英式英語和美式英語之別——令英國人糊涂的美式短語

得益于美國文化的全球化傳播，世界范圍內(nèi)說英語的人們已經(jīng)知曉一些奇奇怪怪的美式英語表達(dá)，如 bury the hatchet、pass the buck 和 take a rain check，（有關(guān)11個流行表達(dá)方式的解釋）。但無論看過多少好來塢電影，總還是有一些美式俚語的含義讓人出其不意。讓我們通過下面的十道題測試一下你對當(dāng)下美語短語的理解如何。

1. If something ‘jumped the shark’, then it:

A. Avoided payment of overdue loans

B. Began a period of inexorable decline in quality or popularity

C. Escaped from a dangerous situation

D. Went down to Florida for the winter

2. A ‘Monday morning quarterback’ is someone who:

A. Is obsessed with American football

B. Is an early enthusiast for something

C. Loves getting things done at the start of the week

D. Passes judgment on and criticizes something after the event

3. A ‘horse of another color’ would refer to:

A. An unrelated matter with distinctly different meaning

B. The odd one out

C. A person from a different state

D. A missed opportunity

4. Someone who ‘bought the farm’ has:

A. Died

B. Come into new wealth

C. Paid off a mortgage

D. Made an awkward comment

5. If you were to ‘lay an egg’, then you would be:

A. Really angry

B. Hungry

C. Completely unsuccessful

D. Opportunistic

6. A ‘Bronx cheer’ refers to:

A. A sound of derision or contempt made by blowing through closed lips

B. A chant popularized by fans of the New York Yankees

C. The sound of a car horn

D. A stabbing

7. If we need to ‘put on the dog’, then we would:

A. Chase behind a car

B. Be servile

C. Eat hot dogs for dinner

D. Behave in an ostentatious way

8. Something ‘up the wazoo’ is:

A. In Canada

B. In a desperate situation

C. At the bottom of a lake

D. In great quantity

9. If you ‘talked turkey’, then you would be:

A. Lying about your true intentions

B. Insulting someone behind their back

C. Discuss something frankly and straightforwardly

D. Obsessed with Thanksgiving planning

10. A John Hancock refers to:

A. A person’s signature

B. An elderly person

C. A revolutionary

D. A breakfast sandwich

準(zhǔn)備好查看答案嗎？再往下看。

答案

1. B

Jump the shark（走下坡路）一詞源于很流行的一檔美劇Happy Hours，在第五季第一集的劇情里，人物Fonzie去劃水，并跳過了一條鯊魚。這個劇情的設(shè)計飽受紛爭，在此之后劇集質(zhì)量下滑，觀眾人數(shù)下降。這一現(xiàn)象產(chǎn)生了這個短語，用以指代電視劇或電影情節(jié)達(dá)到某個分水嶺，在此只為出奇而引入一些荒唐可笑的劇情，表明質(zhì)量開始下降。

例句：It had its faults - some say it jumped the shark when Niles and Daphne got married - and,as with any long-running show, it could get tiresome sometimes.

2. D

Monday morning quarterback （事后諸葛亮，馬后炮）源于美國橄欖球賽，星期日比賽后，星期一早上各家媒體會就昨日比賽做出各式批評和評論。Quarterback 是橄欖球賽中的四分衛(wèi)，相當(dāng)于全隊進(jìn)攻的核心，因此球賽的評論也多是把四分衛(wèi)作為焦點。該短語作為非正式的用法，比喻事后做出判斷和批評，自作聰明的事后諸葛亮。

例句：I'm getting a little sick and tired of the Monday morning quarterbacks out there determining that she did something wrong.

3. A

A horse of another / a different color 這一短語指有明顯不同意義的不相關(guān)事物，即完全不是一回事。它可能是從莎士比亞喜劇《第十二夜》中的 “a horse of the same color”短語發(fā)展而來。

例句：Buxton Forman's A Shelley Library,however, was a horse of a different colour.

4. A

短語 buy the farm 在美式英語中可表示“死亡”。它源于美國軍事俚語，但詞源學(xué)家也不能肯定其出處。這或許是在暗示某種情況，即一個農(nóng)場因為軍用飛機墜毀而受損，其農(nóng)場主的損失將由政府承擔(dān)。若是飛機遭遇致命的空難，飛行員大概會斃命。

例句： I refused to admit to my recklessness, even when I nearly bought the farm

5. C

如果說某人 lay an egg，那就是說這個人很不成功，很失敗。當(dāng)然，如果是母雞 lay an egg，那就是下了個蛋。

例句：The magazine really laid an egg with this article, which ranks right up there with the worst and most inaccurate articles they have ever published.

6. A

Bronx cheer 是用嘴吹出噓聲，表示蔑視和嘲笑。Bronx 是紐約市的布朗克斯區(qū)，紐約揚基棒球隊的發(fā)源地。該短語與 blow a raspberry 近義。

例句：She shuddered, making a noise like a Bronx cheer. / He blew a long, loud raspberry, spraying Bob with spittle.

7. D

Put on the dog：（北美非正式）Behave in a pretentious or ostentatious way。如果你“表現(xiàn)成一只狗”，那就是說你表現(xiàn)出自命不凡的拽樣。詞源學(xué)家也不很確定這一詞組的確切來源，有一些人曾認(rèn)為這是源于貴婦們的“l(fā)ap dog/哈巴狗”這一概念。Lap dog可指無主見、奉承和勢力的人。

例句：The CEO put on the dog today as he welcomed customers to the enterprise software company's annual users' conference.

8. C

Up / out the wazoo：（北美非正式）大量的。Wazoo /w??zu?/一詞指臀部、屁股。該詞的來源無法得知。

例句：A terrorist has no problem at all getting fake I.D. up the wazoo. / You're right, those two have issues out the wazoo, and Lana is off to find out why.

9. C

講土耳其語是什么意思？它指坦率地說，毫無保留；言歸正傳，討論不利的事實等。辭典學(xué)家也不知道詞組的真實來源，有些人假定可能和感恩節(jié)有關(guān)。那這里就不是土耳其語而是火雞嘍？

例句：she promised to go talk turkey with the representatives

10. A

John Hancock 為什么有簽名的含義呢？John Hancock（1737-1793年）是美國的革命家和政治家。他是北美第一屆和第二屆大陸會議的成員，第一任大陸會議主席（1775-1777年）。美國的《獨立宣言》由 Thomas Jefferson 起草，在第二屆大陸會議上通過。John Hancock 是在《獨立宣言》上第一個簽字的人，且簽名很大。隨后“John Hancock”就成為簽名一詞的代名詞。

（來源：牛津辭典微信公眾號? 編輯：Julie）