发信人: oceann (dany), 信区: English
标 题: [好文共赏]人体部位和英语习语(转载)
发信站: 哈工大紫丁香 (Sun Aug 24 22:23:25 2003)
1. Head. The head is thought to be the most important part of the human body.
So a leader is often compared to a head (首脑). Thus we have Head of State or
the head of a delegation.
The head is where the brain is located. It is naturally associated with id
eas and intelligence. Very often, we need other people’s ideas and opinions w
hen we want to do something well. The is because two heads are better than one
(三个臭皮匠顶个诸葛亮).
2. Eye. The eyes are extremely precious to us. That is why we say“ Mind y
our eye (当心)! When we reminding someone to be careful.
Not only human beings and animals have eyes, many things also have“ eyes“
- the eyes of a ship, the eye of a needle, the eye of a typhoon, and so on.
3. Ear. The ear is the organ of hearing. A piece of light music is easy on
the ear(悦耳动听). We are usually all ears (专心聆听) for bit news.
When they think somebody is overhearing, English people use either of the
two proverbs: Walls have ears (隔墙有耳) and Pitchers have ears (壶罐有耳). Th
ey also think that little pitchers have big ears（小孩子耳朵尖）. Nice boys an
d girls respect other people. They will not secretly listen to others’ privat
e conversations.
4. Nose. The English phrase “face to face (面对面)“ and its Chinese coun
terpart（对应） are exactly the same. But English people, to express the same
idea, can say nose to nose instead. There is no such substitute in Chinese.
The word nose appears in many idioms. Here are two which are quite similar
to their Chinese equivalents: lead somebody by the nose (牵着某人的鼻子走) an
d turn up one’s nose at somebody or something (对某人或某物嗤之以鼻).
English people can say as plain as the nose in one’s face (一清二楚) to m
ean “very obvious“. May be to them, the nose is the most conspicuous part of
the face.
5. Lip. We have two lips: the upper lip and the lower lip. If one’s two l
ips are closed, one cannot speak. So it goes without saying that “don’t open
your lips(不要开口)“ means “ don’t speak“.
His lips are sealed. Are his lips really stuck together by wax or glue? No
, his lips are sealed when asked about something that he must keep secret. Som
etimes a top secret is betrayed because it has escaped someone’s lips (脱口而
出). Then the incident may become a piece of news that is on everybody’s lips
(众口相传).
6. Tongue. We all know we cannot speak without the tongue. So the tongue i
s closely related to speech. To hold one’s tongue (保持沉默) means “to keep
silent“. A person who has too much tongue (太多嘴) is disliked by all, for he
is too talkative. Mother tongue is not the tongue of a mother: it is a person
’s native language.
“Don’t you have a moth below your nose (你鼻子底下不是有张嘴吗)?“ The C
hinese say so to blame a person who did not say what he should have said. But
this not the right way to express the idea in English. English people would sa
y, “You have a tongue in your head, haven’t you?“
7. Face. Face has to do with the idea of respect and dignity both in Chine
se and English. You lose your face (丢面子) if you fail again and again, but a
decisive victory will save your face (挽回面子) after all your failures.
When you feel unhappy, you pull a long face (拉长脸). The idea is conveyed
in Chinese in the same way. But “about face (向后转)“ does not refer to the
face. It is a military order to turn round and face in the opposite direction
. It is the exact equivalent of “ about turn“.
8. Shoulder. The shoulders can bear heavy things. Your father has a great
responsibility for the family on his shoulder. When faced with difficulty, the
family should stand shoulder to shoulder (肩并肩) to overcome it. You should
not turn a cold shoulder (不理睬) to your family members. Nor should you give
your friends the cold shoulder (冷落朋友). Both expressions mean treating othe
rs coldly.
9. Back. A good host is hospitable to his guests. But, if guest is tiresom
e, the host is glad to see his back (他离开).
If your friend has done something really well, you may give him a pat on t
he back (轻轻拍背部) to show your appreciation.
If you turn your back on somebody (不理睬他人), you mean you do not like m
aking friends with that person.
10. Heart. The heart is an extremely important organ inside the chest. It
usually stands for something important or the centre of something, for example
, the heart of the matter (问题的核心) or the heart of mystery.
Many other expressions make use of the word heart. A lover can be called a
sweet heart (情人). The Purple Heart (紫心徽章) is a medal given as an honor
to American soldiers wounded in battle.
If your friend is in trouble, you may encourage him by saying “Don’t los
e heart (不要灰心).“
11. Stomach. The stomach is naturally related to one’s appetite. If you d
islike heavy food, you have no stomach for it (反胃). The word is also related
to one’s interests or likings. If you find something boring or vulgar, you h
ave no stomach for it, either. Bad food turns your stomach. Similarly, your st
omach turns at a bad joke.
Stomach can also be a verb. Look at this example: “How could you stomach
(忍受) such rude words?“ Apparently, stomach here can be replaced by “tolera
te“.
12. Arm. Every person has two arms: the right arm and the left arm. The ri
ght arm is usually stronger, so we call a good helper the right arm (得力助手)
.
We all know an arm is not very long. But when you keep someone at arm’s l
ength (保持距离), the distance is long enough. For that means you don not like
that person and you try your best to avoid him or her. We should indeed keep
the bad friends at arm’s length.
13. Hand. Quite a number of phrases formed form the word hand are very sim
ilar to their Chinese counterparts. Here are some obvious examples: a fresh ha
nd (新手), short of hands (人手短缺), hand in hand (手拉手) and wash one’s ha
nds of something (洗手不干了). But do not always take this for granted. Study
these examples and you will understand.
He lives from hand to mouth (He has just enough money to live on). We gave
them a big hand (We gave them lots of applause).
14. Finger. How many fingers does each of your hands have? Now let’s name
them in English from the smallest: the little finger, the ring finger, the mi
ddle finger, the index finger and thumb.
Each finger has its own part to play. If your fingers are all thumbs (笨拙
), that is too bad. That means you are very clumsy.
15. Thumb. Chinese people turn up their thumbs to express appreciation. En
glish peopled so to express not only appreciation but also approval. Chinese p
eople never turn their thumbs down to mean anything. But English people do. Th
ey do so to show depreciation disapproval. Thus in English you can say, “We t
urn thumbs up (赞成) to Jack’s suggestion but they turn thumbs down (不赞成)
to it.“ Similarly, you can warmly praise someone by saying “Thumbs up (真棒)
!“ and show your dissatisfaction by saying “Thumbs down (差劲)!“
16. Nail. If you see two of your classmates fighting tooth and nail (又抓又
咬), you must stop them at once. Otherwise, at least one of them would be hurt
.
Nail also means a thin pointed piece of metal for hammering into something
.
But it is related to the body in this sentence: “Peter is as hard as nail
s (结实的象铁打的).“ We all hope that we are as strong and healthy as he is.
Then if I say you have hit the nail on the head (中肯，一针见血), I don no
t mean that you have done something cruel. I mean that you have said exactly t
he right thing.
17. Leg. The word leg appears in many colloquial expressions. At a party,
when you feel like dancing, you can say to a good friend of yours, “Let’s sh
ake a leg.“ Obviously, it means “ Let’s dance.“ When you want your fiend t
o hurry, you can also “shake a leg“. In American English it means “hurry“.
The arms and legs are very important to us. Therefore when asked why you a
re not going to buy something expensive, you may answer, “It costs an arm and
a leg!“ You mean that it is really expensive. If you pull one’s leg, it mea
ns you make fun of someone.
18. Toe. To convey the idea “from head to foot“, English people san say
from top to toe. But Chinese people don’t.
Some people turn their toes out (八字脚) when they walk. Some turn their t
oes in.
When faced with danger, we must be alert and ready for action, that is to
say, we must be on our toes (保持警惕).
19. Skin. Human beings have skin. So have animals and plants. The skin can
be think or thin. A think-skinned person, or a person who has a thin skin, is
easily upset or offended while a thick-skinned person, or a person who has a
think skin, is quite the contrary. Both expressions are sometimes derogatory (
贬义).
That is to say, sometimes the former refers to a person who is too sensit
ive; the latter a person who has little sense of shame.
20. Hair. Most people will only think of the hair on our head when the wor
d hair is mentioned. In fact, some animals and plants also have hair.
A horrible scene may make a person’s hair stand on end (毛骨悚然). But a
courageous person will not turn a hair (不畏惧) even though he is in face of d
anger.
Sometimes, a friend of yours may be so angry that he may act foolishly. Th
en you had better give him this advice: “Keep your hair on (别发脾气)“.
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好想振作一点点，真的好想
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