a fish out of water
to teach a fish how to swim
在今天的節(jié)目里,我們要給大家介紹幾個(gè)和魚有關(guān)的習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)。中國(guó)人常常用「如魚得水」來(lái)形容一個(gè)一切都很順當(dāng)?shù)沫h(huán)境。美國(guó)人常用的一個(gè)俗語(yǔ)卻剛好和「如魚得水」相反,他們說(shuō):a fish out of water。從字面上解釋就是:沒有水的魚。你肯定經(jīng)歷過(guò)一種場(chǎng)合,當(dāng)時(shí)你覺得很不自然,和周圍的人或環(huán)境格格不入。A fish out of water作為一個(gè)俗語(yǔ),就是指這種感覺的,它的意思是某人和他所處的環(huán)境不融恰,使他感到很別扭、很難堪。
比如說(shuō),我的一個(gè)朋友最近從一個(gè)國(guó)際會(huì)議回來(lái)后他對(duì)我說(shuō):
例句-1: At the conference I was a fish out of water. All the speeches were in French, a language I never studied.
他說(shuō):"參加那個(gè)會(huì)議真叫我感到別扭。所有人發(fā)表講話的時(shí)候都用法語(yǔ),可是我從來(lái)也沒有學(xué)過(guò)法文。"
每個(gè)人都會(huì)有感到別扭的時(shí)候,下面這個(gè)人碰到的場(chǎng)合又是一個(gè)例子:
例句-2: Everybody else at the party ended up in the swimming pool. But I was a fish out of water because I can't swim.
這人說(shuō):"參加聚會(huì)的每個(gè)人最后都到游泳池去游泳了,我真感到別扭,因?yàn)槲也粫?huì)游泳。"
******
要是誰(shuí)想教魚怎么游泳的話,那簡(jiǎn)直是班門弄斧,多余的了。下面我們要講解的一個(gè)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)就是這個(gè)意思:to teach a fish how to swim。To teach a fish how to swim作為俗語(yǔ)的意思是指班門弄斧:給別人提出完全沒有必要的建議或勸告。你聽了下面這位父親的講話就會(huì)知道他的兒子有多可笑了:
例句-3: My son, fresh out of college, keeps telling me how to run my business. But I've been making good money for 30 years so he's teaching a fish how to swim.
這位父親說(shuō):"我的兒子大學(xué)剛畢業(yè),可是他卻不斷地來(lái)告訴我應(yīng)該怎么做生意。我三十年來(lái)生意做得很好,賺了不少錢。所以,他來(lái)告訴我怎么做生意簡(jiǎn)直是多余的。"
這個(gè)兒子可能還不知道自己在做傻事??墒?,有的人在事后發(fā)現(xiàn)自己做了類似的傻事會(huì)感到很難堪。請(qǐng)聽下面這個(gè)例子:
例句-4: The day after I got my private pilot's license, I told this man at the party all about how to fly an airplane. Later I learned he was an airline pilot who flew jumbo jets -- I'd been teaching a fish how to swim.
這個(gè)人說(shuō):"我在得到飛行員執(zhí)照后的一天,在一次聚會(huì)上告訴一個(gè)人怎么駕駛飛機(jī)。后來(lái),我聽說(shuō)那個(gè)人是開大型噴氣機(jī)的飛行員。我去告訴他怎么駕駛飛機(jī)真是多余,簡(jiǎn)直是班門弄斧。"