英式英语和美式英语之别

 　　得益于美国文化的全球化传播，世界范围内说英语的人们已经知晓一些奇奇怪怪的美式英语表达，如 bury the hatchet、pass the buck 1 和 take a rain check，（有关11个流行表达方式的解释）。但无论看过多少好来坞电影，总还是有一些美式俚语的含义让人出其不意。让我们通过下面的十道题测试一下你对当下美语短语的理解如何。

　　英式英语和美式英语之别——令英国人糊涂的美式短语
　　1. If something ‘jumped the shark’, then it:
　　A. Avoided payment of overdue 2 loans
　　B. Began a period of inexorable decline in quality or popularity
　　C. Escaped from a dangerous situation
　　D. Went down to Florida for the winter
　　2. A ‘Monday morning quarterback’ is someone who:
　　A. Is obsessed 3 with American football
　　B. Is an early enthusiast 4 for something
　　C. Loves getting things done at the start of the week
　　D. Passes judgment 5 on and criticizes something after the event
　　3. A ‘horse of another color’ would refer to:
　　A. An unrelated matter with distinctly different meaning
　　B. The odd one out
　　C. A person from a different state
　　D. A missed opportunity
　　4. Someone who ‘bought the farm’ has:
　　A. Died
　　B. Come into new wealth
　　C. Paid off a mortgage
　　D. Made an awkward comment
　　5. If you were to ‘lay an egg’, then you would be:
　　A. Really angry
　　B. Hungry
　　C. Completely unsuccessful
　　D. Opportunistic
　　6. A ‘Bronx cheer’ refers to:
　　A. A sound of derision or contempt made by blowing through closed lips
　　B. A chant popularized by fans of the New York Yankees
　　C. The sound of a car horn
　　D. A stabbing
　　7. If we need to ‘put on the dog’, then we would:
　　A. Chase behind a car
　　B. Be servile
　　C. Eat hot dogs for dinner
　　D. Behave in an ostentatious way
　　8. Something ‘up the wazoo’ is:
　　A. In Canada
　　B. In a desperate situation
　　C. At the bottom of a lake
　　D. In great quantity
　　9. If you ‘talked turkey’, then you would be:
　　A. Lying about your true intentions
　　B. Insulting someone behind their back
　　C. Discuss something frankly 6 and straightforwardly 7
　　D. Obsessed with Thanksgiving planning
　　10. A John Hancock refers to:
　　A. A person’s signature
　　B. An elderly person
　　C. A revolutionary
　　D. A breakfast sandwich
　　答案
　　1. B
　　Jump the shark（走下坡路）一词源于很流行的一档美剧Happy Hours，在第五季第一集的剧情里，人物Fonzie去划水，并跳过了一条鲨鱼。这个剧情的设计饱受纷争，在此之后剧集质量下滑，观众人数下降。这一现象产生了这个短语，用以指代电视剧或电影情节达到某个分水岭，在此只为出奇而引入一些荒唐可笑的剧情，表明质量开始下降。
　　例句：It had its faults - some say it jumped the shark when Niles and Daphne got married - and,as with any long-running show, it could get tiresome 8 sometimes.
　　2. D
　　Monday morning quarterback （事后诸葛亮，马后炮）源于美国橄榄球赛，星期日比赛后，星期一早上各家媒体会就昨日比赛做出各式批评和评论。Quarterback 是橄榄球赛中的四分卫，相当于全队进攻的核心，因此球赛的评论也多是把四分卫作为焦点。该短语作为非正式的用法，比喻事后做出判断和批评，自作聪明的事后诸葛亮。
　　例句：I'm getting a little sick and tired of the Monday morning quarterbacks out there determining that she did something wrong.
　　3. A
　　A horse of another / a different color 这一短语指有明显不同意义的不相关事物，即完全不是一回事。它可能是从莎士比亚喜剧《第十二夜》中的 “a horse of the same color”短语发展而来。
　　例句：Buxton Forman's A Shelley Library,however, was a horse of a different colour.
　　4. A
　　短语 buy the farm 在美式英语中可表示“死亡”。它源于美国军事俚语，但词源学家也不能肯定其出处。这或许是在暗示某种情况，即一个农场因为军用飞机坠毁而受损，其农场主的损失将由政府承担。若是飞机遭遇致命的空难，飞行员大概会毙命。
　　例句： I refused to admit to my recklessness, even when I nearly bought the farm
　　5. C
　　如果说某人 lay an egg，那就是说这个人很不成功，很失败。当然，如果是母鸡 lay an egg，那就是下了个蛋。
　　例句：The magazine really laid an egg with this article, which ranks right up there with the worst and most inaccurate 9 articles they have ever published.
　　6. A
　　Bronx cheer 是用嘴吹出嘘声，表示蔑视和嘲笑。Bronx 是纽约市的布朗克斯区，纽约扬基棒球队的发源地。该短语与 blow a raspberry 近义。
　　例句：She shuddered 10, making a noise like a Bronx cheer. / He blew a long, loud raspberry, spraying Bob with spittle.
　　7. D
　　Put on the dog：（北美非正式）Behave in a pretentious 11 or ostentatious way。如果你“表现成一只狗”，那就是说你表现出自命不凡的拽样。词源学家也不很确定这一词组的确切来源，有一些人曾认为这是源于贵妇们的“lap dog/哈巴狗”这一概念。Lap dog可指无主见、奉承和势力的人。
　　例句：The CEO put on the dog today as he welcomed customers to the enterprise software company's annual users' conference.
　　8. C
　　Up / out the wazoo：（北美非正式）大量的。Wazoo /w??zu?/一词指臀部、屁股。该词的来源无法得知。
　　例句：A terrorist has no problem at all getting fake I.D. up the wazoo. / You're right, those two have issues out the wazoo, and Lana is off to find out why.
　　9. C
　　讲土耳其语是什么意思？它指坦率地说，毫无保留；言归正传，讨论不利的事实等。辞典学家也不知道词组的真实来源，有些人假定可能和感恩节有关。那这里就不是土耳其语而是火鸡喽？
　　例句：she promised to go talk turkey with the representatives
　　10. A
　　John Hancock 为什么有签名的含义呢？John Hancock（1737-1793年）是美国的革命家和政治家。他是北美第一届和第二届大陆会议的成员，第一任大陆会议主席（1775-1777年）。美国的《独立宣言》由 Thomas Jefferson 起草，在第二届大陆会议上通过。John Hancock 是在《独立宣言》上第一个签字的人，且签名很大。随后“John Hancock”就成为签名一词的代名词。