其实和中文类似,英文也有很多所为的成语, 方言, 土语, 习惯用语, idioms & 谚语 proverbs
An idiom is a term or phrase whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal definitions and the arrangement of its parts, but refers instead to a figurative meaning that is known only through common use. In linguistics, idioms are widely assumed to be figures of speech that contradict the principle of compositionality; however, this has shown to be a subject of debate. It may be better to refer to idioms as John Saeed does: words collocated together happen to become fossilized, becoming fixed over time.[1] This collocation -- words commonly used in a group -- changes the definition of each of the words that exist. As an expression, the word-group becomes a team, so to speak. That is, the collocated words develop a specialized meaning as a whole and an idiom is born; for instance, "He really threw me a curve when on our first date he asked if I could pay for the dinner." Note, in some cultures, when a man and a woman are courting each other, the male is traditionally the one who takes up the bill or pays the bill; however, times change and in many modern societies, a lot of couples go Dutch (yet another idiom). (Souce: Wikipedia)
A Proverb (from the Latin proverbium), also called a byword or nayword, is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim. If a proverb is distinguished by particularly good phrasing, it may be known as an aphorism. (Souce: Wikipedia)
以此贴抛砖引玉, 把一些俺常听说的Idiom &/or Proverb和大家分享, 也欢迎大家纠正补充.
[ 本帖最后由 Artcore 于 2008-9-16 10:59 编辑 ]
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pull (someone's/somebody's) leg - 愚弄某人
- to trick or fool someone in a playful way; tease someone, but not maliciously
例句: My grandfather always likes to pull my leg when he comes to visit us.
[ 本帖最后由 Artcore 于 2008-9-10 10:58 编辑 ]
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Is that meaning joke?
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Are you for real, or are you just pulling my leg? is that same meaning with "are u killing me?" it is definitely still used ....but i didn't see it used very often.
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Should be kidding me, not killing me.
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Thanks for correcting me, It's Killing Me now
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Atcore better to put the date on the title. it will be easy to follow up day by day.:)
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pull one's leg在美国英语的各种口语教材里都会有，但是我在生活中从来没有听人用过。
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I heard of it from one of my colleagues. She says:" Simon pulled your leg just now." Then she explained:" Simon Teased you just now" whe she saw the confusion on my face.
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I just asked my colleague, he said still use in here....
BTW they don't know " Go to Dutch"
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Do you mean "go dutch"?
Go dutch is A-A制。自己付自己的钱。
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不知道这个解释，如果有人说pull someone's leg，我第一反应会是： 这是个狠yellow的词汇
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偶的第一反应是拖后腿，以为是成为burden的意思。
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Knock on wood, or Touch Wood is a superstition action to ward off any evil consequences or bad luck, perhaps because of some recent action you’ve taken or untimely boasting about your good fortune; it can also be a charm to bring good luck. The expression is usually used in the hope that a good thing will continue to occur after it has been acknowledged.
So, for example, one of the things I often hear from meeting with some of the company executives, "The company is on track to deliver signficant improvements in revenue and profitability for the first half of the financial year, touch wood, the trend can continue for the second half of the financial year." (They often physically knock on the wooden table when they say that!)
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haha, I always knock on someone's head when saying touch wood
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那就是可以和hopefully通用。
这个口误说了什么不好的话，然后拍木头的做法，倒是都一样的
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bsb，u r super bad
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In the US, people mostly say "knock on wood" instead of "touch wood" because "touch wood" has a sexual meaning in their language. In Australia, "touch wood" seems to be more popular.
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ahh hahaha
something can be woody
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Red Tape
不是红色带子. 而是官样的繁文缛节, 官僚主义的一种表现. 原来以前的英国官方文件惯例上是用红色布带系成一扎一扎的. Official forms and procedures, especially when oppressively complex and time consuming.
Source: Wikipedia
例句: Australian Govenment has initiated a comprehensive review of our tax system, in hope to cut through all of the red tape and improve efficiencies of the Australian tax systems for all taxpayers, especially for small businesses.
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There’s not much red tape here in .
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Icing on the cake - 喜上加喜
I always thought it was "ice on the cake", wrong, ice on the cake怎么会好吃呢?
Icing - A sweet glaze made of sugar, butter, water, and egg whites or milk, often flavored and cooked and used to cover or decorate baked goods, such as cakes or cookies. 蛋糕糖衣：一种由糖、黄油、水、蛋白和牛奶制成的甜浆，通常在调味和煮熟后来覆盖或装饰烘烤食物，如烤蛋糕或小甜饼.
When one great thing happens, then another great thing happens on top of it, the second thing is the icing on the cake.
例句: I was promoted to be the Head of the Department, and they decided to give me a good pay raise as the icing on the cake.
[ 本帖最后由 Artcore 于 2008-9-12 11:43 编辑 ]
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揟he worm in the tequila is like the icing on the cake.
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"My wife is beautiful to look at, and she is a wonderful person!" Answer: "True,it's icing on the cake."
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it's vivid!
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太深奥了。。
不适合初学者。。
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楼主发点中英文对照吧
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"My two cents" and its longer version "put my two cents in" is an American idiomatic expression, taken from the original British idiom expression: to put in "my two pennies worth" or "my tuppence worth". It used to preface the stating of one’s opinion.
By deprecating the opinion to follow — suggesting its value is only two cents, a very small amount — the user of the phrase hopes to lessen the impact of a possibly contentious statement, showing politeness and humility. However, it is also sometimes used with irony when expressing a strongly felt opinion. The phrase is also used out of habit to preface uncontentious opinions. (Source: Wikipedia).
举例: I think the new means test of $150,000 on baby bonus is a bit unfair, considering many middle class, dual wage/salary based families are the ones get taxed most in Australia, yet because their combined income threthhold exceeds this random threthold, they lose the benefit of baby bonus. The main rationale behind baby bonus policy is to encourage Australians to reproduce more babies as Australia is currently facing aging population and decline in workforce, rather than transfer of welfare payment. It's just my two cents worth on the 2008 Federal Budget announcement.
[ 本帖最后由 Artcore 于 2008-9-15 15:54 编辑 ]
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MTCW， 总算有个我知道的了。
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