美国习惯用语第304讲ace in the hole; an ace up your sleeve...
2009-04-15来源:和谐英语
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例句-1:Jack will win because he has a real ace in the hole - it's still a secret but the Governor will support him publicly next week and that means a lot more votes.
他说:Jack稳操胜券,因为他有一张目前还不为人所知的王牌。那就是州长即将在下星期公开表示支持他,他因而会得到更多的选票。
所以ace in the hole意思是秘藏的法宝,也就是强大的备用力量。
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我们要学的第二个习惯用语和刚才学的ace in the hole很相似。它是: an ace up your sleeve。Sleeve意思是袖子。玩牌的人如果把一张好牌塞在袖管里,他的目的是拿这张牌来换牌从而取胜,但是他的手段既不合游戏规则又不光明正大。这就是an ace up your sleeve和ace in the hole不同的地方;ace in the hole 虽然是暗牌,但是合乎游戏规则,而an ace up your sleeve却是暗中藏牌欺骗作弊了。
接下来我们要听个例子。这是律师在跟当事人谈即将开庭的案子。
例句-2:I believe we'll win your case. Unless the lawyer on the other side has an ace up his sleeve and has bribed a witness to give false testimony, or something like that: this man is known for his cheating.
这位律师说:我相信我们会打赢这场官司。除非对方的律师会不择手段,使出收买证人作伪证之类的花招来,而这人也确实有欺诈的名声的。
所以an ace up his sleeve在这儿解释“取胜的手段花招”。
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我们再来学一个来自扑克游戏的习惯用语: within an ace of winning。Within an ace of winning从字面解释是要有一张ace就赢了。比方说,你先发到的牌是两张九接着又来了两张ace,形势看来大好。你知道如果再拿到一张ace,你就必胜无疑了,但是事与愿违,你最后到手的是一张四,而对方手头却有三张K。这一来你就功亏一篑,败在他的手下。这就是习惯用语within an ace of winning就出自这儿,但是它被广泛应用在商界等其它方面。让我们听个例子。这是一个中学的女篮教练在全州锦标赛结束后对记者发表的谈话。
例句-3: I'm proud of our girls because nobody thought they had a chance and we came within an ace of winning the game. It was that last-second basket that beat us by just one point.
这位教练说:我为我们那些队员感到自豪,因为起先谁都认为我们没夺标的可能,然而我们居然达到胜利在望的最后一步,如果不是对方在终场前一秒投篮得分,使我们以一分之差功亏一篑,我们就得冠军了。
可见within an ace of winning意思就是功亏一篑,几乎取得成功。