时间:2019-02-17 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

  今天我们要讲的习惯用语是包罗万象。当然, 这不是说这一课要把所有的习惯用语都包括在内, 而是说今天要谈的习惯用语的意思都是“一古脑儿统统在内,”而且它们有个共同的词: whole。大家一定知道, whole这个词就解释为“全部的。” 我们要学的第一个习惯用语是:the whole shooting match。 Shooting match原来的意思是射击比赛。

打枪是早年在美国新大陆谋生所必不可少的本领, 因为他们既需要猎取野物, 又得用枪防身。而且在当年的荒山野地里射击还是唯一的消遣娱乐活动, 人们常常会集到一块儿来进行shooting match, 看谁的枪法最准, 而奖品则往往是火鸡或猪。所以shooting match还是当年拓荒生活的一大盛举。然而我们不清楚为什么the whole shooting match被用来表示“全部, 一切,” 只知道从 1750年前后起, 人们就这样说了。

听个例子吧。这段话说的是个有钱的老人。他的亲戚们眼巴巴地盼望着分他的遗产。我们要听听当他果真去世后, 却发生了什么。

例句-1:At least a dozen relatives with smiles on their faces came to hear the lawyer read the will. Imagine their shock to hear he'd left the whole shooting match to a young lady friend.

他说:至少有一打亲戚都满面笑容地赶来听律师宣读遗嘱, 当听到他把遗产一古脑儿全给了他那年轻的女朋友时候, 他们简直象遭到晴天霹雳一样。

The whole shooting match意思是“全部, 一切。”

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再学个意义相似的习惯用语: the whole kit 1 and caboodle。 习惯用语the whole kit and caboodle存在至今有一百五十来年了。 Kit解释为一套设备, 而caboodle可能来自一个古老的荷兰语词汇。原意是“产业、财产。”在口语中有“一整套”的意思。所以the whole kit and caboodle组成短语就是“一切所有”了。

接下来我们要听个例子。说话的人在回忆自己和妻子的年青时代, 当时他们虽然一贫如洗, 但是勇于冒险, 富有闯劲, 有四海为家的精神。

例句-2:Moving was easy back then. We decided 2 to move to California, so we loaded everything we owned - the whole kit and caboodle - in our old car and we drove all the way across the USA.

他说:当年搬家可真方便。我们决定要搬到加州去, 于是把自己的一切所有往我们那旧车上一装, 就开车上路横跨整个美国了。

这段话里的the whole kit and caboodle意思是“一切所有。”

******

最后再学个同样意思的习惯用语: the whole shebang。专家认为shebang这个词来自爱尔兰。原来指一种简陋的小房子, 人们专门在那儿私下酿造和出售whisky 3。至于the whole shebang怎么会被借用来表示“全部”的呢? 这已经无从查考了。实际上很多习惯用语都是普通民众创造的。他们别出心裁, 寻求新颖的方式来表达日常的老生常谈, 使得语言更有趣味, 而一旦这个新说法迎合大众的心意, 它就广为流传, 逐渐汇入日常生活中的语言主流了。所以学术专家们往往找不到那些习惯用语的出典。

我们还是听个例子吧。它用了the whole shebang这个习惯用语。说话的人要告诉我们他叔叔服装店发生的一场火灾。火灾中发生了什么事情, 请特别注意其中的习惯用语the whole shebang。

例句-3:The fire got out of control, and burned everything: the goods, the furniture, the records - the whole shebang. It was a total loss - a good thing uncle had plenty of fire insurance.

他说:大火来势凶猛无法控制, 货物, 家具, 帐本等全都化为乌有。幸亏叔叔买了数额不小的火险。

这里的the whole shebang意思也是“全部, 一切。”



n.用具包,成套工具;随身携带物
  • The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
  • The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
n.威士忌酒
  • I'm sure this whisky has been watered down.我敢肯定这瓶威士忌掺过水了。
  • She poured herself a large tot of whisky.她给自己倒了一大杯威士忌。
学英语单词
active immunity
ajaccios
Almyropotamos
Ameca
amedo
angon
average daily calling rate
ball and inner ring assembly
barge to barge transfer
bills drawn under letter of credit
binary to decimal conversion
binnein mor
blowing spray
bomb calorimeters
branches at home and abroad
brick laid with mortar
capricorn beetle
carib woods
chimbley
complete set of eigenstates
contact flange
core and winding assembly
darrayne
disprovide
diverting dam
draw ... up
drift epoch
droseras
electron paramagnetic resonance
europium acetate
exchange volume
field investment
flairing
gemmifications
general call signal
Gentiloni
genus pedilanthuss
global liquidity
gone over
Hai Phong
heat-producing reaction
hflo
independent fault
inlaces
internal fuel
ionic speaker
irreversible circulation
ks-standard loading
latex examination gloves
LAVINIA
lipophilic compound
literatize
Loboc
macrocyclic compounds
metal-semiconductor-metal diode
monosuits
nonpsychological
notched furnace
oil sump tank
pallidofugal
Parafasciolopsis
pass-over offset
pentaradiate
pickup points
Pillsbury, Lake
plaque-infested port
plasma lipids
playdohs
public lawyer
Puccinia epimedii
put one's best foot first
radicicol
ratten-
readmitance
reclaiming by centrifuge
red-shank
relational instruction
resource productivity
sampling length
scare someone out of his wits
seasonal group profile code
settleability test
small wiring
soft corruption
spoliation
steam and gas
stereochemical formula
sun-bathing
suppression hangover time
tax reimbursement for export
thermofocal
tracepoint
tunnel in rock
twofold degeneracy
uncorrugated
unfavorable variance
union colourimeter
wetting of cloth
whidder
Wycakon-G
yudha