陸明看到英文雜志上有很多奇怪的語言,于是就到Alice家中請教。樓上咚咚咚咚的敲鼓聲一直持續(xù)不斷,到了晚上12點后還聽見樓上咚咚咚咚的敲鼓聲。陸明問Alice是怎么回事,Alice說是樓上的人在練習爵士鼓,她也挺夠煩的了,已經(jīng)無數(shù)次地警告過他們在10點后就不要再敲了??蓸巧系娜税袮lice的話當作耳邊風。Alice氣憤地說起此事時,陸明頓起疑惑,經(jīng)一番解釋后陸明明白了,可是最后又迸出了一句讓Alice想破頭也想不出的話。
陸明的疑惑是什么呢?Alice又是如何解釋的呢?Alice想破頭也想不出的話又是什么呢?我想您也很想知道,那么,我們就帶著這3個疑問來看看陸明在Alice家中他們倆的對話內(nèi)容。
Luming : Do you hear some drums upstairs? What is the matter?
你聽到了樓上的鼓聲了嗎?怎么回事呀?
Alice : Sure. I've asked them over and over again to practice before 11, and it's 12 now. This is the last straw. I have to say he is a son of a bitch.
我一而再再而三地叫他在11點之前練習,但現(xiàn)在是午夜了,簡直是the last straw了,我不得不要罵粗話了,他這個狗娘養(yǎng)的。
Luming : The last straw? It's none of our chatting.
最后一根稻草?你跑題了吧,最后一個稻草跟我們談話毫無關(guān)系呀。
Alice : You must be puzzled by the phrase " the last straw". Well, " the last straw " means "when a series of bad things happen to you, the last straw is the final thing that you cannot tolerate. "
你一定是被這個習語“the last straw”搞糊涂了。那么,“The last straw”的意思是當一系列壞事發(fā)生在你身上,最后一件突破你忍受極限的壞事就是讓你忍無可忍的事情。
Luming : Oh, I see. You cannot put up with the noise upstairs! This is the last straw!
哦,我明白了!你無法忍受樓上的噪音。就是你忍無可忍了!
Alice : Exactly.
正是此意。
Luming : But... I think, you can thing out some ways to give him some colour to see see.
但是你可以想出些點子給他一點顏色看看。
現(xiàn)在大家都清楚了吧,陸明起的疑惑是不知道地道英語the last straw的意思。而Alice想破頭也不會想出的是我們地道的表示“教訓某人”中文用語:給某人一點顏色看看。
正如Alice所言,the last straw means " the last in a series of difficulties and unpleasant things after which the situation is unbearable",中文意思即:(一些列打擊,不愉快事件中)最終使人無法忍受的事情;終于導致垮臺的因素;導火索。我們再來看一個小對話:
A: When he told me I had to work overtime, that was it.
當他告訴我我必須加班的時候,我受夠了。
B: The last straw, huh?
你是忍無可忍了,是嗎?
A: Yes, he's really pushed me too far.
是的,他對我太過分了。
B: I know what you mean.
我知道你的意思。
我們中文中說“給他點顏色看看”就是教訓某人一頓的意思,而陸明則說:“You can give him some colour to see see!”再如:If you no three no four, I will give you color see see! 如果你不三不四,我將給你點顏色看看! 陸明應該這么說:“You can think out some way to give him a lesson.”。