时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:实用英语


英语课

 一大早,同事就来抱怨:“我本想办一个小型的私人聚会,没想到老婆把该请的、不该请的全请来了!” 呵呵,“这该请的,不该请的”该如何用英语来表达呢?看好了!“Every Tom, Dick and Harry 1”。


当然,这里的“Tom,Dick and Harry”泛指的是普通人,有点象汉语里的“张三、李四、王二”。不过,在用法上,这一表达更含有蔑视意,特指“非常非常一般、毫无半点建树的普通人”,如:Every Tom, Dick and Harry is qualified 2 to do the job.(这活儿谁都能干!)
究其渊源,“every Tom, Dick and Harry”最早可追溯到莎翁的戏剧,不过,他老人家当时仅用“Francis(弗朗西斯)”一个人名来代指“无足轻重的小人物”。到了19世纪,由于“Harry”成了极其普遍的“大众名”,人们于是开始用“Harry”、外加“Tom”和“Dick”,来指代“受人轻视的普通人”。
话题讲到此也该画上句号了。不过,同事那句抱怨话可得记着如何表达哦,说不定下次你也用的上:“I wanted this to be a small, private party, but my wife invited every Tom, Dick and Harry.”

1 harry
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
2 qualified
adj.合格的,有资格的,胜任的,有限制的
  • He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
  • We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。
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