今天我们要讲两个由鼻子,也就是nose 这个字组成的俗语。鼻子是我们嗅觉和呼吸的工具,是人体的一个重要组成部份。大概也正因为如此,英语里许多常用的习惯用语都和nose这个字有联系。
比如说,你到华盛顿来访问,要上白宫去参观,可是走在路上好像迷失了方向。于是,你就在马路上问人怎么去白宫。你得到的回答可能就是: 例句-1: "Turn left at the next corner and then follow your nose -- you can't miss it." 很明显,这句句子里“follow your nose”的意思就是“一直走”。 Follow your nose还可以解释为利用嗅觉找到什么东西。例如: 例句-2: "You say you're looking for the French Bakery? Just walk two blocks north, turn left, and you can smell that wonderful smell of fresh bread baking: just follow your nose and it will bring you right to the front door.” “Follow your nose”在这个句子里着重的是嗅觉,而不是方向 今天我们要讲的第二个常用的习惯用语是: Pay through the nose。 Pay就是付钱的意思。按字面上来解释,pay through the nose就是通过鼻子来付钱,这听起来似乎很痛苦。而实际上,pay through the nose的确切意思是付出比真正的价值高得多的钱,或者说付出的钱实在太多而感到心痛。我们来举个例子吧: 例句-3: "My brother Bob borrowed the money to open his restaurant five years ago when the interest rate was so high, so he's been paying through the nose ever since." 这样由于利息高而付许多钱来还债当然谁也不愿意。可是,也有人心甘情愿出高价来买那些他们认为值得买的东西。下面一个例子就可以说明这一点: 例句-4: "Life is funny. When the famous Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh was alive, nobody wanted to buy his pictures. But now rich people will pay through the nose for one, sometimes more than five million dollars." 今天我们讲了两个和nose有关的常用词汇。第一个是follow the nose。 Follow the nose可以指“一直走”,也可以解释为随着你闻到的味道去找什么东西,或什么地方。今天讲的第二个和nose有关的词汇是to pay through the nose。 To pay through the nose是付出很高价钱的意思。 (责任编辑:admin) |