源自莎翁的现代英语短语.docVIP

源自莎翁的现代英语短语在一门语言的发展历程中有过很多表达，有的已淹没于历史的洪流，有的却随着经典的文学作品留存下来，进入我们的日常生活，普通到你甚至不知道它们原来竟有那么大的来头…… William Shakespeare gave the world many gifts in his writing, and some of them have stuck1) over the centuries. Many expressions in the English language trace their first appearance in the works of Shakespeare, but people tend to think of his writing as very “fancy” and don’t associate everyday words with classic English. Have a look. You just might be surprised to see that you quote Shakespeare every day without even knowing it! 莎士比亚的作品给世界带来了许多礼物，其中一些已经留存数百年之久。追根溯源，英语中有许多表达都是在莎士比亚的作品中首次亮相的，但人们往往认为他的文字很“华丽”，并不会将英语日常用语与古典英语联系起来 来看看吧！你也许会惊讶地发现，你每天都在引用莎士比亚的话，自己却甚至毫不知情！ In a pickle2) The term, meaning to be in a difficult position, was coined3) by Shakespeare in The Tempest, 1610. The earliest pickles were spicy sauces made to accompany meat dishes. Later, in the 16th century, the name pickle was also given to a mixture of spiced, salted vinegar that was used as a preservative4). The “in trouble” meaning of “in a pickle” was an allusion5) to being as disoriented6) and mixed up7) as the stewed vegetables that made up pickles. Short shrift8) In the play Richard III, 1594, the expression was used in its original form, which described the small space of time between condemnation9) and execution. A shrift is a penance10) imposed by a priest in a confession in order to provide absolution11), often when the confessor was near to death. In the 17th century, criminals were sent to the scaffold12) immediately after sentencing and only had time for a “short shrift” before being hanged. Today the term is still in use, but meaning more to make short work of13)―to give little consideration to. Salad days This expression was first used by Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra in 1606, speaking of her salad days when she was green14) in judgment. The phrase “salad days” lay dormant15) for two hundred years or more but became used widely in the 19th century. For exa