俚語(yǔ):耍派頭 [ 2007-04-10 13:00 ]
英語(yǔ)中與“狗”相關(guān)的表達(dá)似乎有點(diǎn)泛濫成災(zāi),信手拈來(lái)的如:a lucky dog(幸運(yùn)兒);top dog(當(dāng)權(quán)派);dog in the
manger(占著茅坑不拉屎)。今天談的“to put on the dog”表示“耍派頭;賣弄”,它的淵源可追溯到19世紀(jì)貴夫人豢養(yǎng)的哈吧狗。
美國(guó)內(nèi)戰(zhàn)后,即19世紀(jì)中葉到20世紀(jì)初,一大批暴發(fā)戶相繼涌現(xiàn),他們?yōu)榱怂i熗ê芏噱X去買一些品種罕見的哈巴狗。當(dāng)時(shí)耶魯大學(xué)的學(xué)生就創(chuàng)造了“to put
on the dog”來(lái)嘲笑那些整日炫耀愛犬的闊太太。舉個(gè)例子:
John is sure putting on the dog since his rich aunt died and left him 10
million dollars. He's bought the biggest house in town and a Mercedes 600, and
talks about buying some riding
horses.(約翰的阿姨去世后給他留了一千萬(wàn)美元遺產(chǎn),這下他可有資本耍闊了。他買了城里最大的一棟房子和一輛梅賽德斯600,他還說要買幾匹馬供他騎玩呢。)
另外,如果您看到to go to the dogs,可千萬(wàn)別受“to put on the dog”(耍闊)的影響?!癎o to the
dogs”意思是:“潦倒;破產(chǎn)”。比如說,
I always thought my friend Pete had a good future. But then he got hooked on
heroin and lost his job and his wife--I never saw a man go to the dogs so
fast!(我總以為我的朋友皮特是很有前途的,但是后來(lái)他吸上了毒品,失去了工作,妻子也走了。我從來(lái)沒有看到過任何人落魄得這么快?。?BR> (英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津陳蓓編輯) |