謝謝 Yah Walen 寄來下面這個教英文的中文網頁:
「美国习惯用语」第一讲
這網頁教了五個 idiomatic expressions
(习惯用语):
give me a hand
foot the bill
blow out
lock, stock and barrel
hook, line and sinker
I duplicated the page at the very end.
我要回答Yah Walen 的問題
習慣用語重要嗎?
I will also say that
「美国习惯用语」第一讲 ,像
每曰一字(句)學英文 不很有用.
習慣用語重要嗎?
To write clearly, you do not need to use idioms, unless you know them well.
When you read, and you encounter idiomatic expressions, you can use browser extension such as Answer to get their meaning. For example, clicking on
barrel of the expression
lock, stock and barrel, and you get a popup that shows its meaning:
The entirety; all of something. For example, Jean moved out of the house, lock, stock, and barrel. This expression alludes to the three elements of a firearm--the lock or firing mechanism, the stock or handle, and the barrel or tube. [Early 1800s]
Note that this explanation is much better than the one offered in the Chinese lesson below, which does not bother to explain the origin of the expression.
Using Answer to get the meaning of an expression, when you need to know what it means is more useful than reading a lesson that presents some randomly selected expressions that you may or may not have an interest.
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「美国习惯用语」第一讲
give me a hand
foot the bill
blow out
lock, stock and barrel
hook, line and sinker
每一种语言都有它独特的成语和俗语。而学习外语的人经常在理解这些习惯用语时会感到很困难。这是因为你不可能从组成某个习惯用语的字面上来懂得它的意思。 比如,美国人经常说:“Give me a hand.” 按照字面来理解, “give me hand”就是“给我一只手。”可是,它的意思却是“帮我一下忙。”
另外一个例子是: “Foot the bill.”
“Foot”的意思是 “一只脚”,而“bill”在这儿的解释是“账单”。“Foot the bill.”并不是把帐单踩在脚底下,而是付账的意思。
另外,有的时候,一个词汇有好几种解释。就拿下面一句话来作例子吧:
例句-1:“We arrived two hours late at the big blow-out for Charlie’s birthday because our car had a blow-out.”
这句话里第一个blow-out是指规模很大的聚会,第二个blow-out是指汽车的轮胎炸了。整个句子的意思是:“由于我们车胎炸了,所以我们晚了两个小时才到达查理举行生日宴会的地方。”
还有一些习惯用语从字典上的意思来看是相同的,但是它们使用的场合却不同。
下面两个习惯用语就是很好的例子。
一个是“Lock, stock and barrel”,另外一个是:“Hook, line and sinker”。
Lock, stock and barrel和Hook, line and sinker都是全部的意思,可是用法却不同。
我们先来举一个Lock, stock and barrel的例子:
例句-2:“Mr. Rockefeller bought the whole oil company lock, stock and barrel.”
这句话的意思是:“洛克菲勒先生把整个石油公司买了下来”。换句话说,也就是他买了这个石油公司的大楼丶油井和其他属于这个公司的资产。
Hook, line and sinker虽然也和lock, stock and barrel一样是全部的意思,可是它还带有受骗的意思。例如:
例句-3:“I warned Sally not to believe that man's stories about how rich he was, but she swallowed them hook, line and sinker. After she married him, she found out that he owed everyone in his office money.”
他说:“我告诉沙利不要相信那个男人说的他多么有钱之类的话。可是沙利却一点都没有怀疑他。等到结婚才发现这个人几乎向每个同事都借了钱。”
刚才我们讲解了在学英语过程中经常会碰到的一些问题。有些习惯用语从字面上看不出它们的确切意思,例如:give me a hand和foot the bill。另外还有些习惯用语在不同场合却表达不同的意思,如blow out。还有一些俗语,它们在字典上的解释是相同的,但是却有不同的用法,就像lock, stock and barrel和hook, line and sinker。
好,「美国习惯用语」第一讲就到里。欢迎下次再一起来学习美国习惯用语。再见。
