英文的一些特殊例子有哪些?

Question

像是說a good company不是只好公司而是只好的關係或是apple of my eyes是只在眼中最珍貴的a piece of cake是只簡單的意思有沒有任何大大知道還有哪些類似這些好玩的口語英文呢?

Answer 1

我想你的問題，是想要知道一些英文俚語中，初學者如果僅由字面的表象，完全無法猜測實際意義的例子，而不是列舉一些通俗的成語吧！當年我也是花了很大的工夫，慢慢才熟悉這些俚語的真正含義。其實還有成千上萬的其它例子，以下，只是我信手拈來舉出常聽見或看見的有趣例子﹕

和動物(指字面，並非含義，以下同)有關﹕
rains cats and dogs
cold turkey
pigeon-holed
school of fish
Mickey mouse business
skunk work
pig out
duck out
horse around
catwalk
rug rats
(Until the) cows come home/fat lady sings
bull’s eye

和飲食有關﹕
cup of tea
cherry-pick
cream of crop
a head of broccoli
go bananas
food for thought
Adam’s apple

和人體有關﹕
cry uncle
red-neck
tongue in cheek
shake a leg
blue blooded
knuckle sandwich

和動作有關﹕
pull all the stops
pull the plug
long shot
play second fiddle
bent out of shape
blow a fuse
blown away
don’t buy it
knocked up
knock out
pull one’s leg

和大自然有關﹕
neck of the woods
moonlighting
sure fire

其它﹕
top gun
bar none
love handles
wrong end of the stick

這個題目很有趣，花了我不少時間想，有點累，所以明天再上中文的解釋。你也可以作個測驗，看看自己答對了多少！

2006-09-19 07:04:27 補充：
As promised:rains cats and dogs 傾盆大雨cold turkey 突然開始做某事，例如戒煙pigeon-holed 被歸類school of fish 一群魚Mickey mouse business 不正經的事情skunk work 機密作業pig out 大吃一頓duck out 偷溜horse around 胡搞、瞎鬧catwalk 走秀rug rats小孩

2006-09-19 07:05:52 補充：
(Until the) cows come home/fat lady sings終于結束，經常用在類似這樣的句子 It is not over until the …bull’s eye靶心cup of tea輕而易舉cherry-pick精選cream of crop精華a head of broccoli一棵綠花菜go bananas瘋狂food for thought發人深省的Adam’s apple喉結cry uncle叫救命red-neck鄉巴佬tongue in cheek語帶雙關shake a leg趕快吧

2006-09-19 07:06:58 補充：
blue blooded出身世家knuckle sandwich對嘴揮拳pull all the stops傾力pull the plug停止long shot機會渺茫play second fiddle當副手bent out of shape生氣blow a fuse發怒blown away為之傾倒don’t buy it不相信knocked up懷孕knock out極為吸引人的pull one’s leg騙人

2006-09-19 07:08:14 補充：
neck of the woods在…所在附近moonlighting兼差sure fire萬無一失的top gun頂尖高手bar none毫無例外的，絕對的love handles腰腹間的一圈贅肉wrong end of the stick會錯意不好意思，字數有限，所以分幾次補充。

Answer 2

■Man proposes, God disposes. 　謀事在人，成事在天
■Out of sight, out of mind. 　 眼不見心不煩
■Still water runs deep. 　人不可貌相，海水不可斗量
■The pot calls the kettle black. 　五十步笑百步
■Well begun is half done. 　好的開始是成功的一半
■Whispering tongues can poison truth. 　謠言足以生是非
■The best fish swims near the bottom. 　好魚游溪底
■The biter is sometimes bit. 害人害己
■The darkest hour is that before the dawn. 否極泰來
■Little strokes fell great oaks. 滴水可以穿石
A fool's bolt is soon shot. [諺] 黔驢技窮。 註:bolt為粗箭。
Accidents will happen. [諺] 天有不測風雲。 註:accident為意外事件。
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.[諺] 情人眼理出西施。 註:beholder為目睹者。
Beggars can't be choosers. [諺] 飢不擇食。 註:beggar為乞丐。
Birds of a feather flock together. [諺] 物以類聚。 註:feather為種類，flock為聚集。
Don't cry over spilt milk. [諺] 覆水難收。 註:spill為溢出。
Half a loaf is better than no bread at all. [諺]聊勝於無。
If you can't beat them, join them [諺] 如果無法戰勝敵人，不如成為他的朋友。
Love is blind. [諺] 愛情是盲目的。 註:blind為瞎的。
No pain, no gain. [諺] 天下沒有白吃的午餐。 註:pain為辛苦。
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. [諺] 不入虎穴，焉得虎子。
Practice makes perfect. [諺] 勤能補拙。 註:perfect為精通的。
Strike when the iron is hot! [諺] 打鐵趁熱。 註:strike為鑄，iron為鐵。
There's no place like home. [諺] 金窩，銀窩，不如自己的狗窩。
The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.[諺] 要抓男人的心，先抓住他的胃
Two's company, there's a crowd. [諺] 兩人成雙成對，三人礙手礙腳。
You can't have your cake and eat it too. [諺] 魚與熊掌不可兼得。
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. [諺] 入境隨俗。 註:Rome為羅馬。
When it rains, it pours! [諺] 屋漏偏逢連夜雨。 註:pour為傾盆大雨。
When the cat is away, the mice will play. [諺] 閻王不在，小鬼當家。

Answer 3

A thousand times no! 絕對辦不到！ Who knows! 天曉得！ It is not a big deal! 沒什麼了不起！ Easy does it. 慢慢來。 Don't push me. 別逼我。 It is urgent. 有急事。 What is the fuss？ 吵什麼？ Still up？ 還沒睡呀？ Don't let me down. 別讓我失望。 God works. 上帝的安排。 Don't take ill of me. 別生我氣。 Go down to business. 言歸正傳。 None of my business. 不關我事。 了。 It is a long story. 一言難盡。 Between us. 你知，我知。 Big mouth! 多嘴驢！ Sure thin! 當然！ Can－do. 能人。 Close－up. 特寫鏡頭。 Drop it! 停止！ Bottle it! 閉嘴！ Don't play possum! 別裝蒜！ Make it up! 不記前嫌！ Watch you mouth. 注意言辭。 Don't over do it. 別太過分了。 Can you dig it？ 你搞明白了嗎？ Who wants？ 誰稀罕？ December heartbeat. 黃昏戀。 Follow my nose. 憑直覺做某事。 Cheap skate! 小氣鬼！ Go to hell！ ***！ Gild the lily. 畫蛇添足。 Make it. 達到目的，獲得成功。 He has an ax to grind. 他另有企圖。 That rings a bell. 聽起來耳熟。 Sleeping on both ears. 睡的香。 Play hooky. 曠工、曠課。 It is a deal！ 一言為定！ I'll kick you ass. 我將炒你魷魚。 Not precisely! 不見得，不一定！ We have no way out. 我們沒辦法。 That is great! 太棒了！ Blast! 媽的！ Boy! （表示驚奇，興奮等）哇！好傢夥！ It can be a killer. 這是個傷腦筋的問題。 Dead end. 死衚同。Here ye! 說得對！ You ask for it! 活該！ You don't say! 真想不到！ Fresh paint! 油漆未乾！ He pushes his luck. 他太貪心了。 I am the one wearing pants in the house.我當家。 It's up in the air. 尚未確定。 Side dish. 配菜。 I am all ears. 我洗耳恭聽。 Get cold feet. 害怕做某事。 Good for you! 好得很！ Let's bag it. 先把它擱一邊。 Lose head. 喪失理智。 He is the pain on neck. 他真讓人討厭。 That is a boy! 太好了，好極了！ It's up to you. 由你決定。 Get an eyeful. 看個夠。 He has a quick eye. 他的眼睛很銳利。 Shoot the breeze. 閒談。 Tell me when! 隨時奉陪！ Let's play it by ear. 讓我們隨興所至。 Wait and see. 等著瞧。 Why so blue？ 怎麼垂頭喪氣？ What brought you here？ 什麼風把你吹來了？ I'm bored to death. 我無聊死了。 Bottoms up! 乾杯！ Hit the ceiling. 大發雷霆。 I don't have anywhere to be. 沒地方可去。 I swear by the god. 我對天發誓。 Nothing tricky. 別耍花招。 None of you keyhole. 不準偷看。 Come on, be reasonable. 嗨，你怎麼不講道理。 How big of you! 你真棒！
Don't let cat out of the bag.不要走漏風聲。A cat-and-dog life 時常吵架。 a bolt from the blue. 晴天霹靂。a dog's life.苦命。