時光倒流:開倒車

英譯:
turn the clock back; turn back the clock

例句:

  • You are afraid to face up to the future. You are trying to turn the clock back to a time when you were more comfortable. (你不敢面對未來。你試圖使時光倒流,回到你比較風光的時候)
  • You can never turn the clock back. (時光不能倒流)

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a fool and his money are soon/easily parted

蠢人有錢留不住;傻瓜不積財 - 指愚蠢的人不加思索就花錢,換言之,若不謹慎理財,錢很快就花光光。

例句:
Frank relishes his extravagant lifestyle – but then a fool and his money are soon parted. (法蘭克喜愛奢侈的生活方式,但他的錢很快就花光了)

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自欺欺人;鴕鳥心態

英譯:
bury/hide one’s head in the sand

例句:

  • Stop burying your head in the sand. Look at the statistics on smoking and cancer. (別再自欺欺人了。看看這些有關抽菸與癌症的統計數字吧)
  • Parents said bullying was being ignored, and accused the headmaster of burying his head in the sand. (家長表示,霸凌問題遭到漠視,並譴責校長採取鴕鳥心態)

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give a false color to; put a false color on

歪曲 (某人,某事等);曲解。

例句:

  • Don’t give a false color to what she said, she didn’t mean it. (別曲解她的話,她沒有那個意思)
  • Only John and Mary have unbiased view on Ted’s behavior while others put a false color on it. (只有約翰和瑪麗對泰德的行為沒有偏見,而其他人都會加以歪曲)

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老年吃嫩草

英譯:
rob the cradle

例句:

  • Man, David’s girlfriend is only 14, he’s robbing the cradle! (老兄,大衛的女友只有 14 歲,他老牛吃嫩草!)
  • You’re kind of robbing the cradle, man. (老兄,你有點老牛吃嫩草)

附註:至於吃嫩草的「老牛」則叫做 cradle robber。

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be the cat’s whiskers

了不起的人物、東西或主意。

例句:

  • Our school principal thinks she’s the cat’s whiskers. (我們校長自以為是個了不起的人物)
  • My new manager thinks he is the cat’s whiskers though he is no better than the last one. (我新來的經理並不比上任經理來得強,但他卻自以為了不得)

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各有所好

英譯:
one man’s meat is another man’s poison

例句:

  • John: I don’t understand why Ben doesn’t like to read science fiction. It’s the most interesting thing to read. Mary: One man’s meat is another man’s poison. (約翰:我不懂班為何不喜歡看科幻小說。那是最有趣的讀物。瑪麗:人各有所好)
  • I don’t want to do her job, but she seems to love it very much. Oh well, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. (我不想做她的工作,但她似乎非常喜歡。啊,人真是各有所好)

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Between Scylla and Charybdis

字義:航行於錫拉岩礁與卡力布狄斯大漩渦之間;從錫拉女妖與卡力布狄斯女妖之間通過

轉喻:進退維谷,進退兩難,左右為難,腹背受敵

說明:這成語導源於希臘神話。根據荷馬史詩,Scylla (錫拉) 和 Charybdis (卡力布狄斯) 都是女海妖,她們分別盤據在義大利本土與西西里島之間的墨西拿海峽 (Strait of Messina) 的兩邊。錫拉出沒於靠近義大利本土這一邊的一處同名 (即錫拉) 的岩礁上,而卡力布狄斯則變身為西西里島海岸外一處同名 (即卡力布狄斯) 的大漩渦。

錫拉女妖上半身為美若天仙的美女,而下半身卻是恐怖駭人的六頭十二足妖獸,凡是經過岩礁的船隻,必被吞噬六名船員才足以果其腹。卡力布狄斯女妖的大漩渦,強勁洶湧、氣勢磅礡,足以將所有經過的船隻捲入使其完全滅頂。

根據荷馬史詩之一的《奧德賽》(Odyssey),古希臘英雄,也是希臘西部伊塔卡島 (Ithaca) 國王的奧德修斯 (Odysseus) 在歷經十年的特洛伊戰爭 (Trojan War) 戰勝後班師回朝,率領希臘軍乘船向伊塔卡出發。途中,由於奧德修斯激怒了海神波賽頓 (Poseidon),波賽頓乃降禍於他,使他一路上歷盡劫難,在海上又漂泊了十年。

伊塔卡人大多認為奧德修斯戰後十年不歸,一定已經死亡。與此同時,當地許多貴族紛紛向奧德修斯的妻子潘妮洛普 (Penelope) 求婚,潘妮洛普百般設法拒絕他們,但仍盼望丈夫能生還。奧德修斯在這十年間經歷了許多艱難險阻,包括他們的船隻必須經過墨西拿海峽,航行於錫拉岩礁與卡力布狄斯大漩渦之間,使其進退兩難,腹背受敵,險象環生 - 奧德修斯選擇了犧牲六名船員的方式通過該海峽,才逃過一劫。最後在諸神的幫助下,經過十年漂泊生活的奧德修斯終於返回故土。那些追求他妻子的求婚者還佔據著他的王宮,大吃大喝。奧德修斯裝作乞丐,進入王宮,設法跟兒子和僕人一起聯手殺死那一群粗暴貪樂的貴族,與妻子團聚。

後人遂將 between Scylla and Charybdis 這個字面意為「航行於錫拉岩礁與卡力布狄斯大漩渦之間;從錫拉女妖與卡力布狄斯女妖之間通過」的成語,引申為「進退維谷,進退兩難,左右為難,腹背受敵」。事實上,英文至少還有三個成語可與 between Scylla and Charybdis 劃上等號,那就是 “between a rock and a hard place”、”on the horns of a dilemma” 和 “between the devil and the deep blue sea”。這些成語都是在表示必須在兩難的情況中作一抉擇,也就是兩害相權 (to choose between two evils)。當然了,聰明的人,如奧德修斯,一定是兩害相權取其輕 (to choose the lesser of the two evils)。

例句:

  • I was between Scylla and Charybdis when I was offered another job because I still felt a great deal of loyalty to my boss. (有人請我去做另一份工作,我感到左右為難,因為我對老闆仍忠心耿耿)
  • For most people a visit to the dentist is the result of a choice between a rock and a hard place – if you go you suffer, and if you don’t go you suffer. (對大多數人來說,看牙醫是兩難中所作的抉擇 - 看與不看都要受苦)
  • Greece is on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, the country will face bankruptcy if the government does not raise taxes. On the other hand, if it does, many people will take to the street. (希臘正處於進退兩難的局面。一方面,若政府不增稅,該國將會破產。另一方面,若加稅,許多民眾將會走上街頭抗爭)
  • The judge ordered me to pay my debts or else go to prison, so I was between the devil and the deep blue sea. (法官命令我還債,否則就要坐牢,我簡直進退維谷)

get/grate on one’s nerves

使某人惱怒。

例句:

  • She’d been asking me questions all day and it was starting to get on my nerves. (她整天都在問我問題,讓我覺得好煩啊)
  • The telephone hadn’t stopped ringing all morning and it was starting to grate on my nerves. (整個早上電話響個不停,我都要抓狂了)

附註:英文中還有 get on one’s wick, get on one’s tits 和 get up one’s nose 等成語可表達與 get on one’s nerves 相同的意思,如 Sometimes watching TV really gets on my wick because of all the commercials. (看電視有時真的很氣人,因為都是廣告);That guy I work with has been getting on my tits recently. (跟我一起工作的那個傢伙,最近讓我很不爽)。

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