时间:2019-02-05 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

  我们的鼻子或者嘴巴在某些情况下会发出一种声响。有几个动词是用来表示口鼻这些发出某种声响的动作的。今天要讲的三个习惯用语都分别从这样一个动词发展而来。第一个是: cough up。

大家也许早就知道cough是咳嗽的意思。人们在着凉感冒或者发生过敏反应的时候会咳嗽,也就是会不由自主地从口腔和喉咙里突然重重地排出气流来,你想抑制也抑制不了。

Cough up作为习惯用语已经差不多一个世纪了。它表示什么意思呢?我们听个例子吧。 在华盛顿市中心上班的人都普遍有这样的烦恼,附近到处都是车辆,找泊车的地位太难了。即使找到个地方,边上也多半竖着计时器。这意味你得定时往里投钱币,并且停了两小时后还得把车搬到其它地方去。稍有疏忽,你就会发现前车窗上赫然一张警察罚款单,金额很可能高达五十美元。

例句-1: I forgot the tickets were there. So when it was time to renew my license 1 tags they wouldn't renew them until I paid the five tickets. And I had to cough up $500 instead of $250 because they double the fines if you don't pay them on time。

他说:自己把罚单放那儿忘了。这一来到该更新汽车牌照的时候,他们就非要他先付清那五张罚单,否则不给更新牌照,而且逾期交付的罚款还得加倍。那就使他不得不付出五百美元而不是二百五十美元。

显然他不情愿,是万不得已才付出那五百美元的,所以在这儿他用了习惯用语cough up,意思是在百般无奈的情况下交出钱款之类的东西,cough up有时也可能指迫不得已说出情况,例如: "After several hours' questioning, he finally coughed up the information.," 经过几小时的盘问,他终于不得不提供了情况。

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今天要学的第二个习惯用语是: nothing to sneeze at。 Sneeze,是打喷嚏,什么样的东西你会对着它打喷嚏呢?那一定是你不拿它当回事、不受你重视的东西。然而前面加上了nothing成为nothing to sneeze at, 意思就反过来了,指不得小看的事物了。我们听个例子,说话的人在谈论兄弟Bob挣的年薪。

例句-2: My brother Bob earns $60,000 a year. That's not as much as some other people get paid but it's certainly nothing to sneeze at, because it's still more than most people earn in twelve months.

他说:我的兄弟Bob有六万美元年薪,那虽然不象某些人挣的那么多,但是也不可小看了,因为它还是高于大多数人的年收入。

Nothing to sneeze at,这个习惯用语的意思就是不可小看。它沿用至今有两百来年了,有时还可以换成这种形式:not to be sneezed at, 但是意思相同。

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今天要学的最后一个习惯用语是: sniff 2 out。 Sniff是鼻子使劲儿吸气的意思,就象人们欣赏芳香的玫瑰或者淡雅的香水味儿的动作,也象是小狗耸起鼻子在闻美味牛排的香气。但是习惯用语sniff out却不一定限于鼻子的动作了。比方说: "The police sniff out criminals they are anxious to arrest," 警方查出他们急于捉拿的罪犯。这句话里sniff out意思是警惕、彻底地搜寻、并找到想发现的什么。再听个例子。这段话谈到他的朋友Joe特别擅长在证券交易市场上发现买进股票的良机。

例句-3: I sure wish I had my friend Joe's special talent for sniffing 3 out chances to make money in the market. Somehow he can find stocks that are really worth a lot more than their price on the stock exchange and this ability makes him a nice fat profit.

他说: 我真希望自己象Joe那样具备对股票市场特别灵敏的嗅觉,能发现赚钱的机会。不知怎么的,他会察觉实际价值大大超过证券市场价格的那类股票,靠这种才能他赚了好多钱。

这里的习惯用语sniff out意思是机敏地察觉、发现。



n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许
  • The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
  • The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。
vi.嗅…味道;抽鼻涕;对嗤之以鼻,蔑视
  • The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
  • When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候,他们会彼此嗅一会儿。
n.探查法v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的现在分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
  • We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了,一个劲地抽鼻子,打喷嚏。
  • They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了,呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
学英语单词
3-caffeoylquinic acid
a sound bite
abili
AC electric propulsion apparatus
acoustic damping parameter
acrocontous
adjustable ladder
administrative planning
aepyorniss
Aklakou
as red as a berry
auxiliary operations
avo
backgammons
bandhold
Biatorella
bond radius
botanical cargo list
c(a)ecal tonsil
cascade starter
central nave
cokeoven
copy of certificate by customs
dam site investigation
dependent file
deuteromycotas
dibenzothiocarbocyanine
Dietikon
Digitaria jubata
digitiser
digitonin
direct-current electric drive
document statistics
driving permit
elychnious
epileptoid personality
expecting simple variable
family Tabanidae
feedback on performance
film-dubbing
frunorte
furan-flavone
hepatocarcinogenetic
Hexathir
house confinement
hypolunatum
in wild disorder
Independent Computing Architecture
instrumentoes
interchangeable gear
Isedyl
judaicas
kerndt
launch retrieval apparatus
livestock resources
lockalloy
Maarssen
mangrove marsh
microwave landing aids
Mitrephora wangii
morphinization
myomectomia
Nicodemite
or (orbitale)
pass over
pathetic fallacies
pettings
phase-shift network
phytohemagglutinins
piggyback generator
pipsissewas
pomivorous
priol
quartz-crystal resonator
r/i or direct
receptor inhibitor
relay objective
rotary drum drier
s.rep
salkevers
schweitzer
seismic processing
selfaddressed
separated scheme
sewn soft cover
short circuit power factor
single-head bevel gear generator
smoke crack
spindle torque
Stanley Kubrick
stepped forward
Suslov, Mikhail Andreevich
tomorning
truslow
turning operating mode management
us id
variable speed v belt drive
vented baffle
whistling murmur
win victory
yangpans
zealousness