英語早間課堂:話說地道美語 Lesson 23(2)之七

第九、我們可以說dress sb down. In English it means "to criticize or be angry with sb because they have done sth wrong". 中文意思是訓(xùn)斥，責(zé)罵。我們通過下面的例句來熟悉這個(gè)動(dòng)詞短語的意思。

下面的這個(gè)例句是關(guān)于人們對英國前首相撒切爾夫人的評(píng)論——For many Britons accustomed to watching Thatcher browbeat enemies and dress down aides, it seemed like only a matter of time before her support for Major would cool. 對很多看慣撒切爾向她的政敵怒目而視或斥責(zé)僚屬的英國人來說，她對梅杰的支持遲早都會(huì)冷卻。

注解1：單詞 accustomed [??k?st?md] 習(xí)慣了的; 適應(yīng)了的 Thatcher ['θæt??] 撒切爾(前英國首相) (thatcher 蓋屋匠) browbeat ['braubi:t] 嚇唬，威逼 aide [eid] 助手, 副官, 侍從武官 cool 冷卻

注解2：短語be accustomed to sth ( doing sth )是“習(xí)慣于某事”“習(xí)慣于做某事”的意思。例如：Conditions here are not what she's accustomed to. 這里的條件不是她所習(xí)慣享受的。My eyes slowly grew accustomed to the gloom. 我的眼睛對黑暗慢慢適應(yīng)了。(grow accustomed和be accustomed比較)

注解3：watch sb do sth這個(gè)動(dòng)詞短語結(jié)構(gòu)，意思是觀看某人做某事，看某人做某事。賓語sb后面的補(bǔ)足語是用動(dòng)詞原形，也有watch sb doing sth這個(gè)動(dòng)詞短語結(jié)構(gòu)，它們之間的區(qū)別就在于看對方在做這件事，是不是當(dāng)時(shí)對方的動(dòng)作正在發(fā)生。我們來看2個(gè)例子來辨析：I watched her go out of the room just now. 我看見她剛才出去了。(這句話中的我看這個(gè)動(dòng)作，看到的是她出去，出去的這個(gè)動(dòng)作整個(gè)過程，話句話說就是強(qiáng)調(diào)事實(shí)。)The girl is watching the the chief stealing something. 那個(gè)女孩在看見小偷正在偷東西。(這句話中女孩觀看的時(shí)候，看的時(shí)候小偷偷東西這個(gè)動(dòng)作正在發(fā)生，這里強(qiáng)調(diào)動(dòng)作。)

注解3：短語a matter of time是指(某事肯定發(fā)生只是)時(shí)間問題，是遲早的事情。例如：It was only a matter of time. 一切不過只是時(shí)間早晚的問題。Thoughts of you dance through my mind. Knowing, it is just a matter of time. 我知道對你的思念揮之不去。知道，這只是個(gè)時(shí)間問題。

It is (only ) a matter of time before+從句可以視為一個(gè)句型，意思是某事情(或某種情況)是遲早會(huì)發(fā)生的事情。 例如：It is only a matter of time before some companies go under. 部分公司破產(chǎn)也只是時(shí)間的問題。(備注： go under = go broke , run outof bank, go bankrupt 破產(chǎn) )

注解4：短語support for sb/sth是“對......支持”“支撐.......”的意思。例如：They are trying to win support for their proposals.他們在努力爭取人們支持他們的建議。Support for his cabinet has risen sharply in the past week. 在過去一周里，他的內(nèi)閣的支持率已急劇上升。(備注：in the past week 在過去的一周)

注解5：該句話的狀語就是一個(gè)在介詞短語For many Britons，后面的accustomed to watching Thatcher browbeat enemies and dress down aides是過去分詞短語做后置定語，這個(gè)過去分詞中又含有一個(gè)介詞短語to watching Thatcher browbeat enemies and dress down aides，在這個(gè)介詞短語中含有動(dòng)詞+賓語+賓語的補(bǔ)足語這樣的結(jié)構(gòu)，而且賓語的補(bǔ)足語又是由動(dòng)詞原形來充當(dāng)，賓語補(bǔ)足語又是由2個(gè)并且的動(dòng)賓結(jié)構(gòu)構(gòu)成。句子的主要部分是it seemed like only a matter of time before her support for Major would cool. 這是一個(gè)含有時(shí)間狀語從句的復(fù)合句。Seem在主句中是做系動(dòng)詞，like是介詞，seem like意思是看上去像......，好像。

Dress down除了有“嚴(yán)厲斥責(zé)”的意思，還有“穿著隨意”的意思。例如：You can't dress down in diplomatic occasions. 在外交場合你不能穿著隨便。Many companies have an official dress down day once a month or so, on which employees may wear blue jeans, running shoes, and T-shirts to the office - in other words,wear their weekend clothes to work. 許多公司大約一個(gè)月就有一次法定的“便裝日”，在這一天，雇員們可以穿著藍(lán)牛仔褲、球鞋和T恤衫去辦公室——也就是說，穿著度周末時(shí)的衣服去上班。(備注：or so 大約 in other words 換句話說，用別的話說)

那么dress down的反義詞很容易聯(lián)想就是dress up，它的意思是盛裝打扮，穿著嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)。例如：Her maid helped her to dress up for the party. 他的女仆幫助他穿上參加晚會(huì)的禮服。