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英语口语8000句之三十九:谚语、惯用语

2008-08-05来源:
不管张三李四。
Every Tom, Dick and Harry. *举出常用的男孩名,表示“不论谁都……”、“不管张三还是李四”。虽然没有女孩名,但男女都可用。
My daughter had a homestay in America. (我女儿为体验当地生活,去美国了。)
So did every Tom, Dick and Harry. (不管谁都能去啊。)
I like sexy girls. (我喜欢性感的女人。)
So does every Tom, Dick and Harry. (无论谁都是这样的。)

一波未平一波又起。
Out of the frying pan into the fire. *frying pan “平底炒菜锅”,直译是菜从锅里炒出来又掉进了火里。

舍名求实。
I live to eat.
Pudding rather than praise. *不太常用的说法。

瞎猫碰上了死耗子。
Every dog has his day.
Bob won the lottery. (鲍勃中了头彩。)
Every dog has his day. (瞎猫碰上了死耗子。)
Everyone has good days.
Everyone gets lucky sometimes. (谁都会有走运的时候。)
A flying crow always gets something. *不太常用的说法。

说曹操,曹操到。
Speak of the devil. *“说到恶魔,恶魔就来”。源自谚语Speak of the devil and he will appear。
Speak of the devil.常用于口语中。
Here comes John! (约翰来了。)
Speak of the devil. (真是说到曹操,曹操到。)

情人眼里出西施。
Love is blind. *直译是“爱情是盲目的”。表示人们一旦谈恋爱,就会失去正确的判断能力,无法冷静地看待事物。

一举两得。
Kill two birds with one stone. *直译是“皇梢源蛑辛街荒瘛保础耙痪倭降谩薄?

不闻凶讯便是吉。
No news is good news.
I haven't heard from John lately. (好久没有约翰的消息了。)
Well, no news is good news. (是啊,不闻凶讯便是吉。)

光阴似箭。
Time flies. *表示时间像飞一样地过去了。Tim flies是Time flies when you are having fun.的省略说法。即“越高兴时间过得越快”。

时间就是金钱。
Time is money.

百艺不如一艺精。
Jack of all trades, master of none. *Jack是男子名,一般表示“某人或男人”。此句的意思是什么事都去做的人没有一件事是能精通的。

三思而后行。
Look before you leap. *直译“飞之前先看看”,表示“付诸于行动前要慎重地考虑,做好准备”。

百闻不如一见。
Seeing is believing. *“眼见为实”,即只有自己亲眼所见,才能信服。

无风不起浪。
There is no smoke without fire. *传闻总是有出处的,“无火的地方不冒烟”。

诚实总是上策。
Honesty is the best policy. *常以为不正当行为能获得好处,但从长远来看,结果是采取正当行为才是上策。

晚做总比不做强。
Better late than never.

男孩子就是男孩子嘛!
Boys will be boys.
John got into a fight again. (约翰又打架了。)
Boys will be boys. (男孩子就是男孩子嘛!)

知识就是力量。
Knowledge is power.
Knowledge is power. (知识就是力量。)
That's why he's so successful. (所以他才成功。)

冰冻三尺非一日之寒。/罗马不是一天就建成的。
Rome was not built in a day. *要做大事不是一朝一夕就可以成功的。

条条大路通罗马。
All roads lead to Rome. *为达到同一目的,可以采取多种手段。
There are many roads to success. (有许多办法可以取得成功。) *常用语。

入乡随俗。
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. *“在罗马就要照罗马人做的去做”。即“到另一个地方就要遵从那里的风俗习惯”。口语中常省略成Do as the Romans do.

熟能生巧。
Practice makes perfect. *任何事情都反复练习是成功的秘诀。

历史总在重演。
History repeats itself.
Another war started. (又一场战争开始了。)
History repeats itself. (历史总在重演。)

祸不单行,福无双至。
When it rains, it (always) pours.

功夫不负有心人。
Where there's a will, there's a way. *有坚强的意志和决心的话,无论有多大的困难都能克服。

行动比语言更响亮。
Actions speak louder than words.
(钱财等)来得容易去得快。

Easy come, easy go. *轻易得来的钱财,是不被珍惜的。来得容易,去得也容易。

血浓于水。
Blood is thicker than water.

有其父必有其子。
Like father, like son. *父子相似的意思。
Like mother, like daughter. (有其母必有其女。)

恋爱和战争都是不择手段的。
All's fair in love and war. *在恋爱和战争中任何策略都是正当的。

美貌不过一张皮。
Beauty is only skin deep. *“再漂亮的美女削去一层皮后就和丑女无二样”,即“看人不能只看外表而要重视内涵”。
Beauty is but skin deep.

东西总是人家的好。
The grass is always greener on the other side (of the fence). *直译是“(篱笆)那边的草总是绿的”。

不劳则不获。
You cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs. *直译是“不打碎鸡蛋就做不成蛋包饭”。意思是做任何事如果不努力,不付出牺牲,不投资的话,是得不到结果的。

流水不腐,户枢不蠹。
A rolling stone gathers no moss. *不断活动的石头是不会长上像青苔这类东西的。即“能不断保持新鲜”。也可以把它看做相反的意思,“不断变换工作和搬家的人,没有熟练的事情,也存不下钱”。

患难见真情。
A friend in need is a friend indeed. *in need “遇到难处,贫穷”,indeed 是“真正的”,这两个词押韵,给人以节奏感。

只会工作不会玩的人是没意思的人。
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. *这句可以译成“只让学习不让玩的孩子会变成愚蠢的孩子”。

事实胜于雄辩。
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. *直译是“不吃布丁不知道布丁的味道”。即“不实际去试试,是不会知道它的真正的价值”。

岁月不待人。
Time and tide wait for no man. *tide 是“潮水”,此处与time同义,表示时间。

越快越好。
The sooner, the better.
When should I come over? (什么时候来合适?)
The sooner, the better. (越快越好。)

正好。
On the nose.
How many people came to the party? (有多少人来参加晚会?)
A hundred people, on the nose. (正好100人。)
Exactly.
On the dot.

捉迷藏。
Hide-and-seek
Let's play hide-and-seek. (我们玩捉迷藏吧。)
Okay. (好吧。)

未完待续。
to be continued *用于电视连续剧等的最后,表示“待续”。

一个巴掌拍不响。
It takes two to tango. *直译是“跳探戈舞是两个人的事儿”。
Joe is always starting arguments with Sue. (乔总是和苏争论不休。)
Well, I think it takes two to tango. (不过,我是觉得一个巴掌拍不响。)
Both sides must be blamed.
They are the same.
They are both responsible.
They are both wrong.
Both of them should be blamed.