盤點與“喵星人”有關的英文慣用語

1. Cats hide their claws.

“貓藏利爪而不露”，意思是，告誡那些與人交往毫無戒備之心的人，意思與“知人知面不知心”差不多。

2. The cat shuts its eyes when stealing cream.

這一句是嘲笑那些掩耳盜鈴者。(貓咪喜歡偷奶油嗎?這好像是老鼠喜歡做的事情哦。)

3. The cat did it.

做錯了事情，用“這是貓干的”來推卸責任?？赡苁且驗樨堖湎矚g到處亂跑吧，難免會造成一點小亂子啦!

4. When the cat's away, the mice will play.

貓是老鼠的天敵。沒有貓，老鼠就會肆意妄為。在中世紀的歐洲，基督教徒曾認定貓是魔鬼附身的動物，數(shù)以萬計的貓因此被處死。不料，貓的厄運招致老鼠的猖獗。很快，鼠害成災，黑死病一波接一波的橫掃歐洲大陸。這段慘痛的歷史教訓充分證明“貍貓不在，老鼠鬧債”——When the cat's away, the mice will play.

類似諺語也出現(xiàn)在其他歐洲語言中。在法國，人們說“只要貓上了房，老鼠就在地上忙”——When the cat runs on the roofs, the mice dance on the floors.

德國人則說“家里沒了貓，老鼠伸懶腰”——Cat outside the house, response for the mouse。

5. A cat may look at a king.

“貓也可以傲視國王”，意思是，“既然貓都可以傲視國王，那么人人平等更是理所當然，小小老百姓也應該有說話的權利。”這一成語來源于德國。據(jù)說16世紀巴伐利亞國王馬克西米利安一世曾造訪一家木雕作坊。作坊主的貓一直懶洋洋地臥在桌上看著這個國王，臉上滿是猜疑的神情。這只貓能肯定想不到，一句諺語會因它而生——“貓也能傲視皇帝”(Darf doch die Katze den Kaiser ansehen. "Even a cat may look at an Emperor.")。到了法國，這句話成了“狗也能傲視主教”(Un chien regarde bien un eveque. "Even a dog may look at a bishop.")

6. A cat has nine lives.

英語國家的人相信，貓這種動物命大，福大，造化大。2001年，美洲動物醫(yī)療協(xié)會雜志刊登過一份研究報告，研究人員調(diào)查了132起貓從高空墜地的事件，墜地的平均高度是六層樓，結(jié)果百分之九十的貓墜地后都存活下來了。它們在空中靈活地翻轉(zhuǎn)身體，四肢著地，爪子上的肉墊大大緩解了墜地時的沖力。古人對此肯定也有所了解，認為“貓有九條命”(A cat has nine lives。)。下面這段故事講一條名叫“船長”的小獵狗如何命大，就以“貓有九條命”做對照：

Mischief was Captain's middle name. One time, I remember he decided to take a look at the roof of the conservatory. Portly little Captain found his way out on to the roof much to Mr Woolley's dismay. He then followed in the Captain's foot-step, or should I say paw prints, in order to rescue his poor hound. Unfortunately Mr Woolley slipped and spent the next a few days unconscious in hospital. But Captain was fine. Talk about a cat's nine lives!

7. He's like a cat; fling him which way you will. He'll light on his legs.

貓之所以摔不死，是因為它們高超的著地本領。過去形容一個人大難不死或逢兇化吉，就說“他像一只貓，不管怎么扔，都會以腿著地”(He's like a cat; fling him which way you will. He'll light on his legs。)。

8. There are more ways of killing a cat than by choking it with cream.

“殺貓的方法很多，不必非用奶油嗆死它”，有點類似于中國的“不要非在一棵樹上吊死”。