ants in your pants
to have butterflies in one's stomach
科學(xué)家們說,昆蟲,也就是我們一般說的小蟲子,對(duì)人類有不少好處。到目前為止,科學(xué)家們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)的昆蟲共有七十萬種。世界上竟然會(huì)有這么多不同的小蟲子,你可能會(huì)覺得難以相信。有些小蟲子,我們還少不了它們,例如,蜜蜂傳播花粉,使得植物得以繁殖。還有些蟲子會(huì)殺害蟲,在有的國家里,小蟲子還能當(dāng)食品??墒?,盡管如此,大概喜歡蟑螂的人還是不多的。
美國的成語和俗語就可以反應(yīng)出人們很討厭那些生活在我們周圍的小蟲子。今天我們來向大家解釋兩個(gè)成語,都是和小蟲子有關(guān)的。我們要講的第一個(gè)俗語是ants in your pants。 Ants就是螞蟻,pants 就是褲子。螞蟻鉆進(jìn)了褲子,你可以想象是個(gè)什么滋味了。你肯定坐不住了。 Ants in your pants這個(gè)俗語的意思就是一個(gè)人很緊張,坐立不安。我們來舉個(gè)例子吧:
例句-1: The company financial report isn't due until next Friday. But the boss has ants in his pants and wants us to have it all ready for him on Tuesday morning.
這句話的意思是:"我們公司的財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告應(yīng)該是下星期五才交。但是,我們的老板緊張得要命,非要我們在星期二早上就交給他。"
坐立不安并不一定是由于精神緊張。有的時(shí)候,不耐煩的心情也會(huì)使人坐立不安。下面就是一個(gè)小飯館的女服務(wù)員在和廚師講話:
例句-2: Say, what happened to the order for table seven? The guy's been waiting for a half hour and he's really getting ants in his pants for the cheeseburger and fries he ordered.
這位服務(wù)員說:"喂,七號(hào)桌子點(diǎn)的東西好了嗎? 那人等他點(diǎn)的奶酪漢堡包和炸薯?xiàng)l已經(jīng)等了半個(gè)小時(shí)啦,他都有點(diǎn)不耐煩了。"
有些蝴蝶是很漂亮的。但是,他們在美國一個(gè)俗語里出現(xiàn)的時(shí)候就不見得漂亮了。這個(gè)俗語是這么說的:To have butterflies in one's stomach。大家都知道, butterflies是指蝴蝶, stomach是人身體里消化食品的胃。
To have butterflies in one's stomach,從字面上來解釋就是,一個(gè)人的胃里有蝴蝶??墒牵@個(gè)說法的真正意思是一種持續(xù)不斷的恐懼、緊張或憂慮的心情,和中文里說的"心里感到七上八下"很相似。要是你很怕在大庭廣眾發(fā)表講話的話,你就可能對(duì)你的朋友說:
例句-3: Sitting there at my sister's wedding dinner, I had butterflies in my stomach because I know I'd have to stand up and make a speech.
這句話的意思是:"我姐姐結(jié)婚那天晚上舉行宴會(huì)的時(shí)候,我坐在那里心里直感到七上八下,因?yàn)槲抑牢业谜酒饋碇v話。"
我們再來聽聽一個(gè)籃球運(yùn)動(dòng)員在比賽完畢后講的話:
例句-4: Yeah, sure I had butterflies in my stomach in the locker room! But once I got out on the court and caught that first pass, I was just fine.
這位籃球運(yùn)動(dòng)員說:"比賽前在更衣室里的時(shí)候,我當(dāng)然感到很緊張不安??墒?,等我一上場,接到第一個(gè)傳來的球的時(shí)候,我就沒事了。