Diamond in the rough.
Diamond是鉆石的意思,而rough, 意思是粗糙的,未經(jīng)雕琢的。連起來,diamond in the rough, 字面意思是粗糙的鉆石,實際上就是我們在中文里所說的“未經(jīng)雕琢的璞玉”。上面例子里談到的那個實習(xí)生就是這樣。She may not be an established broadcaster, but she shows potential. She's a DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH. 她現(xiàn)在還不是一名播音員,但是她很有潛力。她是一塊未經(jīng)雕琢的璞玉。下面的例子里,一個剛買房的人對他的房子有什么跟別人不一樣的見解呢? 我們來聽聽看:
"My friends don't have a very high opinion of the house I bought. True, it's small and outdated. But the way I see it, its my DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH. Once I build an addition on to it, install new windows, doors and give it a fresh coat of faint, it'll be quite inviting. "
這段話是說:我朋友都覺得我剛買的房子買虧了。這房子確實不大,而且裝璜也過時了。但是我覺得這幢房子很有潛力。一旦我重新裝修,安上新的窗戶和門,重新粉刷,這房子肯定能煥然一新。
我相信他很善于投資房地產(chǎn),因為他能夠意識到什么房子有翻修的價值。我的一個好朋友也是這樣,她從來沒有投資過房地產(chǎn),不過她投資對了人。在她和她男朋友戀愛的時候,大家都不看好,可是她認(rèn)為她男朋友是個潛力股。事實證明,His husband then started a great business. He was a DIAMOND IN THE TOUGH after all.
Diamond in the rough, 未經(jīng)雕琢的璞玉。對于教練或者教師來說,發(fā)現(xiàn)這種潛力股的能力很重要。下面的這名網(wǎng)球教練就試圖說服大家他發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個很有潛力的新球員,我們來聽聽看:
"Samantha's coach has tried to convince anyone who will listen that he's discovered the next great tennis star. But nobody believes that she's a DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH. No matter how much she trains, they think it's doubtful that she'll ever become an exceptional player."
這段話是說:薩曼塔的教練試圖讓其他人相信他真的發(fā)現(xiàn)了未來的網(wǎng)球明星。但是沒有人相信她是一支潛力股。不管她怎么訓(xùn)練,大家都懷疑她是否能成為一名出色的網(wǎng)球選手。
一般來說,很難想像所有人都是錯的。不過也有很多例子說明真理有時候確實會站在少數(shù)人那一邊。說起Diamond in the rough這個短語的起源,最初人們用這個短語來指那些還沒有經(jīng)過雕琢的,特別是那些可能被打造成高貴珠寶的寶石?,F(xiàn)在,我們用這個短語的引申意義,來形容那些非常有潛力的人和物品。