Bundle意思是“一束”或者“一捆”。A bundle of nerves如果直譯就是一束神經(jīng),這當(dāng)然不是這個(gè)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)的意思。這個(gè)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)是用來(lái)說(shuō)某一種人的。讓我們看個(gè)例子來(lái)琢磨那是什么樣的人。
例句-1:I've been a bundle of nerves since the company told us it's losing money and will have to lay off 20 percent of our staff. I don't know if I can hang on to my job or not.
自從公司告訴我們公司因虧損不得不裁員百分之二十之后,我就惶惶不可終日。我不知道自己還能不能保住工作。
例句-2:I'm worried about Sally - she's a real bundle of nerves these days. I don't know why: maybe it's because she drinks a dozen cups of coffee a day. That would make me nervous too.
我很擔(dān)心莎莉,她近來(lái)總是很神經(jīng)質(zhì)。我不懂她怎么會(huì)這樣,可能是因?yàn)樗刻旌仁畮妆Х劝伞N乙呛忍嗫Х纫矔?huì)變得神經(jīng)兮兮的。
剛才的例子里有nervous這個(gè)詞。它是從名詞nerve派生而來(lái)的形容詞,意思當(dāng)然是”神經(jīng)的“,或者”神經(jīng)質(zhì)的“。我們接下來(lái)要學(xué)個(gè)由nervous組成的習(xí)慣用語(yǔ):nervous Nellie。
Nellie是女人的名字,但是nervous Nellie卻既可以用來(lái)指女人也可以說(shuō)男人。這個(gè)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)從本世紀(jì)二十年代開(kāi)始流傳,現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)不清楚Nellie這個(gè)名字的出典。用這個(gè)名字也可能只是因?yàn)镹ellie和nervous都以字母n起頭,讀起來(lái)很順口。
美國(guó)政界人物有時(shí)會(huì)用nervous Nellie這個(gè)說(shuō)法來(lái)貶低政敵。
例句-3:Yes, I know the nervous Nellies in the other party are saying in the papers and on TV that our bill will cost taxpayers more money than it will save, but they're scared of any new ideas!
我知道反對(duì)黨的那幫膽小鬼在報(bào)紙和電視上宣稱(chēng)我們的提案會(huì)使納稅人花費(fèi)更多,但是這些人害怕任何新設(shè)想。
可見(jiàn)他在這兒把那些反對(duì)黨人物稱(chēng)為nervous Nellies,其實(shí)在說(shuō)他們是一些草木皆兵的膽小鬼。
例句-4:I don't like to sound like a nervous Nellie, but I've got to tell you I'm a little scared about whether our company can stay in business the way things are going right now.
我可不愿意表現(xiàn)得杞人憂天,但是我得告訴你照目前的發(fā)展情況看來(lái),我有點(diǎn)擔(dān)心我們的公司能否站得住腳。