中场休息时我们感到很不安(成语之“动物园”篇

（通过语境学习原汁原味的美国英语成语）

—Learning Western Culture Bit by Bit

跟其他任何语言一样，美国英语的成语构成也大量使用动物形象。Harry CoIⅠis 在《101个美国英语成语》中列举到10个原汁原味的美国英语成语，其中所提到的动物，要说构成一个动物园也不为过。请看

1.Cat got your tongue？（＝can't talk）哑口无言，无言以对

Come on, Connie! Tell us what you think about our little ride down the rapids yesterday.

Well, uh . .

Wasn't it exciting?

I…uh...

What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?

If you must know, I'm keeping quiet because I was scared out of my wits!

快点，康妮！告诉我们你对我们昨天的漂流有什么看法。

嗯呃…

不是很刺激吗？

我…呃…

哑口无言。怎么了？

如果你一定要知道，我保持沉默是因为我被吓得魂不附体！

2.Horse around(＝play around)胡闹，起哄，鬼混

Did you hear about Dave's back injury?

No. How did he get hurt?

Well, after the coach left the gym he decided to stay and horse around on the parallel bars. He somehow lost his grip and fell on his back.

That's too bad, but he shouldn't have been aimlessly playing around on the equipment without proper ，supervision.

你听说戴夫背部受伤了吗？

沒有，他是怎么受伤的？

嗯，教练离开健身房后，他决定留下来，在双杠上驰骋。他不知怎的失手摔地上了。

这太糟糕了，但他不应该在没有适当监督的情况下盲目地在设备上玩耍。

3.Straight from the horse's mouth(from a reliable source)来源可靠的

How did you find out that Jill was engaged?

I got the information from a very reliable source.

You mean Jill told you so herself?

That's right. I got it straight from the horse's mouth!

你怎么知道吉尔订婚了？

我从一个非常可靠的来源得到的信息。

你是说吉尔自己告诉你的？

没错。消息来源可靠。

4.For the birds(uninteresting and meaningless)无趣，无意义

They went to a poetry reading, but they got bored and restless. As far as they were concerned, it was for the birds! They left during an intermission because they found the reading totally uninteresting and meaningless.

他们去看了一场诗歌朗诵，但他们感到厌烦和不安。就他们而言真是无聊死了！他们在中场休息时离开了，因为他们发现诗朗涌索然无味，毫无意义。

5.Let the cat out of the bag（＝inform beforehand)露了马脚，泄漏秘密，提前透露消息

Bob was going to retire from teaching in June, and the foreign language department was planning on presenting him with some luggage at his retirement dinner. He wasn't supposed to know about it, but someone let the cat out of the bag. At the dinner Bob acted surprised,even though someone had told him what he was getting before the official presentation.

鲍勃将于6月份退休，外语系计划在他的退休晚宴上给他赠送点礼物。他本不应该知道这件事，但有人泄露了秘密。在晚宴上，鲍勃表现得很惊讶，尽管有人提前告诉了他会得到什么礼品。

6.horse of a different coⅠor

(＝quite a different matter)完全是另一码事

Eric likes to play jokes on his friends, but he makes sure that nobody is hurt by any of his pranks. A prank that hurts someone is a horse of a different color! Being playful is one thing, but hurting someone by one's prank is quite a different matter.

埃里克喜欢开朋友的玩笑，但他确保没有人被他的玩笑伤害。伤害别人的玩笑完全是另一码事！开玩笑是一回事，但玩笑伤害别人则另当别论。

7.take the buIⅠ by the horns

(＝take decisive action in a difficult situation)不畏艰险，勇敢面对危险

Julie had always felt that she was missing out on a lot of fun because of her clumsiness on the dance floor. She had been putting off taking lessons, but she finally took the bull by the horns and went to a professional dance studio for help. She was tired of feeling left out and acted

decistvely to correct the situation.

朱莉一直觉得，由于她在舞池里的笨拙，她错过了很多乐趣。她一直推迟去上课，但最终还是忍无可忍，去了一家专业舞蹈工作室寻求帮助。她厌倦了被排除的感觉，及时采取行动果断行动来修正这种状况。

8.fishy

(＝strange and suspicious)奇怪可疑的

When the security guard saw a light in the store after closing hours, it seemed to him that there was something fishy going on. He called the central office and explained to his superior that he thought something strange and suspicious was ourring.

当保安在关门后看到商店里亮起了灯，他觉得好像有什么可疑的事情发生了。他打电话给中央办公室，向上级解释说，他认为发生了一些奇怪和可疑的事情。

9.go to the dogs(＝bee run-down)破落，每况愈下

Have you seen their house lately? It's really gone to the dogs.

It's true that it has bee run-down and in serious need of repair, but I'm sure that it can be fixed up to look like new.

I guess with a littIe carpentry work and some paint it could look pretty decent.

你最近看过他们的房子吗？那真破旧不堪了。

的确，房子已经破旧不堪了，急需修理，但我相信它可以修理得像新的一样。

我想做一点木工活，再涂点油漆，看起来会很不错。

10.smeIl a rat(＝feel that something is wrong)感觉不对头，觉得可疑

How e the front door is open? Didn't you close it before we went shopping?

I'm sure I did. I can't

understand it.

Frankly, I smell a rat.

Me, too. I'm convinced that something is definitely wrong here.

We'd better call the police.

前门怎么开着？我们去购物之前你没关上吗？

我相信我关门了。我就纳闷。

老实说，我觉得不对劲。

我也是。我确信这里肯定出了什么问题。

我们最好报警。

声明本文根据Harry CoIⅠis 著《101个美国英语成语》相关章节编译。如有侵权，联系删除。欢迎阅读！感谢关注！持续推送中。