今天晚上我們準(zhǔn)備去姐姐家吃飯,可是我一點(diǎn)也不想去。原因是這樣。一個(gè)月前,我男朋友想要重新粉刷房子。雖然我侄子很想賺這個(gè)錢,但我男朋友還是找了個(gè)更有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的粉刷工。鬧得我侄子到現(xiàn)在都耿耿于懷?,F(xiàn)在每次我們看到他都很尷尬。讓我想到一句習(xí)慣用語。那就是:chip on one's shoulder.
Chip是木塊的意思,而chip on one's shoulder,就是心里有根刺,懷恨在心的意思。上面我提到,因?yàn)槲夷信笥褯]有把粉刷工作交給我的侄子,他一直心里有根刺。他一直在生我們的氣,這也就是為什么我不想去姐姐家吃晚飯的原因。
下面這個(gè)例子里,我們來看看這名年輕學(xué)生遇到了什么困難。
例句-1: When I first went to private school, I had a hard time. I wasn't used to being around kids who came from wealthy families. And that upset me. Years later, my classmates told me how I always had a chip on my shoulder. That's because I felt they treated me badly because I wasn't rich.
這段話是說: 我最開始到私人學(xué)校上學(xué)的時(shí)候,特別不適應(yīng)。我不習(xí)慣跟那些富裕家庭的孩子在一起。很多年之后,我的同學(xué)告訴我,他們總覺得我非常冷漠,心里有根刺似的。這可能是因?yàn)槲矣X得自己不夠富有,所以老覺得其他人對我不友善。
這也能夠理解,如果總覺得自己不如別人,很容易就會(huì)變得性格古怪。一般來說在比賽中,輸?shù)舻囊环蕉紩?huì)have a chip on its shoulder. 可是今年的女子世界杯,美國女足給大家樹立了一個(gè)好榜樣。In interviews after the game, the American team showed how to be graceful in defeat. Team members didn't seem to have a chip on their shoulders. 在賽后接受采訪時(shí),美國隊(duì)顯示了如何從容地面對失利。她們一點(diǎn)也沒有懷恨在心。
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大家都希望有個(gè)好的工作環(huán)境。這對每個(gè)人也確實(shí)非常重要。但是同事之間難免存在競爭,就像下面這個(gè)人 ,他在競爭中勝出了,可是還有什么可為難的呢? 我們來聽聽他對同事講的一番話:
例句-2: We've both wanted to move up in the company. So I'm sorry that the boss promoted me and not you. Every time I try to talk to you, you've got a chip on your shoulder. But if you want to be mad at someone, it should be with the boss. She made the decision."
這段話是說: 我知道咱倆都想升職。所以對于老板沒有給你升職我感到很遺憾。但是每次我跟你說話的時(shí)候,你都好像對我懷恨在心似的。如果你要生誰的氣,應(yīng)該也是老板的氣。因?yàn)槭撬龅臎Q定。
同事間相互競爭向來是個(gè)難以處理的問題。升職了當(dāng)然高興,可是也難免遭到其他人的嫉妒。上面的例子中,my co-worker always has a chip on his shoulder because the boss didn't give him a promotion, 我的同事因?yàn)槔习鍥]給他升職而懷恨在心。