VOA慢速英語:Don't Get Caught With Your Pants Down

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

現(xiàn)在是VOA慢速英語詞匯掌故節(jié)目。

Have you ever considered all the English expressions that include words about clothes? Let’s see if I can name a few off the cuff, or without any preparation.

你有沒有留意過和衣服相關(guān)詞匯的英語表達?讓我們看看我是否可以即席(off the cuff)說出一些，即席的意思是不預先做任何準備。

People wear pants to cover the lower part of their bodies. We sometimes say that people who are restless or nervous have ants in their pants. They might also fly by the seat of their pants. They use their natural sense to do something instead of their learned knowledge. Sometimes, people may get caught with their pants down. They are found doing something they should not be doing. And, in every family, one person takes control. Sometimes a wife tells her husband what to do. Then we say she wears the pants in the family.

人們穿著短褲以遮掩身體下部。我們有時形容緊張不安的人褲襠里有螞蟻(ants in their pants)。他們也可能是fly by the seat of their pants，也就是說他們憑直覺而不是他們所學的知識來做一些事情。有時，人們可能會caught with their pants down，意思是他們被發(fā)現(xiàn)正在做一些不應該做的事。此外，每一個家庭都有當家人。有時妻子會吩咐丈夫怎么做，我們就說，她在這個家里當家做主(wears the pants in the family)。

Pants usually have pockets to hold things. Money that is likely to be spent quickly can burn a hole in your pocket. Sometimes you need a belt to hold up your pants. If you have less money than usual, you may have to tighten your belt. You may have to live on less money and spend your money carefully. But once you have succeeded in budgeting your money, you will have that skill under your belt.

褲子通常都有裝東西的口袋。花錢如流水就像口袋上燒了個洞(burn a hole in your pocket)。有時你需要用皮帶系住褲子。如果較之平常錢少，你可能不得不勒緊腰帶(tighten your belt)，也就是說您可能只能靠更少的錢生活，并且精打細算。但是，一旦您成功地對錢做好預算，你就扎實地(under your belt)獲得了做預算的本事。

I always praise people who can save their money and not spend too much. I really take my hat off to them. Yet, when it comes to my own money, I spend it at the drop of a hat – immediately, without waiting. And sadly, you cannot pull money out of a hat. You cannot get money by inventing or imagining it.

我總是贊揚那些節(jié)省、不大手大腳的人。我真的take my hat off to them(佩服他們)。然而，當涉及到自己的錢，我總是立馬(at the drop of a hat)花個精光。而可悲的是，你不能pull money out of a hat，也就是說你不能靠空變出錢來。

Boots are a heavy or strong kind of shoes. People who are too big for their boots think they are more important than they really are. I dislike such people. I really do. You can bet your boots on that. Yet, truly important people are hard to replace. Rarely can you fill their shoes or replace them with someone equally effective.

靴子是一種沉重結(jié)實的鞋。自負的人(People who are too big for their boots)把自己想得比實際重要。我不喜歡這樣的人，真的。你可以bet your boots(賭上你的靴子，即深信不疑)。然而，真正重要的人是難以替代，你很難fill their shoes(適合他們的靴子，即取代他們)。

My father is an important person. He runs a big company. He wears a suit and tie, and a shirt with sleeves that cover his arms. Some people who do not know him well think he is too firm and severe. They think he is a real stuffed shirt. But I know that my father wears his heart on his sleeve. He shows his feelings openly. And, he knows how to keep his shirt on. He stays calm and never gets angry or too excited.

我父親是一個重要的人，他經(jīng)營一家大公司。他總是衣著考究，西裝革履。不了解他的人認為他太古板嚴厲。他們認為他愛擺架子(a real stuffed shirt)。但我知道我的父親十分直爽坦率(wears his heart on his sleeve)，他會直接表明他的感受。而且，他知道如何keep his shirt on，意思是他能保持冷靜，從不生氣或興奮過頭。

Also, my father has never lost his shirt in a business deal. He is too smart to lose all or most of his money. This is because my father rolls up his sleeves and prepares to work hard. He often has a special plan or answer to a problem that he can use if he needs it. He is like a person who does magic tricks. We say he has a card up his sleeve.

此外，我父親在生意場上從未失手過(lost his shirt)。也就說他足夠聰明，不會損失他全部或大部分資金。這是因為我父親rolls up his sleeves，也就是說他做好了努力工作的準備。他常常對問題有特殊的方案或解決方法，在需要時用得上。他像個魔術(shù)師。我們說他有制勝法寶(a card up his sleeve)。

短語釋義：

1. ants in one’s pants大家可以想象一下,如果螞蟻鉆進了褲子,人們該如何反應?正常人應該是坐不住了吧!ants in one’s pants就是指"一個人很緊張,坐立不安"。

eg: I have ants in my pants for the coming exam on Tuesday. 想到周二就要考試,我真是坐不住。

美國俚語中,關(guān)于小昆蟲的還真不少。又如:butterflies in one’s stomach,按字面解釋就是,一個人的胃里有蝴蝶。它的真正意思是一種持續(xù)不斷的恐懼、緊張或憂慮的心情。

2. fly by the seat of one’s pants大家都知道,在無線電電波、雷達等現(xiàn)代化的電子導航系統(tǒng)出現(xiàn)之前,飛行員只能根據(jù)地面上的鐵路、河流或水塔等來定位航向。但如果飛機飛行在云層里時,飛行員就只好靠自己的猜測來決定方向了。在英語里就是:to fly by the seat of his / her pants?，F(xiàn)在人們用該習語來形容"人在做某件事的時候沒有明確的指導,也缺乏足夠的知識"。

eg: When Jones started up business in the town, he didn’t know anybody, so he had to fly by the seat of his pants. 當瓊斯在這個鎮(zhèn)子開始做生意時,他一個人都不認識,所以只好全靠自己摸索。

3. be / get caught with one’s pants down按字面解釋就是一個人在褲子掉下來的時候被人抓到,那樣的情景,該是多么的尷尬啊。作為習語,它的意思就是當一個人正在做壞事、做可恥的事情的時候被人發(fā)現(xiàn)了。

eg: A famous singer was caught with his pants down when he was having sex with a prostitute in the back of his car last night. 昨天晚上,一個著名歌手跟妓女在汽車后座發(fā)生性關(guān)系時被人當場抓住。

4. wear the pant按字面解釋就是"穿褲子",這讓人很費解,有人不穿褲子嗎?作為習語,wear the pants實際是指"(常常是婦女)掌權(quán)當家"。

eg: It’s obvious that it is your wife who wears the pants in your family.看得出來,你們家你老婆當家。

5. burn a hole in one’s pocket字面意思是在口袋上燒個洞,其實際意思為"某人留不住錢,花錢如流水"。很不幸,我好像是這樣的人。在生活中,我們常用諸如"有點錢就’燒’得難受"、"燒包"來形容這樣的人,看來英語跟中文是有很多異曲同工之處的。

eg: I am sure he’ll spend his wages in a few days because the money is burning a hole in his pocket. 我肯定不出幾天他就會將工資全部花光,因為他是個有錢留不住的人。

6. tighten one’s belt這個短語很容易理解,"束緊褲腰帶",當然是"節(jié)約,節(jié)儉"的意思。

7. take one’s hat off to字面意思是"向……脫帽致意",引申為"佩服,尊敬"。

eg:I take off my hat to his courage. 我佩服他的勇氣。

8. at the drop of a hat中世紀時,歐洲社會流行決斗。決斗之前,決斗者往往把帽子狠狠地往地下一摔,意味著決斗馬上就開始了。時過境遷,決斗這一現(xiàn)象已成為歷史。然而at the drop of a hat這一短語卻流傳下來,而且保留了"立即,馬上"的意思,其英語的解釋為:without waiting, immediately。

eg: If you need a baby sitter urgently, call Mary, because she can come at the drop of a hat. 如果你急需保姆,給瑪麗打電話吧,因為她召之即來。

9. pull sth out of a hat 字面意思是"從帽子里拿出什么東西"。魔術(shù)師一般都會變一種戲法,那就是:先給觀眾看一頂帽子,里面好像什么都沒有。然后,他(她)用一條手絹把帽子蓋起來,用魔術(shù)棒敲幾下,接著就從帽子里拿出一只兔子、一只鳥或別的其他東西(錢、撲克牌等)。作為習慣用語,pull sth out of a hat 的意思為:(像魔術(shù)師一樣)變出東西,即憑空變出某事物

10. too big for your boots 它的定義是:someone who is too big for their boots behaves as if they are more important or more clever than they really are. 就是"表現(xiàn)的比本身聰明或重要"的意思.

eg: Since he was made team captain, he’s been ordering us all around and generally getting much too big for his boots.

自從他當了隊長,就對我們指手畫腳,完全是自命不凡,不知道輕重.

11. A stuffed shirt: Stuffed這個字有好幾種解釋，有時是指裝的滿滿的。在某種情況下是吃得過飽的意思。那末，a stuffed shirt 是什么意思呢?A stuffed shirt是指那些愛擺架子，表現(xiàn)得神氣十足的人。

eg: "My boss is a stuffed shirt: all he talks about is how important his ancestors are, how he was number one in his class at his university, and the wonderful things he thinks he’s done for our company."

"我的老板老是愛擺架子，吹噓自己。他一開口就是說他的祖先的地位有多么重要，他在大學念書時又如何成為他們班里的第一名，還自稱對我們公司作出了多大的貢獻等等。"

12. wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve “把某人的心戴在領(lǐng)口上”，是指那些不掩飾自己情感，十分坦率自己情感和意見的人。

eg: He always wears his heart on his sleeve so that everyone knows how he feels.

他是一個總把自己心情掛在臉上的人，所以所有人都知道他是怎么想的。

13. keep one’s shirt on 用中文來說，那就是：“穿著你的襯衣。”即保持冷靜，別太緊張。

eg: "Keep your shirt on, Harry; we have plenty of time to catch the train."

“哈里，你別太緊張了，我們還有好多時間，足夠我們趕到火車站去的。”

14.To lose one’s shirt Lose這個字的意思當然就是丟掉，或失去什么東西。to lose one’s shirt 實際上并不是真的指丟了襯衫。它的確切意思是某個人失去了他所有的一切。

eg: "Did you hear what happened to Joe? He’s lost his shirt, the poor guy -- invested all his money in a fancy restaurant and it just went out of business."

“你有沒有聽到關(guān)于喬的事?這回，他可真是丟掉了一切，真可憐。他把所有的錢都投資在一家豪華的餐館里。而這家餐館不久前倒閉了。”

15. rolls up one’s sleeves 做勞力工作之前，怕袖子被弄贓總會先把它卷起來，而roll up one’s sleeves就是“卷起自己衣袖”，即準備做某事。

eg: Well, I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work on these reports.

嗯，我已經(jīng)準備好開始寫這些報告了

16. a card up one’s sleeve 袖子里的一張牌，表示那是一張不同尋常、能出奇制勝的牌。比喻某人的秘密武器、取勝法寶、絕招。

eg: Although the situation seemed unfavourable to him, he looked perfectly self-assured. He must have a card up his sleeve. 雖然形勢看來對他不利，但他看上去胸有成竹。他手中一定有王牌。