“馬”到成功 Hor Expressions(英語學(xué)習(xí))

2024年2月9日發(fā)(作者：女媧成長日記)

“馬”到成功 Hor Expressions（英語學(xué)習(xí)）

發(fā)音：美式發(fā)音

語速：110詞/分鐘

使用方法：精聽+聽寫

在古代,馬在人們的日常生活中至關(guān)重要,因此無論中外,衍生了眾多與“馬”有關(guān)的俗語。馬到功成、一馬當(dāng)先、千軍萬馬、龍馬精神……這些都是中文里耳熟能詳?shù)某烧Z。那么本期,我們就一起來看看,英文中與“馬”相關(guān)的習(xí)語又有哪些呢。

In the past, many people depended on hors for transportation, farming

and other kinds of work. A lot of people still like to ride hors. And

hor racing is also popular. So it is not surprising that Americans still u

expressions about the animals.

Long ago, people who were rich or important rode hors that were very

tall. Today, if a girl acts like she is better than everyone el, you might

say she should get off her high hor.

Yesterday my children wanted me to take them to the playground. But I

had to finish my work, so I told them to hold your hors. Wait until I

finish what I am doing. My two boys like to compete against each other

and play in a violent way. I always tell them to stop horsing around or

someone could get hurt.

We live in a small town. It does not have any exciting activities to offer

visitors. My children call it a one-hor town.

Last night, I got a telephone call while I was watching my favorite

television show. I decided not to answer it becau wild hors could not

drag me away from the television. There was nothing that could stop me

from doing what I wanted to do.

Sometimes you get information straight from the hor’s mouth. It comes

directly from the person who knows most about the subject and is the best

source. Let us say your teacher tells you there is going to be a test

tomorrow. You could say you got the information straight from the

hor’s mouth. However, you would not want to call your teacher a hor!

You may have heard this expression: You can lead a hor to water, but

you cannot make him drink. That means you can give someone advice

but you cannot force him to do something he does not want to do.

Sometimes a person fights a battle that has been decided or keeps arguing

a question that has been ttled. We say this is like beating a dead hor.

In politics, a dark-hor candidate is someone who is not well known to

the public. Sometimes, a dark hor unexpectedly wins an election.

Another piece of advice is, do not change hors in midstream. You

would not want to get off one hor and on to another in the middle of a

river. Or make major changes in an activity that has already begun. In the

past, this expression was ud as an

argument to re-elect a president, especially during a time when the

country was at war.

● 要知道短語“get off one’s high hor”的意思,先要搞清楚“high

hor”的象征義。在過去,馬是人們主要的交通工具,但是只有貴族或身份地位較高的人,才有資格騎著高挑的駿馬橫行四方。因此,“high

hor”也就被賦予了高高在上、自命不凡的意味。“get off one’s high

hor”即是放下架子、不再顯擺的意思。

● “hold one’s hors”從字面來看,是拉著馬不讓它前進(jìn)的意思。這個習(xí)慣用語大概起源于十九世紀(jì),一輛馬車通常由好幾匹馬來拉,駕馭馬車的車夫在出發(fā)前都要拉住馬匹,作好充分準(zhǔn)備再出發(fā)。因此,這個短語也譯為“不要急”、“等一下”。不過,如今這個短語的使用已經(jīng)與馬或馬車沒有直接關(guān)系了,比如說,一個小孩闖了禍,他告訴父親:“Hold your

hors before I tell you everything!”(別急,先聽我把全部事情說清楚!)

● 在“hor around”這個短語中,hor不作名詞“馬”之解,而是一個動詞。“hor around”是嬉鬧、開玩笑的意思。在口語對話中,有時候“I’m

just horsing around.”這句話也可等同于“I’m just kidding.” 例如:

A: You have something on your shirt… (你襯衣上沾了東西……)

B: What (什么東西)

A: I’m just horsing around. (我跟你開玩笑而已。)

● 在過去一些既小又落后的地方,整個村子只有一匹馬,因此“one-hor town”也就是指這些窮得僅有一匹馬的窮鄉(xiāng)僻壤。當(dāng)然,今天我們不再以馬匹的多少來衡量一個鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)的進(jìn)步與落后,但人們還是習(xí)慣用“one-hor town”來形容一個落后的小鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)。

● 短語“wild hors could not drag someone away”形象地描繪了一個人的固執(zhí)、堅定或熱情,以至于連雄壯的野馬都無法把人拖開。中文有個相對應(yīng)的俗語,叫“八臺轎子也抬不動”,說的也是同樣的意思。

● 據(jù)說馴馬師或馬販子都通過看馬有幾顆牙齒來確定它的年齡。馬第一年長出兩顆門齒,以后每年長兩顆新牙。所以要知道馬的年齡,“直接從馬的嘴里就知道了”。因此,“straight from the hor’s mouth”也可引申為“(消息)直接來自當(dāng)事人”,證明消息真實可靠。例如:Lisa will be

promoted to manager. The boss told me himlf. It’s straight from the

hor’s mouth! (麗薩會升為經(jīng)理。這是老板親口告訴我的,絕對真實可靠!)

● 中文的俗語“師傅引進(jìn)門,修行靠個人”在英語中該怎么表達(dá)恰恰就是這句“You can lead a hor to water, but you cannot make him drink.”

● “beat a dead hor”,鞭打一匹死馬會有什么反應(yīng)當(dāng)然是毫無反應(yīng)。這個短語類似于中文的“對牛彈琴”,表示徒勞無益、白費功夫的意思。另外需要注意的是,這個短語較常用于進(jìn)行時態(tài),例如:You’re beating a

dead hor. You know I’ll never say yes.(你別費口水了,你知道我永遠(yuǎn)不會答應(yīng)的。)

● “dark hor”譯為黑馬,是我們常常聽到的一個詞,通常用來形容一個本來默默無聞,卻突然爆冷,獲得成功的人。這個詞起源于賽馬場,指那些沒有名氣、賭客不甚了解的馬。它后來進(jìn)入政治領(lǐng)域,形容兩個政黨勢均力敵進(jìn)行爭奪時,有另外一個殺出重圍獲得關(guān)注的黨派。

● “Do not change hors in midstream.”是一句諺語,字面意思是“行到

河中不換馬”。這里,“midstream”指水流湍急的河中央,用來比喻比較危急的情況。因此,這個句子也就被引申為“臨陣不換將”、“不要在緊要關(guān)頭改變策略”等意思。