英语明喻：谚语背后的故事

明喻短语・中英对照全文翻译To be as black as coalMeaning: Completely black or very dirty.意思： 漆黑一团；非常黑；脏得发黑Example:His eyes are as black as coal.例句： 他的眼睛漆黑如炭。Mother to son: “Go and get washed. You are as black as coal. Have you been playing in the mud again?”妈妈对儿子说：“去洗洗，你脏得跟炭一样。是不是又去泥里玩了？”As blind as a batMeaning: When your eyesight is not as good as it once was.意思： 视力极差；瞎得像蝙蝠一样Example:She’s as blind as a bat. She thought that old black bag on the chair was the cat. She’ll need to get stronger glasses.例句： 她视力差得要命，把椅子上的旧黑包当成猫了。她得换一副度数更高的眼镜。As bold as brassMeaning: A shameless and overconfident person who acts without caring about the consequences of his/her actions. This kind of person does not feel embarrassment in situations where others would feel mortified.意思： 厚颜无耻；脸皮极厚；肆无忌惮Example:You need to be as bold as brass to go up to people in the street and ask them for money.例句： 得脸皮够厚，才敢在街上随便找人要钱。Origin:The first known user is believed to be Shakespeare. Some people believe that the simile “as bold as brass” was inspired nineteen years before Shakespeare, in 1770 by Brass Crosby, Chief London magistrate and mayor.Brass is a shiny hard metal that was often referred to as cheap and vulgar being a poor imitation to gold.来源：一般认为最早使用者是莎士比亚。也有人认为这个比喻出自 1770 年伦敦首席治安官兼市长 Brass Crosby。黄铜是一种发亮坚硬的金属，常被看作廉价、粗俗，是黄金的拙劣仿品。As brave as a lionMeaning: When we compare a person’s bravery to that of a lion; lions are large animals that tend not to be afraid of anything.意思： 勇猛如狮；非常勇敢Example:My little son is usually terrified of going to the dentist’s, but today he was as brave as a lion.例句： 我小儿子平时特别怕看牙医，但今天勇敢得像头小狮子。As bright as a buttonMeaning: This simile is a pun. A pun is a play on words, as the word “bright” can mean both shiny and clever.When we say that a person is “as bright as a button”, we mean they are intelligent and smart - they understand things very quickly.The repetition of the ‘b’ makes this simile alliterative which means using the same letter or sound at the beginning of words that are close together.意思： 非常聪明；脑子灵光说明： 这是一个双关语，bright 既指 “明亮”，也指 “聪明”。说一个人 as bright as a button，就是指他聪明、反应快。两个单词都以 b 开头，属于头韵。As broad as it’s longMeaning: This means that it is difficult to decide which of two options to choose from as they are both the same. There is no difference between them. Similar to the saying, ‘it’s six of one and half a dozen of the other’.Half a dozen = six.Broad = the breadth of something and ‘long’ = the length. So when the length and the breadth are the same, they are equal.意思： 半斤八两；都一样；没区别Example:Person A: “If we take on that new project we can earn an extra £10,000 dollars, but there is one drawback. We will fall into the higher tax bracket and end up paying most of it on tax. What do you suggest we do?”A： 如果我们接下新项目，可以多赚 1 万英镑，但有个问题：我们会进入更高税率档，最后大部分都要交税。你觉得该怎么办？Person B: “There won’t be much financial loss if we decide not to take it on. It is as broad as it is long.”B： 不接也没多大损失，反正都一样。*Take on = commit oneself to a task.意思： 承担；接手*Fall into = be within a range of parameters.意思： 归入；进入*End up = in the end something not planned occurs.意思： 到头来；最终As brown as a berryMeaning: This is mainly used to describe someone with a very tanned skin.意思： 晒得黝黑；肤色棕褐健康Example:When he came back from his holiday in Greece, he was as brown as a berry.例句： 他从希腊度假回来，晒得黝黑发亮。The origin of “as brown as a berry” goes back to Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”“His palfrey (saddle horse) was as brown as a berry”.Brown as a berry, short, and thickly made,With black hair that he combed right prettily.来源： 出自乔叟的《坎特伯雷故事集》。*Berries are not brown but in the days of Chaucer, it is thought that when he spoke about “berries”, he was referring to whole, ungrounded grains, such as wheat berry, sometimes referred to as berries.说明： 浆果本身不是棕色，但在乔叟时代，berry 常指完整的麦粒（wheat berry）。*Come back = return意思： 回来As busy as a beeMeaning: When we use this simile, we compare ourselves to bees. Bees are busy creatures. They make about forty trips a day gathering nectar and pollen. They never stop and after about six weeks they have worked themselves to death.意思： 忙得不可开交；像蜜蜂一样忙碌Example:Every time I phone Jenny she never seems to have any time to talk. She is always as busy as a bee.例句： 我每次给珍妮打电话，她都没空聊天，总是忙得团团转。As changeable as the weatherMeaning: Often used to describe a person’s mood.意思： 像天气一样多变；喜怒无常Examples:John was so irritable today. I never know what mood he is going to be in. He’s as changeable as the weather.例句： 约翰今天特别暴躁，我永远不知道他是什么心情，喜怒无常。Mary can’t make up her mind about which holiday to book. One day she wants to go to Spain, the next it’s Italy and the next again she wants to stay in England. She’s as changeable as the weather.例句： 玛丽定不下来去哪儿度假，今天想去西班牙，明天想去意大利，后天又想待在英国，变得比天气还快。As clear as a bellMeaning: When we hear a bell ring, the sound is very clear. Here we compare our understanding to the clear sound of a bell.意思： 非常清楚；清晰明了；一清二楚Example:Person A: “Did you understand everything that was said at the meeting.”A： 会上说的你都听懂了吗？Person B: “Yes I did. The chairman was as clear as a bell.”B： 听懂了，主席讲得一清二楚。As cold as iceMeaning: This simile refers mainly to a person’s character. It can refer to an unfriendly person or a cold and callous person.意思： 冷若冰霜；冷漠无情Examples:Person A: “Did you meet the boss’s wife at the staff dance?”A： 你在员工舞会上见到老板夫人了吗？Person B: “Yes I did but I didn’t like her. She wasn’t very friendly at all. In fact she was as cold as ice.”B： 见到了，但我不喜欢她，一点都不友好，简直冷若冰霜。My last boyfriend was as cold as ice when he left me. No explanation, he just left.例句： 我前男友离开我时冷酷无情，一句解释都没有，就这么走了。As comfortable as an old pair of slippersMeaning: This normally refers to a long standing relationship usually between husband and wife. You know each other so well both inside and out and are so familiar with each other’s habits that you feel so comfortable in the relationship.意思： 非常自在舒服；像旧拖鞋一样贴心舒适Example:They’ve been together for over fifty years. They are as comfortable as an old pair of slippers when they are together.例句： 他们在一起五十多年了，相处自然又舒服。It can also refer to something comfortable- so comfortable that we compare it to old slippers也可形容物品极度舒适：Example: I love this armchair. It’s as comfortable as an old pair of slippers.例句： 我太喜欢这把扶手椅了，舒服得不行。