时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

   今天我们要讲的美国习惯用语是:an albatross around one's neck。Albatross是一种名字叫信天游的海鸟, neck 是脖子。An albatross around one's neck, 按字面来理解,它的意思是:挂在脖子上的信天游。但是,作为一个习惯用语,an albatross around one's neck是指令人忧虑的事。


  比如说,你的汽车接二连三地出毛病,常常要修理,这辆车就是让你头痛的问题 - an albatross around your neck。
  再比如说, 有对夫妇一直盼望住上大房子。他们的梦想实现了,他们满意吗?我们来听听男主人是怎么说的。
  例句-1:My wife and I always dreamed of having a big house, but now that we own one, we find it's an albatross around our necks. We have so much more to furnish, clean and maintain that it's a strain on our time and budget. Frankly 1, we wish we were back in our old home.
  这位男主人说:我和我太太一直梦想有一栋大房子。现在我们买了大房子, 但是却发现它是个很大的负担。 房子大需要很多家具, 还要做许多清洁和维修工作。 这对我们的时间和预算来说都是压力,我们宁可住在老房子里。
  美国人的住房最近几十来越建越大,越建越豪华。很多房子的面积都在3000平方英尺以上, 可谓豪宅。
  ******
  An albatross around one's neck这个习惯用语来自18世纪英国诗人Coleridge的著名诗篇, "The Ancient Mariner 2"  也就是《老渔夫》。
  这诗篇讲的是一个水手误杀了一只信天游,这是被认为不吉利的。后来渔船搁浅,水手们强迫他把死鸟挂在脖子上,作为对他的惩罚。
  下面我们再来举一个例子。一个公司的老板雇用了一个名叫Carl的雇员。一开始,Carl在工作中出了很多问题, 让老板很头痛。可是,后来呢?
  例句-2:My boss used to wonder why she ever hired Carl. He made so many mistakes early on that he had become a considerable burden. After two months, however, he started to make dramatic improvement and is no longer an albatross around her neck. In fact, he's a real asset.
  这个人说:我的老板以前总是弄不懂她怎么会雇用Carl的。一开始,Carl犯了很多错误,成了公司一大负担。可是两个月后,他开始作出很大的改进,不再是个问题了。事实上,他现在成了公司的骨干。
  这个例子说明事情都不是一成不变的, 有时坏事也会变成好事。

1 frankly
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
2 mariner
n.水手号不载人航天探测器,海员,航海者
  • A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.平静的大海决不能造就熟练的水手。
  • A mariner must have his eye upon rocks and sands as well as upon the North Star.海员不仅要盯着北极星,还要注意暗礁和险滩。
标签: 美国习惯用语
学英语单词
angetting
assignment index
auric sodium bromide
auxiliary servomotor
back pressure operation
biobubble
blast pens
borehole-pump
breaking and enterings
casts
colporrhaphy
confocalized
crossing sleeper
cyberphilosopher
database markup language
deconfiguration
deliver up to
di-tetrahydrofurfuryl maleate
eglintons
engineering channel circuit
enraged against
excessive gradient
fabricide
ficus fistulosa
file highwater mark
fluidised bed carburizing
form of energy
Genriyetty, Ostrov
gob dump
ground-to-air missile
gwis
harbeck
heated cathode
high pressure steam process
holidays
International Industrial Relations Association
interrogation hole
intrinsic call
jacquard plush creel
Keep-Out Zone
key sound
Koumala
La Fourche
la mont boiler
latitudinarianisms
lay them in the aisle
let me in
level(l)er
lightening plate frame
Microsoft security
military tactical operation
monopoly right
mostomys natalensis
Myopan
neurotransmiters
nonanoyl
number of trowel
oil sediment
omission mark
palazzolas
Poebrotherium
powderedfuel
protective shipping policy
pulpable
rachitis
reskinning
rhizoma et radix notopterygii
rolling element bearing
roughness of channel
RTOL
Sandness
sea land service
second-level cache
self tuning controller
series parallel connection
sheet steel housing
Sir William Chambers
slangs
star valve
state insurance department
sternopagy
stick out that
subcategorizations
subjective sample
subsidiary level
support circuit
synpneumonic
takuri
taper work
Taxation Risk
thaughts
thin flat head socket shank rivet
time-clock
transverse myelopathy
Tweed triangle
unextended
urinopycnometer
uroptychus scambus
veghel (vechel)
waxed split
Werbitski's China green agar
worth the effort