美国习惯用语第856:put in mothballs
时间:2019-03-14 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语
英语课
美国习惯用语第855:迫不得已的时候(音频)
put in mothballs
我最近建议制作一个新节目,以美国语言和文化为主题,举行相关的知识竞赛,大家都说是个好主意,让我立即开始做。
谁知我的一个同事突然请长假,她的工作全都推给了我,结果我的新节目还没开始,就被无限期搁置了。
这在英语里叫:put in mothballs. Mothball在中文里是卫生球,樟脑丸。put in mothballs, 就是束之高阁,无限期搁置的意思。My show idea has been put in mothballs. 我新节目的提案就这样被无限期地搁置起来了,不知道什么时候才有时间去做。
很多人喜欢收藏旧东西,不舍得扔,其实,这些看似没用的东西有时也能派上用场。让我们听听下面例子里这个父亲是怎么说的。
例句-1:My son loves the ice skates his grandmother gave him. I don't think he realizes they had been mine when I was his age. Mom had put them in mothballs, not sure if anyone would ever get any use from them. I'm sure glad she'd decided 1 not to throw them out.
这个人说:我儿子特别喜欢奶奶送他的冰鞋。其实他可能不知道,这双冰鞋是我小时候穿过的,后来被妈妈收了起来,并不知道以后会不会有人能穿。她没把这双冰鞋丢掉,让我太高兴了。
我祖母也是一样,什么东西都不舍得扔。She puts everything in mothballs. 家里跟个二手店似的。英语里有个词专门形容这种人, packrat。
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刚才说到,我祖母什么都不舍得扔,经常拿个旧打字机什么的老古董问我要不要。你别说,有时候还真有点儿值钱的东西。我觉得,她可以把所有东西都捐给下面这个例子里正在筹备中的历史博物馆。让我们一起听。
例句-2:Our town clearly supports building a history museum. But the mayor came out to say that he's putting the proposal in mothballs for now. Apparently 2 there isn't enough funding available. Still, no one's giving up hope that it can be reconsidered in the not-to-distant future.
他说:我们镇里的人显然都很赞成建一个历史博物馆,但是镇长却说,他要暂时把这项提案搁置起来,因为没有足够的资金。不过,大家都不肯放弃,希望不久的将来这项提案会重新被考虑。
很多项目不能上马,问题都出在资金上。我的一个朋友在美国航空航天局工作,他开发的很多项目都是因为缺少联邦拨款而处于停顿状态。
Put in mothballs, 最早是二十世纪四十年代出现的,如果更简单一点的话,可以直接把mothball做为动词来用。比如我可以说,My show idea has been mothballed. 或者说The mayor is mothballing the proposal for a new museum.
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。
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
- An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
- He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
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习惯用语