to smell fishy
to fish for compliments
新鮮的魚營養(yǎng)很豐富,味道又鮮美。可惜的是,魚很容易變質(zhì),時間放長了,它就會發(fā)臭。今天我們要講的第一個俗語就和魚有關(guān),這就是to smell fishy。
Fish就是魚,fish后面加一個y,就成了fishy,也就是fish的形容詞。To smell fishy的意思是在某一件事情上你感到不太對頭,似乎有人在進(jìn)行欺騙,這時候你就可以說: "It smells fishy."
我們現(xiàn)在來舉個例子:
例句-1: "Somebody offered to sell me some beach property in Florida at a good cheap price. But the deal smelled fishy so I went down to take a look. Sure enough, every time the tide came in, the land was under three feet of water."
這個人說:"有一個人要把佛羅里達(dá)州海濱的土地賣給我,價錢很便宜。但是,我總覺得這筆交易有點不對頭,所以就到那里去看了一看。果然,每當(dāng)潮水來的時候,這塊地就被三英尺深的水淹沒了。"
下面這個例句是一個人在報上看到出售舊汽車的廣告,價錢實在便宜,便宜得都讓人覺得不太對頭了。你猜是怎么回事?
例句-2: "It appeared to be a real bargain, but I smelled something fishy because the man was in such a hurry to sell it. I was right--later on I found out the car was stolen."
這人說:"價錢可真是便宜,可是這人那么急急忙忙要賣掉讓我感到不太對頭。我還真是沒錯,后來我才發(fā)現(xiàn)那輛車是偷來的。"
你可知道,在陸地上,魚雖然釣不到,但是人們往往想釣別的東西,例如:to fish for compliments。Compliments就是贊揚(yáng)或者恭維。To fish for compliments就是用一種巧妙的方法來讓別人恭維你、贊揚(yáng)你。下面就是一個例子:
例句-3: "Do you notice how Dora always fishes for compliments? She keeps asking the men in the office what they think of her new hairdo, or whether they think her new dress is the right color for her."
這個人說:"你有沒有注意到多拉是怎么讓別人恭維她的?她在辦公室里老是問一些男的同事,他們喜不喜歡她的發(fā)式,或者她的新衣服的顏色對她是不是合適。"
下面是一個作家在和一個人說話,他很可能是想要那個人說幾句贊揚(yáng)他的話,盡管他不承認(rèn)。先聽聽他是怎么說的,然后你來作判斷吧。
例句-4: "I hope you don't think I'm fishing for a compliment, but have you had a chance to read my new book? The reviews are good, but I'd like to hear what you think about it."
他說:"我希望你不要以為我是要你恭維我。不過,你有沒有看過我的新書?書評倒寫的都很好,但是我很想聽聽你的意見。"
我們今天講了兩個俗語:to smell fishy和to fish for compliments。To smell fishy是覺得不太對頭,to fish for compliments是設(shè)法讓別人贊揚(yáng)你。
「美國習(xí)慣用語」第一百一十二課就講到這里。歡迎下次再一起來學(xué)習(xí)美國習(xí)慣用語。再見。