strict secrecy
stupiditarian
superior characters
switching pulse
symbiotic action
synedra undulata
synthetic nitrogenous fertilizer
systematic production of substitution lines
thuggish
total corneal transplantation
total variation decreasing scheme
Tuamarina
twin-screw conveyor
TWTA
ultraviolet radiations
unintentional nonlinearity
unquietous
wassily chair
wax string
y.m