時差N小時:吹牛 Blow (or Toot) Your Own Horn

Long ago, when kings, queens and emperors ruledmany nations, they often had a system wherebyothers would announce their arrival in animpressive way. Especially when there was a largecrowd of people talkingand making noise, one veryeffective way to get their attention and make themstop talking was to have one or more musicians blow(or "toot," which is a more childish term) upon ahorn.

古時候的國王、皇后和皇帝統(tǒng)治著許多國家。他們往往有一個規(guī)定——他們每到一個地方時，會讓人用一個令人印象深刻的方式宣示他們的到來。尤其是在聚集了大量人群或人聲嘈雜的時候，可以引起他們注意力并使他們停止喧嚷的一個非常有效的方式就是讓一個或多個樂師吹響號角(同孩子們的話說，就是吹出“嘟嘟”的聲音)。

In very olden times, that horn might be an actual ram's or bull's horn, or even a large conchshell. With more sophistication, these became brass instruments such as trumpets. Today weuse the memory of this symbolic fanfare to criticize people who talk too much about their ownachievements or good qualities. When we say to someone, "Don't blow (or toot) your ownhorn!" we are suggesting they should be more modest and not quite so prideful about theirown accomplishments.

從前，這種號角就是公羊或公牛的角，甚至是一個大海螺。隨著制作工藝越來越成熟，這些號角慢慢演變成了銅制的樂器，比如說小號。今天我們用這個比喻的說法來批評某些人過份地吹噓自己的成績或者品質(zhì)。當我們對他們說：“別吹了!”我們是在建議他們要謙虛一點，不要自滿于所取得的成就。