VOA慢速英语:Words and Their Stories: Dog Talk

Americans use many expressions with the word dog. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.
美国人使用的许多表达跟狗的词汇相关。在美国，人们喜欢他们的狗，也对它们很好。他们带自己的狗去散步，让它们到外面玩，并给予它们优质食物与医疗照顾。然而，没有主人照顾的狗，却有一个不一样的生活。to lead a dog's life这个表达就是形容生活得不开心的人。

Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs. They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.
有人说，我们生活在一个狗吃狗的世界。（dog-eat-dog world）。这个表达意思是许多人竞争同一样东西，例如好工作。他们说，要取得成功，人就要像狗一样工作。（work like a dog）。这个表达的意思是他们必须非常努力的工作。如此辛勤的工作使人疲惫不堪（dog-tired）。同时 ，如果他们病得很严重的话（sick as a dog），情况会更糟。

Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.
尽管如此，人们常说每只狗有它自己的日子（every dog has its day），这个的意思是说每个人一生中总有成功的时候。要取得成功，人们往往要学习新的技能。然而，有些人说，你永远无法教老狗新把戏（you can never teach an old dog new tricks）。他们认为，老年人不喜欢学习新事物，并不会改变他们做事的方式。

Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.
有些人被以一些不好的方式来与狗比较。不友好或冷漠的可能被形容为比一个垃圾场的狗寡情（meaner than a junkyard dog）。垃圾场的狗生活在废品堆之中。凶狠的狗通常被用来看护这类场所。他们会吠叫或袭击试图进入的人。然而，有些人看上去凶狠极具威胁，实际没那么糟糕。我们就说他凶狠但是并无恶意（his bark is worse than his bite.）

A junkyard is not a fun place for a dog. Many dogs in the United States sleep in safe little houses near their owners' home. These doghouses provide shelter. Yet they can be cold and lonely in the winter.
垃圾场对狗来说并不是一个好玩的地方。在美国，许多的狗都睡在主人家附近安全的小狗屋里，这些狗屋给他们提供庇护。然而冬天它们在狗屋里就是寒冷和寂寞。

Husbands and wives use this doghouse term when they are angry at each other. For example, a woman might get angry at her husband for coming home late or forgetting their wedding anniversary. She might tell him that he is in the doghouse. She may not treat him nicely until he apologizes. However, the husband may decide that it is best to leave things alone and not create more problems. He might decide to let sleeping dogs lie.
夫妻双方生对方的气时就会用到doghouse这个词。例如，一个女人可能会因为丈夫回家太晚或忘记他们的结婚纪念日而生气。她可能会告诉他，他已经失宠了（in the doghouse）。在丈夫道歉前她都不会好好对他。然而，丈夫可能会决定，不要管这些事情和不要制造更多问题。他可能决定不采取什么行动来改变现状，因为改变现可能会惹麻烦（to let sleeping dogs lie。）

Dog expressions also are used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.
与狗相关的表达还用来形容天气。The dog days of summer是指一年中最热的三伏天。一场暴雨可以降低气温，但我们可不希望它下倾盆大雨（to rain cats and dogs）。
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