Bad workmen often blame their tools.
[譯]拙匠常怪工具差;不會(huì)撐船怪河彎。
Barking dogs seldom bite.
[注解]比喻有的人嘴巴狠可心腸軟。
[譯]吠犬不咬人。
Be slow to promise and quick to perform.
[譯]不輕諾,諾必果。
Be swift to hear, slow to speak.
[譯]聽宜敏捷,言宜緩行。
Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see.
[譯]耳聞的不能信,眼見的也不能全信。
Better by far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad.
[注解]語(yǔ)出Christina Georgina Rossetti,英國(guó)女詩(shī)人羅塞蒂。
[譯]笑一笑而忘掉,比愁眉苦臉地記住要好得多。
Better late than never.
[注解]此諺語(yǔ)常用來(lái)作為半詼諧性的借口,指拖延許久才做總比根本不做好。
[譯]晚做總比不做好;亡羊補(bǔ)牢,未為晚也。
Better some of a pudding than none of a pie.
[注解]有點(diǎn)布丁總比沒(méi)有餡餅好,有點(diǎn)兒總比沒(méi)有強(qiáng)。
[譯]聊勝于無(wú)。
Better the foot slip than the tongue trip.
[注解]指行動(dòng)上的小毛病常常不如說(shuō)了錯(cuò)話那樣嚴(yán)重。句中slip有雙關(guān)意義,the foot slip指“摔跤”,“跌倒”;the tongue trip則是“失言”,“說(shuō)走了嘴”。
[譯]寧可滑跤,不可失言。
Between two stools one falls to the ground.
[注解]fall between two stools兩頭落空,比喻腳踏兩條船,遲早會(huì)落水,出自拉丁語(yǔ)。
[譯]腳踩兩條凳,早晚要落空。
Beware of a silent dog and still water.
[譯]警惕無(wú)聲的狗會(huì)咬人,平靜的水會(huì)覆舟。
Bite off more than one can chew.
[譯]貪多咽不下。
Bite the hand that feeds one.
[譯]恩將仇報(bào)。
Blood is thicker than water.
[注解]意指親人總比外人親,家族關(guān)系勝于其他關(guān)系,親屬紐帶具有強(qiáng)大的作用,親情是永恒的。
[譯]血濃于水。