英語早間課堂:話說地道美語 Lesson 14 (1)
我們中文中有個(gè)成語叫做“妄自菲薄”。它出自于三國蜀.諸葛亮的《出師表》中。文中寫到：“不宜妄自菲薄，引喻失義，以塞忠諫之路也。”那么它是什么意思呢?妄自菲薄中的“妄”即“胡亂”之意，“菲薄”即“小看，輕視”之意。妄自菲薄的意思就是：過分地看輕自己。形容一個(gè)人“inferiority”，自卑。
In English, we have many ways to express it, such as: feel oneself inferior, self-abased , unduly humble oneself, belittle oneself a lot, underestimate one's own capabilities. However , we have a colourful idiom to express it. So, what's it? 那么現(xiàn)在就進(jìn)入我們新的一課的學(xué)習(xí)：Lesson Fourteen How to say “妄自菲薄”in real American English.
【課堂詳說】
朋友們，您準(zhǔn)備好了嗎?我們課堂詳解開始了。Let's listen to a dialogue to get that idiom.
A : None of the company agreed to employ me. Maybe it is my problem. B : You should be confident, honey. Don't sell yourself short.
對(duì)話中None of the company agreed to employ me. 沒有一家公司同意雇傭我。Maybe it is my problem. 或許真的是我的問題了。You should be confident, honey. 親愛的，你應(yīng)該自信點(diǎn)。Don't sell yourself short. 不要小看自己。
說到這里，想必大家都知道了“妄自菲薄”的說法是：sell oneself short. 這個(gè)習(xí)語的關(guān)鍵點(diǎn)在于sell short這個(gè)短語。為何“sell short”有“not to value something or somebody highly enough and show it by the way you treat it or present yourself”的意思呢?這個(gè)我們就要談到美國的文化。
Sell short最初使用股市中。在在股市趨勢(shì)“走上”的時(shí)候投資者就賣，而在股市趨勢(shì)走下的時(shí)候中，投資者就賣，這樣即可盈利。Sell for在股市中就是“賣空”的意思。Let's look at the following example sentences. 1 His father warned him not sell short in these days when the prices are rising. 他的父親警告他在價(jià)格上漲的這幾天不要賣空。2 We won't sell short to make our fortune. 我們不靠賣空來發(fā)財(cái)。
【課堂總結(jié)】
Firstly，我們學(xué)了如何用地道美語表示中文成語“妄自菲薄”的意思。它是：sell oneself short。Secondly，我們了解了sell short的引申義的由來，它跟股市有關(guān)。
【課后習(xí)題】
Please translate the following sentences into English with "sell oneself short".
1 別低估自己，仔細(xì)/認(rèn)真好好跟他談?wù)?
2 別小看自己的能力.但也別定出一個(gè)遙不可及的目標(biāo)。
3 不要妄自菲薄，你很聰明的。
4 凱特：我可不會(huì)低估你，邁克。你可比馬能干多了。
翻譯參考答案：
1 Don't sell yourself short. Talk turkey with him.
2 Never sell yourself short, but do not set a task for yourself which is utterly ridiculous.
3 Don't sell yourself short, you're very smart.
4 KITT:I would not sell yourself short, Michael. You are much more than a horse.
