一般人在做任何事情的时候总是想找捷径,越容易越好,这似乎是人的本性。因此,在英语里有不少成语和俗语是形容办事很容易的。
其中之一就是:To take candy from a baby。 Candy就是吃的糖,baby在中文里就是小孩。To take candy from a baby的意思就是:某件事情很容易办成,就像把孩子手里的糖拿来一样。请听下面这个例子: 例句-1: "Getting grandmother to loan me the money was as easy as taking candy from a baby." 我们再来举一个例子吧。这是一个被关在监狱里的犯人在和牢房里另一个犯人说话: 例句-2: "Louey told us that robbing this bank would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. But somebody told the police and they were waiting for us. We had no choice but to throw down our guns and surrender." To take candy from a baby,欺负小孩,从小孩手里拿糖,在想象当中是很容易的。但是,实际情况恐怕并不见得如此。发明这个成语的人也许从来也没有设法把婴儿的小拳头扒开,然后把那小手里的糖拿来。任何做过父母的人都会告诉你孩子一般都会紧握着手里的糖不放,要是你硬是要拿,他就会大声哭叫。可是,尽管如此,to take candy from a baby已经成为美国人经常用来形容办事容易的词汇了。 另外一个形容事情很容易办的俗语也是和食品有联系的,这就是:A piece of cake。 Piece是指一片,或一块;cake就是蛋糕。A piece of cake的意思当然可以是指一块蛋糕。可是,作为俗语,它的意思就成了:这件事太容易了。例如,一个工作人员,犹豫了好久,最后终于鼓足了勇气去和老板提出增加工资的要求。他原来以为要和老板进行一番争论。可是,出乎他的意料,老板马上同意了,还说,他确实应该增加工资了。这样,他喜笑颜开地回到家里对太太说: 例句-3: "Honey, I finally asked Old Man Jones for my raise. And it was a piece of cake!" 首先使用 A piece of cake 这个俗语的是二次世界大战期间联军的飞行员。那时,他们往往是这样说的: 例句-4: "At the briefing before we took off to bomb the Germans, our commander told us it would probably be a tough flight. But it turned out to be a piece of cake: no anti-aircraft fire and no enemy fighters." (责任编辑:admin) |