Diamond in the rough.
Diamond是鉆石的意思,而rough, 意思是粗糙的,未經(jīng)雕琢的。連起來(lái),diamond in the rough, 字面意思是粗糙的鉆石,實(shí)際上就是我們?cè)谥形睦锼f(shuō)的“未經(jīng)雕琢的璞玉”。上面例子里談到的那個(gè)實(shí)習(xí)生就是這樣。She may not be an established broadcaster, but she shows potential. She's a DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH. 她現(xiàn)在還不是一名播音員,但是她很有潛力。她是一塊未經(jīng)雕琢的璞玉。下面的例子里,一個(gè)剛買(mǎi)房的人對(duì)他的房子有什么跟別人不一樣的見(jiàn)解呢? 我們來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)看:
"My friends don't have a very high opinion of the house I bought. True, it's small and outdated. But the way I see it, its my DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH. Once I build an addition on to it, install new windows, doors and give it a fresh coat of faint, it'll be quite inviting. "
這段話是說(shuō):我朋友都覺(jué)得我剛買(mǎi)的房子買(mǎi)虧了。這房子確實(shí)不大,而且裝璜也過(guò)時(shí)了。但是我覺(jué)得這幢房子很有潛力。一旦我重新裝修,安上新的窗戶和門(mén),重新粉刷,這房子肯定能煥然一新。
我相信他很善于投資房地產(chǎn),因?yàn)樗軌蛞庾R(shí)到什么房子有翻修的價(jià)值。我的一個(gè)好朋友也是這樣,她從來(lái)沒(méi)有投資過(guò)房地產(chǎn),不過(guò)她投資對(duì)了人。在她和她男朋友戀愛(ài)的時(shí)候,大家都不看好,可是她認(rèn)為她男朋友是個(gè)潛力股。事實(shí)證明,His husband then started a great business. He was a DIAMOND IN THE TOUGH after all.
Diamond in the rough, 未經(jīng)雕琢的璞玉。對(duì)于教練或者教師來(lái)說(shuō),發(fā)現(xiàn)這種潛力股的能力很重要。下面的這名網(wǎng)球教練就試圖說(shuō)服大家他發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)很有潛力的新球員,我們來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)看:
"Samantha's coach has tried to convince anyone who will listen that he's discovered the next great tennis star. But nobody believes that she's a DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH. No matter how much she trains, they think it's doubtful that she'll ever become an exceptional player."
這段話是說(shuō):薩曼塔的教練試圖讓其他人相信他真的發(fā)現(xiàn)了未來(lái)的網(wǎng)球明星。但是沒(méi)有人相信她是一支潛力股。不管她怎么訓(xùn)練,大家都懷疑她是否能成為一名出色的網(wǎng)球選手。
一般來(lái)說(shuō),很難想像所有人都是錯(cuò)的。不過(guò)也有很多例子說(shuō)明真理有時(shí)候確實(shí)會(huì)站在少數(shù)人那一邊。說(shuō)起Diamond in the rough這個(gè)短語(yǔ)的起源,最初人們用這個(gè)短語(yǔ)來(lái)指那些還沒(méi)有經(jīng)過(guò)雕琢的,特別是那些可能被打造成高貴珠寶的寶石?,F(xiàn)在,我們用這個(gè)短語(yǔ)的引申意義,來(lái)形容那些非常有潛力的人和物品。