英 语 中 的 习 惯 用 语 （一）

HARRISON

1、a bad apple 坏蛋

A：Oh, my God! What happened? Why are you black and blue?
B：I got beaten by Peter’s brother
A：That’s a bad apple! Let’s think up a way and teach him a lesson
甲：噢，天哪！怎么啦？你身上怎么青一块紫一块的？
乙：彼得的弟弟把我给打了。
甲：这坏蛋，咱们来想个法来教训教训他。

2、a dog in the manger 占着茅坑不拉屎的人；占有有利条件却不会利用的人

A：Give the skates to me!
B：You shut up!
A：If you don’t know how to skate, why don’t you give the skates to me? Don’t be a dog in the manger.
甲：把冰鞋给我！
乙：你闭嘴！
甲：你若不知道怎么滑冰，干吗不把冰鞋给我？别占着茅坑不拉屎了！

3、a gay dog 快活的人

A：It’s strange they should get along so well!
B：That’s nothing unusual.
A：You don’t know much about the couple. One likes to be alone, but the other is a bit of a gay dog.
甲：他们居然能处得这么好，太奇怪了。
乙：没什么不寻常的。
甲：你不了解这俩口子，一个喜欢独处，另一个却喜欢热闹。

4、a hard nut 冥顽不化的人；无知无觉的人

A：Bob refused all his classmate’s invitations.
B：I really couldn’t understand him.
A：He’s surely a hard nut, nobody likes approaching him.
B：We’d better also leave him alone.
甲：鲍勃拒绝了班上所有人的邀请。
乙：他这个人我真不明白。
甲：他真是个脑子不开窍的人，没人愿意靠近他。
乙：我们最好也别惹他。

5、a hen-pecked husband 妻管严；怕老婆的男人

A：Aunt is scolding uncle again.
B：Don’t worry. Your uncle won’t utter a word back.
A：I didn’t know my uncle is a hen-pecked husband
B：He isn’t. He thinks it’s not necessary to quarrel with women.
甲：婶婶又在骂叔叔了。
乙：别着急，你叔叔不会还口的。
甲：我还不知道我叔叔是个妻管严。
乙：他不是。他觉得和女人吵架没必要。

6、big shot 要人

A：Do you know Mr. Smith?
B：No, but I know of him. He’s a big shot in the local politics.
A：I’m told he’s only a yes-man.
B：Yes, I hate that. At present, what we want is a strong, independent leader, not a bunch of yes-man.
甲：你认识史密斯先生吗？
乙：不认识，但我知道这人，他在本地政界是个举足轻重的人物。
甲：我听说他是个和事佬。
乙：没错儿，我就恨这个。现在，我们要的是强有力的、有主见的领导人，可不是和事佬儿。

7、fat cat 大款

A：Where’re those popular actresses in our school time?
B：Get into marriage.
A：Can everyone find a fat cat?
B：Everyone wants to, but not everyone succeeds.
甲：咱们上学时的那些女影星都哪去了？
乙：结婚了呗！
甲：人人都能找到大款吗？
乙：人人都想，可并不是人人都能找到。

8、bosom friends 知心朋友

A：Is Jack a friend of yours?
B：Yes. He is one of my bosom friends.
A：He’s a nice guy as far as I know
B：You can be certain of that.
甲：杰克是你的朋友吗？
乙：是，他是我的一个知心朋友。
甲：我也知道他是一个好人。
乙：这点毫无疑问。

9、con artist 大骗子手

A：Is this your first visit to this city?
B：Yes, why?
A：Perhaps I should warn you that this city is full of con artists.
B：Thanks for telling. I’ll take care.
甲：这是你第一次游览这个城市吗？
乙：是呀，怎么了？
甲：也许我该提醒你这座城市有许多骗子手。
乙：谢谢，我会小心的。

10、the long and short of it 概括地说

A：Do you know why John left our company?
B：It’s a complicated story but the long and short of it is that he transferred a large sum of money wrongly.
A：Who should be responsible exactly?
B：A crook took advantage of him. Our boss would never forgive such a stupid act.
甲：你知道为什么约翰离开我们公司了吗？
乙：这事很复杂，但概括地说，他错转了一大笔资金。
甲：确切说谁应负责呢？
乙：一个骗子骗了他。我们的老板永远也不会原谅这样愚蠢的行为。