He is on his uppers: 山窮水盡! [ 2006-08-22 17:15 ]
來(lái)!先來(lái)看一句話——Mr Green had been out of work for several months and was on his
uppers. 由前半句的“失業(yè)好幾個(gè)月”,我們可以推出短語(yǔ)on one's
uppers表示“潦倒、山窮水盡”。只是,意思雖然知道了,但沒有原因的結(jié)果總不能盡興。所以嘛,還得翻翻辭源解析。
在短語(yǔ)on one's
uppers中,uppers指“鞋面”。難道“穿著鞋面就表示山窮水盡”?那當(dāng)然!世界上沒有只穿“鞋面”的鞋,若到了只能穿鞋面的份兒,那一定是您鞋跟給磨破了又沒錢買新鞋,只能光腳走路。若真窮到這般窘境,怎能不是“山窮水盡”!
順便的,再來(lái)回想其它幾個(gè)“山窮水盡,智窮力竭”的表達(dá)——at one's wits end, at the end of one's rope, at
the end of one's tether??磦€(gè)例句:
I' m at my wits ' end worrying about how to pay the
bill.(我真沒了主意,不知如何才能付清這些帳。)
(英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津陳蓓編輯) |