lecture 27 Translation of idoms.ppt

Lecture 27 Translation of Idioms December 28, 2010 What is an idiom Idioms are words, phrases, or expressions that cannot be taken literally. In other words, when used in everyday language, they have a meaning other than the basic one you would find in the dictionary. Every language has its own idioms. Learning them makes understanding and using a language a lot easier and more fun! Examples (1) Burn the boat Castle in the air A bolt from the blue Six of one and half a dozen of the other One’s hair stands on end A wolf in sheeps clothing Hang by a hair To be on thin ice. Go in one ear and out the other Examples (2) Neither fish nor fowl A small bird wants but a small nest Leave no stone unturned Not your cup of tea Like a headless chicken (like a chicken with its head cut off) Examples (3) In a pig’s whisper 低声地,倾刻间 Hang on sb’s lips 洗耳恭听某人的话 Get cold feet 临阵畏缩 Soft soap 奉承、恭维、拍马 Oil and vinegar 水火不相容的东西 In the doghouse 身处危机很没面子; talk through one’s hat 说话不经大脑 Itchy feet 脚痒想换换环境 On the wagon 戒酒 fall off the wagon 戒酒后又开始喝酒 Throw good money after bad 想补偿损失反而损失更多;连老本都贴上 赔了夫人又折兵 Examples (4) Trojan horse; Sour grapes Sphinx’s riddle As wise as Solomon A Judas kiss Bury one’s head in the sand Trojan horse 这个成语出自荷马史诗《奥德赛》。希腊人和特洛伊人交战10年之久，胜负未决。最后，希腊著名的英雄奥德修斯(Odusseus)想出了一个木马计，用木头做了一匹巨马，放在特洛伊城外。全体希腊将士伪装撤退，乘船隐藏在附近的海湾里，而奥德修斯率领20名勇士事先藏进马肚。特洛伊人误认为希腊人已经败退，大开城门，看到城外的巨大木马，以为这是希腊人敬神的礼物，就把它当作战利品拖进城来，大摆宴席，欢庆胜利。到了半夜，特洛伊人好梦正在酣，毫无戒备的时候，藏在木马里的希腊英雄们都爬了出来，打开城门，发出信号，与附近海湾里返回的希腊大军里应外合，一举摧毁了特洛伊城。 Sour grapes sour grapes(酸葡萄)源自伊索寓言。你可能听说过狐狸和葡萄的故事，当狐狸得不到葡萄时，它说：反正它们还很酸呢！所以sour grapes(酸葡萄) 代表一种消极的态度。 Sphinx’s riddle “斯芬克司”一词源自希腊语Sphinx，是希腊神话中一个可怕的怪物，它长着女人的头、狮子的身躯，身上还有两只翅膀。传说中，狮身人面的女怪斯芬克司生性残酷无比，常常守在大路口，让过往的行人猜一个谜，猜错了就要被吃掉。有一次，一位国王的儿子被斯芬克司吃掉了，国王一怒之下，发出悬赏：“谁能把它制服，就给他王位。”青年俄狄浦斯(Oedipus)应召前去，很快就道破谜底，斯芬克司便自杀了。 这个世界著名的谜语是：What goes on four feet, on two feet, and three, but the more feet it goes on, the weaker it will be.其谜底是Man. Because he crawls first, then walks on two feet, uses a ca